386 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



[May 1, 1912. 



templated, by means of tests made of fabrics, which have been 

 long in use, to define the changes produced in them by age under 

 the influences of weather, and under the mechanical strains to 

 which they have been subjected during flight and in landing. 



One large firm availed itself freely of the facilities thus af- 

 forded by the bureau, upon the occasion of its being in litigation 

 with another firm, respecting the delivery of a balloon covering. 

 It was important to prove to what extent the fabric had suffered 

 from long storage and through having been packed several times. 



It is of interest to note that the Gross-Lichterfelde bureau is 

 keeping fully abreast of the progress of modern science in its 

 latest development. 



ASBESTOS FABRICS. 



NEW TESTS OF RUBBER. 



AT the recent Berlin meeting of the Prussian Association 

 for the Promotion of Industry, interesting addresses 

 were delivered by Professor Memmler and Professor Hinrich- 

 s,en, both of the Ro3'al Material Testing Bureau, Gross-Lich- 

 terfelde. While the former dealt with the standard mechan- 

 ical rubber tests, the latter treated the subject of recent in- 

 vestigations as to the chemistry of rubber. 



With regard to artificial rubber, he expressed the opinion that 

 such material progress had been made that there was no longer 

 any reason to doubt the technical practicability of rubber 

 synthesis. 



Dealing with the subject of the chemical testing of rubber, 

 Professor Hinrichsen alluded to the understanding which had 

 been arrived at between the Royal Material Testing Bureau 

 and the United Manufacturers of Insulated Wire. According 

 to this agreement, the only organic filling substance per- 

 mitted is ceresine, to the maximum extent of 3 per cent.; but 

 no rubber substitutes. This arrangement, it would seem, 

 was mainly due to the opinion that there does not exist at 

 present any sufficiently reliable method of defining the pro- 

 portion of rubber substitute in rubber. 



In the ensuing discussion Dr. Frank urged that the addi- 

 tion of rubber substitute was of importance for the properties 

 of cables. He quoted the instance of a cable covering ex- 

 amined by him which had been laid in 1888, and is today in 

 excellent condition, though containing 28 per cent, of rubber 

 substitute. In addition he expressed the opinion that cables 

 laid in accordance with the new rules would not prove satis- 

 factory and recommended investigations for the purpose of 

 finding a new method of determining the proportion of sub- 

 stitute. At the same time he did not consider that the present 

 method of making this test was so inexact as had been repre- 

 sented. Doubts were, moreover, expressed whether the cable 

 manufacturers for the want of a suitable method of analysis 

 would give up the use of technically valuable rubber 

 substitutes. 



TO PROTECT THE TEIGGER FINGER. 



The accompanying cut shows a pad of rubber intended to go 

 .aroimd the finger of the man with the gun. The oval-shaped 



patch is, in fact, a small air 

 cushion which is intended to 

 go over that part of the finger 

 that pulls the trigger. If the 

 trigger is particularly hard to 

 pull and a man goes gunning 

 all day, he is very likely, if he 

 is only an occasional sports- 

 man, to blister his finger. This 

 little air cushion in the finger 

 protector is intended to obviate 

 this trouble. This protector 

 is made by S. W. Silver & Co., London, England. 



""PHE enterprise displayed by the textile industry in its quest 

 •*• for raw materials, is exemplified by the fact that German 

 textile experts see a great future for asbestos in that industry. 

 It has been stated by antiquaries that the textile qualities of 

 asbestos were known to primitive nations, the bodies of their 

 illustrious dead having been wrapped in fabrics woven from 

 asbestos fibers. The use of the material in garments was more- 

 over known to the old American people. It was, however, re- 

 served for modern times to develop its application to the tex- 

 tile industry. 



For various reasons, asbestos is particularly suited for use as 

 a textile material. In the first place, it is perfectly incombustible, 

 moreover it is a poor conductor of heat, and finally it deadens 

 the waves of sound. It is by no means a diflicult task for 

 modern preparing and spinning machines to spin the fibers after 

 they have been dissolved ; while among other uses of as- 

 bestos is the manufacture of carpets, which can be safely laid 

 in front of an open fireplace, without risk of fire being caused 

 by glowing cinders or pieces of wood. Asbestos takes dye ex- 

 cellently, the colors thus produced equaling those of wool 

 carpets. 



-Asbestos garments are prominent in various industries, all 

 workers in foundries and steel plants wearing asbestos aprons, 

 in order to protect their bodies from the radiation of metals at 

 white heat. Firemen in nearly all countries use asbestos gloves, 

 helmets and protective apparel, while asbestos ropes constitute 

 one of the most valuable appliances in fire department equip- 

 ment. 



Still another field is aft'orded by theatrical art for the use of 

 asbestos, with a view to eliminating danger from fire, all kinds 

 of scenery, backgrounds and curtains being composed of that 

 material. 



As pointed out in "Der Posamentierer," weaving asbestos in 

 colors is a new form of textile industry, particularly by its be- 

 ing woven in conjunction with the collodion filaments used in 

 artificial silk. In this way very effective designs can be pro- 

 duced out of the two materials combined as warp and weft. 

 When the fabric is woven it passes through a singeing machine. 

 By reason of the inflammability of the surface of the figured 

 collodion portion of the fabric, the singeing brings out the lat- 

 ter with distinctness, while the incombustible asbestos portions 

 are not affected by the flame, and thus produce any desired 

 lace or similar effect. 



Rubber Finger Protector. 



A CHART OF VALUABLE RttBBER INFORMATION. 



L. & W. Van de Velde, Antwerp, have recently issued an ex- 

 ceedingly convenient chart, which in compact form gives a great 

 deal of rubber information. It shows the fluctuations of three 

 grades of rubber — fine Para, plantation, and African — for the 

 last 20 years, giving the value of these three rubbers in francs 

 per kilo and in shillings and pence per pound during that whole 

 period. In addition the chart contains a table showing the 

 world's production of these three classes of rubber for the en- 

 tire 20 years, and the consumption in Europe and the United 

 States, and the total world's consumption of fine Para, and of 

 all other sorts of rubber. It also gives the importations of rub- 

 ber during this period into the various European ports and 

 into the United States. 



Jointly with this chart L. & W. Van de Velde have sent out 

 a handsome engraving as a souvenir of the fiftieth anniversary 

 of the founding of their house. The design, which is highly 

 decorative, shows among other features portraits, of, the four 

 most prominent members connected with the house at present 

 and in the past, together with a view, of their building in Ant- 

 werp and a rubber plantation scene. 



