442 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



[June 1, 1912. 



AN ABDRESS 

 ON RUBBER. 



to arise. Of course, it may be argued that if you get three times 

 as much so-called elastic for your money as you did in past 

 times the purchaser thereby suffers no damage, and the shop- 

 keeper may well say that he is not going to stock a high-priced 

 perishable article for which there is only a limited demand ; but 

 all the same it seems a pity for so many classes of rubber goods 

 to be losing their old reputations for quality by reason of the 

 stress of present day business conditions. 



At the April meeting of the Manchester section of the Society 

 of Chemical Industry Mr. Sydney Frankenburg, of the well- 

 known firm of rubber manufacturers, 

 read a paper entitled "The History of the 

 Commercial Development of Rubber." 

 The subject matter was limited to familiar ground. This, 

 however, did not detract from its interest to the audience, the 

 great bulk of whom were professedly ignorant of the subject. A 

 number of lantern slides showing rubber plantation scenes were 

 shown, together with numerous slides of rubber machinery, 

 bearing the impress of David Bridge & Co. In referring to 

 plantation Para, Mr. Frankenburg emphasized its inferiority to 

 Brazilian Para for the best purposes, and said that a spreading 

 test was the best to show their relative values. It is conceivable 

 that if plantation interests had been represented at the meeting 

 this remark would not have passed unchallenged. Mr. Franken- 

 burg, of course, is by no means alone in his opinion, and in 

 spite of the publication by rubber chemists of elaborate papers 

 showing that wild Para rubber is not superior to the plantation 

 product, manufacturers still hold their own opinion that it is. 

 The chairman said that what Mr. Frankenburg had told, them 

 was very interesting, and he hoped that on a future occasion he 

 would supplement his paper by a more technical one on the manu- 

 facture. But this, of course, is quite another matter. 



I regret to have to record the death of Mr. Arthur Birley, 

 senior partner of the firm, at Bournemouth, on April 26, from an 

 attack of pneumonia. The deceased 

 had been living at the southern watering 

 place since his retirement some years 

 ago from active participation in the business. He was father of 

 Mr. P. A. Birley, and uncle of Col. R. K. Birlev and H, A. and 

 J. H. Birley. 



New laboratories are now being erected by the company, the 

 present accommodation being insufficient for the growth of work 

 in this department. 



On April 11 a handsome testimonial, subscribed for by the 

 clerks and workpeople under his control, was presented to Mr. 

 A. F. Walker on the occasion of his silver wedding. It must be 

 about thirty years since Mr. Walker entered tlie firm's service. 



This circumstance is said to have brought about a large demand 

 for immediate delivery, wliich is expected to exercise a favorable 

 influence upon the English bicycle tire industry. 



CHAS. MACINTOSH & 

 CO., LIMITED. 



ENGLAND GOES IN FOE AEROPLANES. 



The British government has taken up the aeroplane subject 

 quite seriously. It has just authorized the purchase of 60 aero- 

 planes; and 40 more will be added as soon as enough members of 

 the army and navy have been properly trained to manage them. 

 ■ The government is also giving a great deal of attention to the 

 hydro-aeroplane. Many experiments with these amphibious ma- 

 chines have been tried by naval experts, and the probability is, 

 that the British government will order a number of them. 



The important place that flying machines are taking in tlie mili- 

 tary equipment of different nations may be seen from the fact 

 that for the current year France will spend over $6,000,000. Ger- 

 many, $3,500,000, and Great Britain over $1,500,000 for airships 

 and aeroplanes. ■. . 



ENGLISH BICYCLE TIRE INDUSTRY. 



Reports from England state that the season of 1911 was un- 



.'^ati.<:factory from the rider's point of view, rather than from that 



of the manufacturer. The hard roads affected the tires, so that 



most bicyclists have been obliged to replace their tires this year. 



A GIGANTIC VULCANIZING PRESS. 



t7 \ ERV manufacturer of rubber is familiar with the rubber 

 ■'— ' machinery made by David Bridge & Co., at their great 

 plant at Castleton, near Manchester, England. They manu- 

 facture a wide variety of rubber machinery, not only for use in 

 manufacturing plants, but on rubber plantations. The accom- 

 panying photograph shows one of their very large vulcanizing 



presses, recently installed by an English manufacturer. This 

 is not the largest press ever made by David Bridge & Co., but it 

 is quite large enough to be interesting. Its total weight is con- 

 siderably over 100 tons. It is built up on the duplicate ram sys- 

 tem, with a total of 12 rams. The bases are independent of the 

 cylinders, which are made of cast steel, so as to withstand ex- 

 ceedingly high pressure. This press has two daylights and three 

 platens, which make it possible to have a duplex operation. 

 These platens are so constructed as to prevent water lodging in 

 any part of them. In this way a uniform heat for perfect vul- 

 canization over the whole surface is obtained. The total pressure 

 on the platens is nearly 3.000 tons. The heads and bases are 

 separate in order to allow for expansion. At each end of the 

 press there is a special hydraulic plate charging and discliarging 

 apparatus, which is furnished with two plates on each side fitted 

 on runners so that the operation of vulcanization is not inter- 

 fered with. 



Machinery is to be installed at the Manchester, England, 

 School of Technology for practical instruction and research 

 work on india-rubber, and the Manchester 'Corporation has ac- 

 cepted the tender of F. Shaw & Co., Ltd. for the supply of experi- 

 mental plant for the equipment of a laboratory where research 

 upon broad lines will be carried out. During the last two years 

 courses of lectures have been given in the school upon the chem- 

 istry of rubber, and these are now to be supplemented by practical 

 work. 



GERMAN SYNTHETIC RUBBER PROSPECTS. 



While patenting its various discoveries, the "Farbenfabriken" 

 of Elberfeld, formerly F. Bayer & Co., has (according to its 

 statements at the annual meeting) apparently been making slow 

 progress in the production of synthetic rubber. One obstacle 

 seems to be the prospect of advanced prices in Germany of the 

 necessary raw materials. 



It is reported in the German press that the company may decide 

 to put up a plant for synthetic rubber in a foreign country. 

 Diplomatic reserve seems to characterize its policy, and the big 

 German concern is evidently the "dark horse" in the race. 



