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THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



December 1, 1920 



with a capital of £50,000 in 10-shilling shares. The directors are 

 S. W. Copley, C. C. Webb and A. A. Crosier. Mr. Copley, who 

 is a man of wealth, a short time ago bought the Ramsden estate, 

 which covers a large part of the town of Huddcrsticid, from Sir 

 James Ramsden. Baronet, for £1.300.000 and resold it to the cor- 

 poration of the town, which is his native place, for the same sum. 

 Mr. Copley has only quite recently taken any financial interest in 

 the rubber heel business. 



EXCHANGE DIFFICULTIES 



Many orders are naturally being lost in this country and on 

 the Continent generally by agents and representatives of Ameri- 

 can firms, owing to the high rate of exchange. This is a matter 

 that cannot be righted in a day and it may possibly be a couple 

 of years before normal conditions arc restored. It seems to be 

 the fact that American houses, when quoting British and Con- 

 tinental firms, oftener than not state prices in their own coinage, 

 viz., dollars or cents, and leave either their agents or customers 

 to take all the risk of the exchange going against them. This 

 makes business almost impossible, particularly where the agent 

 acts as a merchant, buying and paying for the goods he gets from 

 the States. In many cases it means, especially if making Con- 

 tinental quotations, that he. the agent, is to take the risk of two 

 rates of exchange, .American and Continental. It is probably the 

 case that mucTi more business would result if quotations were 

 made in the moneys of the country in which the goods were being 

 sold, as it seems reasonably certain that manufacturers, particu- 

 larly on the Continent, would rather pay a slightly higher price 

 and have quotations in their own coinage, as it would put them 

 in a position to fix the actual cost price of their goods. Refer- 

 ence is made more particularly to raw materials or semi-manu- 

 factured goods, such as reclaimed rubber, subject to periodical 

 price changes, and not so much to manufactured goods having 

 price lists exhibiting greater stability. 



THE GIANT PNEUMATIC 



The outstanding feature of the recent London comiuercial 

 motor vehicle show was the giant pneumatic tire, seen in sizes 

 ranging up to ten inches diameter. Certainly here and there 

 these tires have been seen on motor coaches and on some of 

 the smaller industrial vehicles, but this is really their first general 

 introduction to the public. Compared with America it may be 

 said that these tires are still an unknown quantity, and it is not 

 surprising that controversy has arisen as to their potentialities. 

 It seems to be established that they give greater tractive power, 

 which is really only to be expected. Further, a better average 

 pace is maintainable over varying conditions of road surfaces. 

 This point is not of such great moment here as in America, owing 

 to the higher average of good roads in Britain. However that 

 may be, there is little doubt that even on good roads there is 

 almost an entire elimination of the road shocks experienced with 

 solid tires and this leads to a reduction in the maintenance costs of 

 the chassis. One expert has expressed the opinion that the saving 

 in this respect is equal to the extra cost of pneumatic over solid 

 tires. Of course, while this may be eminently desirable in the 

 case of the motor coach, it may be plausibly argued that for 

 commercial haulage the extra expense would not be justifiable nor 

 would it be desirable to run the risk of a puncture or a blow-out. 

 It is probable then, that these tires will come into favor more 

 slowly for road haulage than for passenger carrying. As it would 

 not be feasible to inflate these big tires with a hand pump, 120 

 pounds' pressure being required, a power pump is provided, driven 

 by the engine, with a pressure gage and sufficient flexible tubing 

 to connect with the rear wheels. A year hence it will be possible 

 to talk about the capabilities of giant pneumatics, especially as to 

 whether they will stand up to heavy work under varying loads. 

 In the case of one of our three-ton lorries the total weight when 

 fully laden would be about six tons. 



With regard to the makers of these giant tires, the prominent 

 exhibitors were The B. F. Goodrich Co., The Goodyear Tire & 

 Rubber Co., the Bergougnan Tire Co., of Clermont-Ferrand, and 

 the Dunlop Rubber Co., Limited. It must not be imagined that 

 the solid tire was in the background at the show. It was very 

 much to the fore, and in the case of several well-known firms 

 llicre were developments and improvements. 



HARRISONS A CROSFIELD, LIMITED 



Charles 11. Clark, who presided at the annual meeting of this 

 company, referred, as is customary with chairmen of important 

 concerns, to the many difficulties with which they had been beset, 

 arising out of the disturbed conditions prevailing, and then pro- 

 Ceeoed to announce increased profits of £249,000 against £200,000 

 for the preceding year. He emphasized the generally accepted 

 fact that the fall in the price of rubber is not due to any lessened 

 demand for rubber goods, but that large prospective buyers are 

 at the moment out of the market, owing to financial conditions, 

 and this has caused supply to overtake demand. With regard to 

 the restriction of output of rubber, he wished it to be clearly 

 understood that this was only a temporary measure and one not 

 taken with a view of increasing profits, but in order to save the 

 industry from the continuance of losses which threatened to 

 cripple it permanently, many estates already producing at a loss 

 at the price to which rubber has fallen. This restriction of output 

 is really intended to safeguard the increased output of the future, 

 Mr. Clark contended. It follows, therefore, that instead of 

 merely looking after their own interests as traders in general are 

 said to do, the restriction in the output of rubber is really a phil- 

 anthropic act conceived in the best interests of others. With re- 

 gard to this point some evident misapprehension exists and it 

 will be recognized as debatable. With regard to rubber man- 

 ufactures, the fly in the ointment of cheap rubber is the popu- 

 lar outcry for cheaper rubber goods, whether or not the rubber 

 content amounts to 5 per cent or not. The fact that everything 

 else, except the rubber in the goods, may be "up" is entirely 

 ignored. 



THE FIFTH INTERNATIONAL RUBBER EXHIBITION 



The Fifth International Exhibition of Rubber, other Tropical 

 Products and Allied Industries, to be held in Royal Agricultural 

 Hall, London, England, in June, 1921. will certainly be an event 

 of outstanding importance. Already upwards of thirty British, 

 French and other governments have definitely signified their 

 intention of participating, while several others have provisionally 

 reserved space. Scientific bodies and commercial associations 

 will be well represented and large spaces have been secured by 

 leading producers, manufacturers, makers of machinery, mer- 

 chants, etc. The demand for space is unprecedented. 



The following governments have taken space and are well 

 ahead with their organization for eflfective propaganda : 



Helginra and Colonies 



Rrazil 



British rCorth P,orneo 



Dominica 



Egypt 



Fiji 



France 



French Congo 



French Equatorial Africa 



French Guinea 



French Occidental Africa 



Gaboon 



Gold Coast 



Ilaut-Senegal Niger 



ITaute Volta 



Tvory Coast 



Madagascar 



Mauritania 



Niger (Military Territory) 



Portugal and Colonies 



Siio Paulo 



Senegal 



Trinidad 



\'irgin Islands 



Colonel Leon Osterrii-lh has been appointed general commis- 

 sioner for the Belgian (iovernment, and in the arrangement of 

 the Belgian section he will be assisted by the well-known Congo 

 explorer. Commandant Cayen. 



A special committee, working under the enterprising direction 

 of W. S. D. Tudhopc. Director of .Agriculture, is collecting 



