April 1, 1912.] 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



^34S 



It is these admirable qualities that so highly commend rubber 

 hoof pads to horse owners, farriers and humanitarians. An 

 idea of the e.xtent of their popularity may be obtained from the 

 fact that in 1911 between 600.000 and 1.000,000 pairs of hoof pads 

 were used in the United States. 

 Naturally, the rubber hoof pads are best adapted for use upon 



Power's Shoe. 



Walpole. 



the paved streets of cities, just as it is there that they are most 

 needed, and it should be a matter of but a short time when prac- 

 tically all horses in the larger cities will be wearing them. They 

 are made in all sizes to fit any standard make of iron horseshoes, 

 no special iron shoes being required to be worn with the rubber 

 attachment. The pads are sometimes backed with sole leather, 

 sometimes with heavy canvas of special weave, and sometimes 

 with a combination of the two. 



As an invention the rubber hoof pad is classed as one of the 

 most humane and beneficent of mechanical devices. It has the 

 unqualified endorsement of such institutions as the American So- 

 ciety for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, the Veterinary 



Medical Association of New York, the Veterinary College of the 

 University of Pennsylvania, and many others. 



None but the best grade of materials is used in the manufac- 

 ture of these pads ; in fact, to use inferior goods would be an ag- 

 gravation and would defeat the purpose of the pad itself. In con- 

 struction the rubber is affixed to the leather or canvas base with a 

 strong, waterproof cement, and is then stitched through and 

 through in order to preclude the possibility of blistering or pull- 

 ing apart. The pads are a little larger than the horse's foot across 

 the quarters, and form a part of the shoe. In shoeing, the farrier 

 fits the foot and the pad with a three-quarter steel shoe of 



uniform thickness, using a little tar and oakum in the cleft of 

 the frog to promote a healthy growth of the foot. 



A set of well fitted and correctly adjusted pads will enable a 

 horse to give better service, and make him last much longer on 

 the hard and slippery asphalt and wood pavements than under the 

 old methods, while on stone pavements his endurance is said to be 

 increased by from three to five years. 



Hoof pads are made in three weights, light, medium and heavy, 

 and in as many sizes as there are sizes of horse's feet. In color 

 they are black, white and red. They have been used successfully 

 by owners and trainers of trotting and pacing horses. These 

 require a light pad, and this want has been supplied with a pad 

 that weighs but one, two or three ounces, according to the size 

 of the horse's hoof. 



Horse owners as a class are under the delusion that a horse 

 shod on his front feet can overcome all difficulty from slipping, 

 but this is not the case. There is just as much necessity for the 



horse to be rubber shod on his hind feet to save the hind feet 

 and quarters from the strain of slipping, and to give him greater 

 propelling power. It might be added in closing that the auto- 

 mobile has practically wiped out the coach horse, and has played 

 havoc of late with the coaching industry. 



NEW TESTS FOR INSULATED WIRE. 



The revised set of electrical regulations issued in 1911 by 

 the Electrical Department of New York city are noticeably more 

 severe than the old regulations. These new rules provide that 

 the insulation shall be of rubber or other homogeneous com- 

 pound which has been approved, and specifies a definite thick- 

 ness for each size of wire. The elasticity of the insulating 

 covering is tested as follows: The wire must be capable, after 

 the removal of the braiding, of being wrapped several times 

 around a cylinder of a given size without injury to the in- 

 sulation, the size of the cylinder being such that while most new 

 wires can probably stand the test, old wires, which when of in- 

 ferior quality tend to grow hard and brittle, could hardly pass 

 this test unless the insulation is of a very good quality. As a 

 protection against too soft an insulation, the rules stipulate cer- 

 tain tests, among which is the following: The braiding is 

 carefully removed from a portion of the sample (a short length 

 of about 20 inches being used) and the copper wire is con- 

 nected with one terminal of an electric circuit, of which a testing 

 tool forms the other terminal. The portion of the sample from 

 which the braiding has been removed is placed on a flat surface 

 and the tool edge, which is placed across the sample, is pressed 

 down on to the insulating cover with a pressure of 5 pounds, 

 which is maintained for about a quarter of an hour. The elec- 

 tric current, which must be at least 100 volts alternating is then 

 turned on and the tool edge must not sink far enough through 

 the insulation to touch the copper wire and complete the electric 

 circuit — a pretty hard test for a small wire but one to which 

 the best manufacturers have agreed. 



