232 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



[February, I, 1912. 



shall avoid, as far as possible, personal comments and criticisms. 

 For to all whom they may concern, such experiences will, I feel 

 sure, be of more service if they are told in such a way as to 

 allow every one to say spontaneously when and where he will, 

 "How agreeably surprising," or "How utterly horrifying." But 

 in justice to the trader, I must ask my readers always to bear in 

 mind that manufacturers must not grumble about the difficulty 

 of getting new goods on the market unless they are indefatigable 

 in their efforts to bring their goods under the notice of the re- 

 tailers, and unless, they do their share of drawing public attention 

 to the same by advertising. And in justice to the public, who 

 are so frequently blamed for lack of enterprise in trying new in- 

 ventions, I would remark once and for all that no one can try a 

 thing of whose existence he knows not. Most people in this 

 world are too busy to hunt for what they want, so the things they 

 want must hunt for them. 



A few days ago, bent on the quest I have already explained, I 

 visited the Army and Navy Stores, one of London's old-estab- 

 lished and popular shopping centers. I went first to the rubber 

 clothing department. Here I was told that the latest novelties 

 were silk oilskins of a very light weight. I was shown them in 

 all colors, and one chosen at random was weighed for me ; it 

 just turned the scales at 1^4 lbs. This was a lady's garment, but 

 the silk oilskins for men were of about the same weight. My 

 special attention was also drawn to waterproof hoods in the same 

 material ; these, I was assured, were highly popular with ladies 

 for motoring, yachting, driving, etc. A feature of this water- 

 proof material in question was that it was made entirely without 

 rubber. (It is very difficult for me to refrain from making any 

 remarks here anent the importance of rubber maintaining its hold 

 on the waterproof market.) These stores make a specialty of 

 ladies' wading trousers for fishing; also of waterproof boots and 

 shoes with canvas and leather brogues. The only other novelty 

 I was shown for ladies was an attractive line in showerproof 

 theater-wraps, which, I was told, were equally popular for smart 

 automobile wear. In the men's part of the department, I was 

 shown a waterproof coat made of material put together on the 

 "sandwich" principle. This material consisted of two layers of 

 canvas, with rubber in between. The coat was put on the scales 

 for me; it weighed just under 2 lbs. In this same department of 

 the stores are kept various traveling requisites. A specialty is 

 made of "Hold-Alls," in the "sandwich" material already re- 

 ferred to ; these articles are provided with locks, thereby comply- 

 ing with one of the regulations respecting baggage that may be 

 put into the luggage vans of Continental trains. In reply to my 

 question as to what was the nationality of the various articles I 

 saw around me, I was informed that most of the goods were of 

 British manufacture. The Stores do a good deal of their own 

 manufacturing, but they buy the various rubber fabrics from 

 which they make their goods. The only foreign made article in 

 the department was a Belgian novelty, a self-inflating cushion. 

 America was represented by Boston overshoes. The assistant 

 waxed enthusiastic over their superiority, teUing me how very 

 light they were, and remarking that English manufacturers still 

 continue to turn out only the heavy makes, in spite of the demand 

 for the lighter kinds. By the way, the Army and Navy Stores 

 are virtually a private trading concern, and, as a general rule, 

 only members are allowed to deal here. But special purchasing 

 privileges are extended to Americans staying at the big London 

 hotels. 



Upon inquiring for the verj- latest novelty in the way of rubber 

 goods, the same assistant produced a "Foot-Cosy" hot water 

 bottle, made in the form of a tea cosy. 



Next I went among the Luncheon and Tea Baskets, where I 

 found that these widely used articles are still being made with 

 rubber foot-rests. There were various patterns, with corrugated 

 rubber on the top of the lid, inside the Hd a groove, and on the 

 edges of the body a round band of rubber to fit into the groove 

 and keep the basket dustproof and airproof. 



In the sports department I was shown some new rubber-cored 

 golf balls, which can only be obtained at these stores. These 

 balls have a wide marking, quite different from anything now on 

 the market, and on the authority of many players, this new plan 

 of marking gives remarkably fine results both as regards flight 

 and putting. Other avowed novelties here were roller skates 

 with exposed rubber cushions, and rubber coverings for tennis 

 racquets. The assistant did not seem to think that rubber was 

 being put to any new uses" in the way of sporting requisites. He 

 pointed out that the material was not being used so much now as 

 in the past for cricketing gloves. 



The automobile department could show me no improvements 

 in which rubber played a part. On the contrary, here my atten- 

 tion was drawn to a fine new car in which steps and footboard 

 were covered with aluminum instead of rubber, which we are 

 accustomed to find there. 



ESTIMATED DIVIDENDS OF ENGLISH RUBBER 

 COMPANIES. 



DL'SIXESS in rubber shares has been of late restricted on the 

 ^-' London exchange through the prevailing uncertainty as to 

 the prospects of the rubber market. While the dividends of most 

 companies have, it is true, fully corresponded with expectations, 

 the opinion has been expressed that the high profits of the plan- 

 tation industry during the last few years are due to causes 

 which today no longer exist. In consequence, many companies 

 have, it is understood, proceeded to establish reserve funds, by 

 which the shareholders, who anticipated high dividends, are at the 

 moment little benefited. While it is considered improbable that 

 the high prices of recent years will be again reached, a further 

 reduction is regarded as hardly likely. 



In view of these facts, an interesting estimate has been com- 

 piled by the London "Financial Times" of the dividends to be. an- 

 ticipated for 1911-12, by 24 of the leading companies, which are 

 quoted below, as well as the dividends paid for 1910-11: 



Dividends, Estimates, 



1910-11. 1911-12. 



.\Ilagar 10 12 



Anglo-Malay • • 100 40 



Batu Caves 150 100 



Batu Tiga 20 20 



Bikam 8 25 



Bukit Rajah 150 90 



Cicely 200 125 



Consolidated Malay ■ ■ 100 60 



Damansara fSelangor) 75 42 



Federated (Selangor) 140 90 



Golconda Malay 55 44 



Golden Hope ..... • 40 20 



Highlands and Lowlands 50 22 



Inch Kenneth 55 65 



Famuning (Perak) '. 20 27 



Kepong (Malav) 40 100 



Klanang Produce SJyi 90 



Linggi Plantations ■- 237i^ 100 



London Asiatic 25 30 



Selangor 375 178 



Straits Settlements (Bertram).... 35 13 



Tremelbye (Selangor) 25 36 



Lhiited Serdang (Sumatra). 10 14 



\'a!lambrosa 175 75 



2,183 1,418 



The above estiinates are based upon the monthly returns of 

 production as far as published and upon a cost equalling about 

 36 J^ cents per pound, in conjunction with a selling price of 

 about $1.095'2. It will be noticed that the average dividend is 

 estimated as showing a reduction of about one-third, as com- 

 pared with the rates paid for 1910-11. 



The United States imported from Russia in the year 1911, 

 scrap rubber to the value of $638,367. 



