Iantaky 1, 1921 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



249 



NEW USE FOR GAS CONTAINERS 



THE POSSIBILITY of usiiig gases extensively in new processes of 

 vulcanization, such as Peachey's, at once suggests storage 

 containers other than tanks which are weighty and not easily 

 moved about. The solution is the gas bag made of rubberized 

 fabric, a container whose prime function is to hold gas and not 

 to lift a load. 



The rubber gas bags used mi London buses during the war. 

 wlicn motor fuel became so scarce that gas was used in its place, 

 demonstrated that this sort of con- 

 tainer was entirely practical and, when 

 properly constructed, perfectly safe. 

 Needless to say, the sudden demand 

 for these containers resulted in all 

 sorts of flimsy structures being used, 

 with disastrous results in some cases. 

 The government formulated rigid 

 specifications for gas bags, providing 

 that two-ply diagonally doubled cotton 

 wigan textile should be used, impre,u 

 iiated with a primary coat of rubber 

 and then proofed with six coats of 

 rubber containing not less than 90 per 

 cent of first-grade native or plantation 

 rubber, the weight of the proofing to 



be six ounces per square yard between the plies. These require- 

 ments seem to have resulted in a stagnation of the industry and the 

 later abundance of fuel resulted in disuse of gas bags. 



In designing fabrics for gas containers, weight need not be con- 



of gases used for vulcanizing, it has not yet been ascertained that 

 the two gases would not be destructive to a rubber gas bag. .An 

 inside coating such as is used in gas tubing might ob\«ate troulde. 

 Ijig rubber gas bags have been used successfully as reservoirs 

 in connection with dirigibles. For companies having a small out- 

 put of gas as a by-product, cylindrical containers, which can be 

 suspended readily in the average size room, offer the logical 

 means for handling this supply of gas. For laboratory use or for 

 lilants where only small amounts of gas arc handled, small 

 spherical containers will be found convenient. 



Gonjyciir Tirr & Riihbrr 



The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. 



Suspension Test of a Finger Patch Which Failed When a 

 Load of 2,000 Pounds Was Applied 



sidered, and as a result the containers are built of heavy fabrics 

 to insure long wear and great resistance to pressure. In the case 



A S,000-Cubic-Foot Gas Container 



Gas containers are moored by means of the ingenious finger- 

 patch which shows so clearly in the illustration. This clever 

 device distributes the strain so that there is no disrupting pull on 

 any part of the rubberized fabric. 



SANITATION IN RUBBER MILLS 



Just as the old-fashioned, dingj', untidy store rather repelled 

 than attracted trade, and as its depressing atmosphere 

 lessened the interest and enterprise of its clerks, so, too, in the 

 grimy, dimly-lighted, and unsanitary old-fashioned workshop 

 the morale and ambition of the workers usually struck a low 

 average. The dissatisfied employer generally ascribed the 

 listlessness of his helpers and the relatively small output to 

 everything but the real cause — a lack of healthful and agree- 

 able surroundings for his employes. The modern merchant 

 has achieved success quite as much by his eagerness to better 

 working conditions for his help as by astute merchandising; 

 and the up-to-date manufacturer has quite as well learned the 

 lesson that safety, comfort, sanitation, and general cleanli- 

 ness for employes have economic importance, apart from ethi- 

 cal and esthetic consideration. Popular education is also 

 playing its part in bringing about improved conditions. Labor 

 associations are growing more exacting than ever about 

 favorable working conditions for their members. Hence it 

 seems fair to assume that in the near future the factories that 

 will get the choice help will be those only that offer to work- 

 ers the cleanest, most healthful, and most agreeable sur- 

 roundings. 



In an address on "Industrial Sanitation,'" the results in 

 progressive manufactories of an intelligent study of the work- 

 ers' health and comfort, and detailed means employed to bring 

 about better working conditions, were interestingly reviewed. 

 As beneficent measures of prime importance, ample light and 

 pure air, especially air free of dust and noxious vapors, were 

 stressed. Windows should be transparent, not merely trans- 

 lucent; walls and ceilings be dustless and grimeless if they 

 would function as they should in the scheme of illumination; 



'By W. X. Filch. Hircctor of accident prevention and sanitation. The 

 B. F Goodrich Co.. Akron, Ohio. Paper read before the Rubber Division 

 of the National Safety Council at Milwaukee. Wisconsin. September 30, 

 1920. 



