310 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



[April 1, 1912. 



that 45 per cent, goes into pleasure vehicles pure and 

 simple. The commercial truck, so rapidly increasing 

 in number, certainly escapes any suspicion of luxury. 

 But even of the light passenger cars a comparatively 

 small number serve solely to minister to pleasure. 

 The doctor hurries to his patient in his runabout ; the 

 business man goes to office or to factory in his auto, 

 and even the distinctively pleasure vehicle is put to 

 serious uses much and often. 



Then contemijlate that other 55 per cent, of crude 

 rubber imported into the United States, that goes into 

 the miner's boots, the lumberman's "overs," the arc- 

 tics and shoes that preserve the health of the nation ; into 

 the belting that drives the great factories, the humble 

 packing that keeps the machinery tight and effective, 

 the hose that fights the fire fiend, the hot water bottle 

 that does the work, while the doctor takes the fee ; the 

 — but why go on? Rubber takes on a thousand forms 

 that have become absolutely indispensable to the com- 

 fort, well-being, and usefulness of mankind. It would 

 seem on the whole that rubber is quite as essential to 

 a well-rounded civilization as sugar — at least as that 

 very considerable volume of sugar that goes into the 

 lollypop, for the destruction of the juvenile digestion, and 

 the five-pound boxes of bonbons, which keep the youth 

 of the land in a condition of perpetual insolvency. 



GETTING THE EAR OF THE PRESS. 



A yfR. MANDERS is a fortunate man. He has given 

 ■^ ' •*• the American press a new topic for discussion 

 and started a newspaper item that will go on circulat- 

 ing automatically for months to come. We refer, of 

 course, to A. Staines Manders, who organized so suc- 

 cessfully the two I.ondon rubber expositions, and who 

 is the organizing manager of the Rubber Exposition 

 to be held in New York next fall. 



When he arrived in port recently, to resume, on this 

 side, the work of preparing for the big rubber show, 

 which he has been carrying on so industriously on the 

 other side, he was duly interviewed by the reporters of 

 the metropolitan dailies. He gave them, out of the 

 fullness of his store, much valuable and interesting- 

 information about the exposition, its purpose, char- 

 acter, scope and prospects; but what struck them in 

 what might be called their news-center, and was duly 

 recorded and rushed into the composing room, was an 

 incidental observation that a scientist had analyzed 

 the dust of city streets and found among other in- 

 gredients, that it contains about 12 per cent, of rubber 



worn off from tires. "A truly remarkable discovery," 

 he added, "and probably we are actually swallowing 

 rubber the whole day long. Are we on the verge of 

 solving the problem of street cleaning? Perhaps. 

 Might not a company be formed to keep the streets 

 of New York clean, preserving the sole rights for 

 extracting the rubber?" 



This appealed to the newspaper men as something 

 brand new and worthy of exploitation, and it was re- 

 produced in many papers with varying comments. 

 The New York "Sun," with its accustomed jocularity, 

 began the story : 



AERIAL RUBBER. 



ALL VOU NEED IS A PROCESS TO COLLECT OVER- 

 SHOE REMAINS. 



It then proceeded to speak of Mr. Manders, the 

 coming exposition, dwelling chiefly, however, on "the 

 12 per cent." of street rubber. 



The New York "American," with several headlines 

 adequately displayed, devoted nearly half a column to 

 the matter, while its Boston namesake seized upon ]\Ir. 

 Mander's statement as a text for one of those large- 

 type open-work editorials, often referred to as "rag 

 time," vigorously attacking the present street cleaning 

 methods and pleading for the day when all street dust 

 shall be silently but surely wafted away through suc- 

 tion tubes. (Another use for rubber by the way.) 

 Here are a few strong words from the Boston editorial : 



"Some gentle dreamer" (Mr. Manders, though 

 hardly recognizable) "says that a fortune could be 

 made out of the dust in the big cities by collecting 

 it and extracting the rubber from it. 



"Twelve per cent, of the city dust, according to 

 the hopeful visionary, consists of rubber worn 

 from rubber tires and rubber pads on horses, 

 and a large fortune could be made for the city by 

 putting this dust through a rubber refinery and 

 getting the rubber back for commercial purposes. 



"What is more important than the money-mak- 

 ing dream of the scientific gentleman is his state- 

 ment, 'Few people realize that they are swallowing 

 rubber with every breath as they walk through a 

 dusty thoroughfare.' 



"That is quite true." 



And thence it plunges, as remarked above, into a 

 ringing argument for vacuum street cleaning. 



When the echoes of this interview had reached the 

 rural sanctums, where there is not quite the rush and 

 hurry under which the city dailies go to press, and 

 where there is more time to examine the psychological 

 and ethical aspects of a question, it was discovered 

 that this 12 per cent. — which by that time had in- 

 creased to 18 per cent. — of rubber floating in the air 



