March 1, 1912,] 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



293 



The funeral services, which were of a private character, were 

 held on Saturday, February 17, at his late residence in Medford. 

 The pall bearers w-ere intimate friends and employes of the Well- 

 man Co. Me is survived by a widow and two daughters. Vir- 

 ginia and Marion, both very prominent in ]Medford nnisical circles. 



DEATH OF COLONEL J. W. LINK. 



The death occurred here early in January of Colonel J. W. 

 Link, who was responsible for the flotation of the Consolidated 

 Rubber & Balata Estates, Limited, and who was visiting the 

 colony in order to submit proposals to the government concern- 

 ing railway construction. Colonel Link was an American, com- 

 ing from an old Virginia family. He was a cadet at West Point 

 when the civil war broke out, and he joined the Northern Army, 

 in which force he rapidly attained the rank of Colonel. At the 

 conclusion of the war he engaged in engineering work in the 

 Amazon Valley and later he joined the German forces and went 

 through the Franco-German war of 1870. LTltimately he became 

 a naturalized British citizen. 



He was ultimately connected with several large business con- 

 cerns, including the Rio de Janeiro Docks. Later he turned his 

 attention to the industrial possibilities of this country, and he 

 was undoubtedly one of the first to realize that the balata indus- 

 try of the colony was capable of considerable development. 

 Eventually the Consolidated Rubber & Balata Estates. Limited, 

 emerged as a result of his activities, the intention being to pay 

 dividends out of balata while rubber w'as being grown. The 

 early company, the Balata & Rubber Corporation, was merged 

 with the larger company, together with the licenses of Messrs. 

 Garnett, Davison, McKinnon and Downer, which produce nearly 

 four-fifths of the total output. Up to the present, while it has 

 been found possible to pay dividends, little appears to have been 

 done towards establishing a rubber industry. 



It was the transit difficulty besetting the balata industry that 

 impressed upon Colonel Link's mind the need of a railway, but 

 it was in the early days, when he was engaged in the Amazon 

 \'alley, tliat he first conceived the possibilities of making a rail- 

 way from Georgetown to Manaos pay — and Manaos has grown 

 since those days. Colonel Link formed a syndicate of English 

 capitalists and drew up proposals which were submitted to the 

 local government in 1908. Among the major demands were 

 land grants of ten square miles in alternate blocks and a guaran- 

 tee of interest of 35-1 per cent. The governor of the colony. 

 Sir F. M. Hodgson, K. C. M. G., was not impressed by the sound- 

 ness of the proposal, and in "consequence of his representations 

 it was rejected by the Secretary of State for the Colonies, al- 

 though public opinion in the colony supported the project. Pub- 

 lic opinion in the interval since elapsed has strengthened and 

 solidified rather than otherwise, and it was with the object of 

 presenting modified proposals that Colonel Link w-as making this 

 recent visit to the colony. 



It is also said that Colonel Link was arranging for the com- 

 bination of balata licenses of Surinam and of this colony for the 

 purpose of simplifying the organizations and protecting the in- 

 dustry as a whole. Such a plan, while ambitious, would have 

 had far-reaching and doubtless valuable results. 



NEW TRADE PUBLICATIONS. 



'T'HE booklet recently issued by The B. F. Goodrich Co., under 

 ■*■ the title "Best in the Long Run." serves the purpose of 

 making the reader acquainted with the tires which have rendered 

 that concern famous, from the raw material to the finished arti- 

 cle, while at the same time illustrating the salient features 

 presented by the factory itself. 



• The center of the booklet is taken up by a graphic representa- 

 tion inside a monster tire, of the plant, which is a little world 



in itself of men, buildings, equipment .•uul ideas; the fact being 

 given prominence that an automobile tire large enough to en- 

 circle it would measure nearly two miles in circumference. 



Starting from the primeval forest, the progress of the rubber 

 is followed until it is associated with the fabric in the triple 

 capacity of covering, protecting and binding; becoming, in fact, 

 as it is remarked : "The rubber gristle to the fabric backbone of 

 the tire." An interesting chapter is devoted to showing "How 

 a Cotton Backbone Is Reinforced by Goodrich Methods." To 

 fitly describe this attractive booklet with its artistic illustrations 

 w^ould be to tell the story of Goodrich tires, which purpose is best 

 efi^ected by writing for a copy. 



In another booklet entitled "Nine Prophets and a Host of 

 Truly Wise Ones," the results are recorded of the recent post 

 card investigation of the conditions reported by 35,600 tire users. 

 Of the answers received 15,300 were from Goodrich users and 

 gave Goodrich tires an average life, before blow-out or replace- 

 ment, of 5,300 miles. To tire users this little compendium 

 specially appeals by its practical character. 



Catalogue No. 2 of the Hewitt Rubber Co., Buffalo, includes 

 complete lists of the mechanical rubber goods made by that com- 

 pany. Its perforated mats and kindred articles are shown in 

 colored illustrations. 



That the motorcycle, as a small automobile, requires a small 

 automobile tire for practicability and real service, is the lesson 

 inculcated by the booklet "Motor Cycle Tires" issued by the 

 Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co., Akron. Hence much that has 

 been and can be said regarding auto tires is more or less ap- 

 plicable to the other description. The Goodyear concern is 

 equipped for making 600 motorcycle tires daily and claims a 

 largely increased trade. 



Tires can double or halve the mileage and efficiency of motor 

 trucks, affecting the wear of all parts, however the truck is 

 propelled. Arguing from this standpoint, the Motz Tire & 

 Rubber Co., of Akron, has issued a neat booklet on "Multiplying 

 Truck Efficiency," advocating the use of "Motz Cushion Tires" 

 for light delivery cars and of "Motz Solid Truck Tires" and de- 

 mountable rims for heavy duty trucks. 



In the development of the Spring tire, the recently incorporated 

 American Spring Tire Co., of Chicago, claims to have begun 

 at the foundation (or rather the inside), and built outwards, 

 replacing the pneumatic tube by a series of steel springs, made 

 up in sections conforming to the shape and size of the outside 

 tire or rubber shoe covering. When the latter is placed in posi- 

 tion, the appearance of a regular pneumatic tire is said to be 

 obtained, with the avoidance of the troubles that accompany the 

 air-filled tire. 



The February issue of "Rubber," the house organ of the Bea- 

 con Falls Rubber Shoe Co., has a number of snappy articles, of 

 interest apart from their moral, which is thus editorially ex- 

 pressed, "Say 'Top Notch' to the next Beacon Falls salesman 

 you meet and see what he does." A large sheet of illustrations 

 shows the newest styles of footwear in the various Beacon Falls 

 brands, starting off with "Top Notch." Selections and mail or- 

 ders being thus facilitated. 



A hundred page catalogue, issued by J. C. Bailey & Co., of 

 Boston, might properly be called a museum of rubber goods. 

 It exploits such -a wide variety of articles made entirely or in a 

 large part from rubber. It runs the gamut from the "Bailey 

 Wont-Slip Tread Tire" to rubberized cuffs and collars that can 

 be laundered with a damp cloth. It contains at least a dozen 

 different articles that everybody has to use. It shows all kinds 

 of brushes, massage rollers, exercisers, gloves, rubber heels, 

 belts, bandages, hot water bottles — not only the usual kind, but 

 special bottles for the throat, for the ear, and for the other 

 parts of human anatomj' — soft and hard rubber syringes, rub- 

 ber matting, tobacco pouches, atomizers,' mattresses, chair tips, 

 clothing, shoes. It certainly shows a most comprehensive col- 

 lection of rubber goods. 



