428 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



March 1. 1921 



meet the requirements of tests given in Sections 4 and 5, the tubes 

 to be not less than 3/32-inch thick. 



(b) Cover. The cover shall be of the same quality of rubber 

 as the tul)€ and shall be not less than 1/16-inch thick.and shall 

 meet the requirements of tests K'ven in Sections 4 and 5. 



12. Dick. Construction. The canvas or duck used as a wrap- 

 ping for the hose shall be made from long-tihcr cotton, and shall 

 weigh not less than 22 ounces per lineal yard. 40 inches wide. It 

 shall have tivc threads per strand and not less than 16 nor more 

 than 22 strands per inch of width, for both warp and tiller. The 

 duck shall be cut and applied on a bias of from 42 to 46 degrees, 

 with edges lapped at least 0.5-inch and boih sides well frictioned. 



13. Fini.>;h. The hose shall be smooth and regular in size 

 throughout its entire length. 



V. MARKING 



14. Seki.m. XiMBER. Each lot of 200 ur less shall bear the 

 manufacturer's serial number, commencing at 1 on the lirst of the 

 year and continuing consecutively until the end of tlie year. 



15. L.ABEL. Each length of hose shall have vulcanized on it a 

 label of red rubber, as shown in Fig. 2. This label shall be applied 



A.B.C. ROAD 



NAME OF MANUFACTURER 



11 



SERIAL NUMBER 



J 



Fig. 2 



on the hose at a point 6 inches from the end (a variation of 54- 

 inch either way will be permitted) and with the top of the letter- 

 ing toward the center of the hose. 



VI. INSPECTION AND REJECTION 



16. Inspection, (a) The manufacturer shall afford the in- 

 spector, free of charge, all reasonable facilities to satisfy him that 

 the material is being furnished in accordance with these speciii- 

 cations. 



(b) The purchaser may make the tests and inspection to govern 

 the acceptance or rejection of the material in his own laboratory 

 or elsewhere. Such tests and inspection shall be made at the ex- 

 pense of the purchaser. 



17. Rejection. Material which, subsequently to above tests at 

 the mills or elsewhere, and its acceptance, or prior to being placed 

 in service, develops weak spots or imperfections, or fails to pass 

 any one of the tests herein required, within 60 days from date of 

 shipment, will be rejected and shall be replaced by the manufac- 

 turer at his own expense. 



18. Rehe.arinc. Samples tested in accordance with this speci- 

 fication, which represent rejected material, shall be preserved for 

 fourteen days from date of test report to the manufacturer. 



INTERESTING LETTERS FROM OUR READERS 

 ill-advised legislation 

 Tc THE Editor : 



DEAR Sir: I have your courteous favor, suggesting that I tom- 

 ment on the article on page 337 of your February issue with 

 regard to the carbon black industry in Louisiana. 



The danger to the existence of the carbon black industry from 

 ill-advised legislation, based on an imperfect and incomplete 

 knowledge of the facts, has called into being the National Gas 

 Products Association, which comprises the makers of about 95 

 per cent of all the carbon black that is made. The situation has 

 been carefully considered in the meetings of this association, and 

 we are very glad to avail ourselves of this opportunity to state 

 briefly the general situation as we see it. 



Carbon black is the base of the black printing inks of this 

 country and to a considerable extent of those of Europe and 

 Asia. Its chief use, however, is for admixture with rubber, to 

 which it imparts much greater tensile strength than any other 

 material yet used for this purpose. It also possesses the great 

 advantage of never wearing glossy, and is therefore not likely 

 to slip, and gives good tractile effect on a smooth pavement and 

 greatly diminishes the danger of skidding in tires. 



.Assuming the correctness of the article referred to, one of 

 the largest wells would have enough gas to supply all of the 

 carbon black factories in Louisiana, and it would be very regret- 

 table to deprive the world of carbon black when the gas in 

 excess of that required for its manufacture was one hundred-fold 



the present use for the same, and when the gas wasted in this 

 state has exceeded and probably is exceeding the amount con- 

 sumed, liy ".vaste," I r.itan the escape of gas unburnt into the 

 open air froin oil wells and from gas wells that are not wholly 

 under control. 



I particularly call attention to the fact that not only the makers 

 of automobile tires, but. also, of soles and heels for shoes, ferrules 

 for crutches, chairs and tables ; makers of rubber boots, hose 

 and other mechanical rubber goods, can greatly increase the 

 durability of their goods, if they will use from 10 to 25 per cent 

 of carbon black in their mix, according as they want a very 

 tlexible rubber or a very hard rubber. I have, for year^, worn 

 black rubber heels on my shoes, and find that they will wear 

 more than twice as long as leather heels and give a better grip 

 on the ground beside. 



I recently wrote to Mr. Polk, who is one of the leaders in tlie 

 movement to transport and distribute this gas, that so far from 

 being a hindrance in this laudable purpose, he would find the 

 carbon black makers the greatest possible help, first, by giving 

 such guaranties of an adequate supply of gas as could not be 

 otherwise obtained in that field, and second, by assisting directly 

 and indirectly in raising the needful capital. 



I received a very courteous and cordial reply, and I believe 

 that the situation is now better understood in Louisiana and that 

 no eflfort will be made to interfere with existing factories. 



We shall try to secure our members the permits needful to 

 erect machinery already contracted for. and when this is done 

 we think there will be a sufficient output to take care of the 

 probable increase in demand for some years to come, and the 

 question of wholly new enterprises being permitted to start is 

 less urgent at the present time. Godfrey L. Cabot. 



Boston. Massachusetts, February 7. 1921. 



GOODYEAR'S RUBBER CANNON BALL.S 



To THE Editor : 



p\E.«LR sir: Here is a bit of rubber history. In 1855 Mann- 

 '-^ sell B. Field was the commissioner from the State of New 

 York to the Paris Exposition. He wrote as follows : 



"Perhaps the most creditable exhibition of all was that of 

 Goodyear's articles of vulcanized india rubber. These were com- 

 parative novelties then and were manufactured by Mr. Goodyear 

 in France under his patents there. .After he had gone to a good 

 deal of expense in fitting up the compartment which was assigned 

 to him. the French exhiljition authorities insisted that he should 

 exhibit with them. This he was unwilling to do. They were all 

 inflexible, saying, 'Does the exhibitor present himself as manu- 

 facturer or as inventor?'" 



The writer does not state how the matter was settled. Then 

 he continues : "The day before the Exposition opened the 

 French Emperor and Queen were wandering from room to room 

 and. coming to the writer, the Emperor said, 'Good evening,' and 

 after a few commonplaces he said that in walking through our 

 department of the exposition he had seen many things that in- 

 terested him, but that nothing had so much pleased him as Mr. 

 Goodyear's vulcanized india rubber ; that among Mr. Goodyear's 

 articles, however, he had noticed something which had interested 

 him then and continued to interest him ever since. 



"Continuing, he said : 'In one corner I saw stacked as one sees 

 them in an artillery yard, a pile of vulcanized india rubber cannon 

 balls.' 



"I went directly to Mr. Goodyear's compartment, and asked 

 the person in charge what in the world he expected to do 

 with india rubber cannon balls. 'They are not cannon balls,' he 

 answ'ered, 'they are footballs.' " 



It seems the Emperor wondered how any preparation of india 

 rubber could be used for projectiles. Of course, this was before 

 automobile tires were thought of. 



Vineland, New Jersey. R. E. Hotchkiss. 



