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THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



[June 1. 1912. 



THE RUBBER INDUSTRY IN JAPAN. 



By Our Regular Correspondent. 



JAPANESE RUBBER INCORPORATIONS. 



THE last twelve months have witnessed the incorporation of 

 various new Japanese rubber companies, supplementing the 

 important industry already existing in that branch, the princi- 

 pal features of which have been from time to time recorded. 



In May, 1911, the Kashima Rubber Works Company was es- 

 tablished at Takinogawa, Tokyo, by M. Kashima. It has 

 been employed in the manufacture of rubber thread, as well as 

 other goods, but is understood to be about to cease manufac- 

 turing operations. 



The Sanyo Rubber Works Company was established at Ushi- 

 gome, Tokyo, in June, 1911, by K. Inaba. Its product will 

 be chiefly composed of soles for sandals, its motive force being 

 furnished by a 25 h. p. boiler. 



After the destruction by fire of the plant of the Daishin Sha 

 Rubber Co. in December, 1911, it changed its name to the Sugie 

 Rubber Works, building a new factory at Kameido, Tokyo, to 

 which location it removed from Nitpori, Tokyo. The product of 

 the company chiefly includes medical supplies. The motive 

 power is supplied by a 60 h. p. condensing engine, and by a 70 

 h. p. boiler of Lanarkshire type. 



The proprietor is E. Sugie, after whom the works are now- 

 called, the experts being Mr. Iguchi, Bachelor of Engineering 

 (of the Tok>'o Imperial University), and K. Negishi. The prop- 

 erty of the company is about one acre in extent, of which the 

 portion built upon represents about two-thirds. 



In January, 1912, the Sun Rubber Company, Limited, was es- 

 tablished at Honjo, Tokyo, with a capital of $6,250, by Messrs. 

 S. Suzuki, K. Suzuki. T. Kato, Y. Kashiwagi and S. Shizo. The 

 manufactures are jinrikisha tires, molded goods and insulating 

 materials, the e.xpert being Y. Kashiwagi, who had been in Bos- 

 ton from 1904 to 1911, and who has haJ special experience in 

 tires. Motive power is supplied by one 25 h. p. engine. 



THE NIPPON RtTBBER COMPANY, LIMITED. 



One of the important concerns destroyed by the fire of .April, 

 1911, which laid in ashes the northwestern part of Tokyo, was 

 the Nippon Gomu Co., Limited (Nippon Rubber Co., Limited). 

 This company had been formed in December, 1900, through the 

 amalgamation of the previous limited partnership with the Ya- 

 shida Rubber Works. 



In order to prevent the interruption of the manufacturing op- 

 erations, two temporary factories were started in June, 1911- 

 In August, 1911, the company began the erection of a new fac- 

 tory at Tamahime, Asakusa, w^hich is approaching completion 

 and will employ 130 hands, the motive power being supplied by 

 five engines, with an aggregate of 100 h. p. Hose and bicjxle 

 tires will form the chief articles of manufacture. In hose and 

 tires the company's products have been recognized as being equal 

 to those of European manufacture. There are five directors and 

 two inspectors. Nissaburo Okuma is managing director, 

 while the technical expert is Seikichi Yoshida. The area cov- 

 ered by the company's plant is 1;4 acres. It produces 2.(XX) 

 pairs of tires monthly. 



AZUMA RUBBER WORKS. 



This private partnership at Honjo, Tokyo, is chiefly engaged 

 in the manufacture of specialties, its production for 1910 includ- 

 ing 216.000 rubber balls and 255.000 pair of rubber soles. The 

 motive power is furnished by one 25 h. p. engine- Mechanical 

 goods are likewise made. 



RUBBER SOLE FACTORIES. 



Rubber soles for straw sandals, etc., are made on a more or 

 less important scale by the firms already named, and, in addition, 

 by Chuo Rubber Works, Tokyo ; Nomoto Works, Tokyo ; Funa- 

 bashi Rubber Works, Tokyo; Tokai (or Kwanto) Rubber Man- 



ufacturing Co., Tokyo; Koyanagi (or Sigamo) Rubber Works, 

 Tokyo, and others. 



Rubber heels are made as a specialty by Ukawa Rubber 

 Works. Tokyo, as well as by the .Azuma Rubber Works, already 

 referred to. 



These details, in conjunction with those recently given as to 

 various large companies, illustrate the variety which marks the 

 growing Japanese rubber industry. 



A FRENCH VIEW OF REGENERATED RUBBER. 



IN the opinion of Messrs A. Murat and F. Leconte, in their 

 * recent communication to the "Revue Internationale" : 



"Regenerated rubber (if there really existed a product to 

 which this name could be given), would be that which, extracted 

 from rubber wh'ch has already passed through all the phases 

 of manufacturing, and has been thrown aside, can be renovated 

 and employed anew in manufacture; displaying qualities prac- 

 tically equivalent to those of natural rubber as it comes from 

 the tree." 



While industry affords numerous examples of this renovation 

 in the case of metals, glass, paper, celluloid, etc., it is remarked 

 that a complete and true regeneration of rubber does not exist; 

 all efiforts for that end having failed. 



This is attributed to the fact that the vulcanization which 

 necessarily precedes the industrial use of rubber produces 

 changes in its molecular condition, which may be compared to 

 the tempering of steel. It is added that this process has the 

 result of making the rubber lose its plasticity, so that the vul- 

 canized rubber cannot be directly used anew, but requires to be 

 transformed. It being insoluble in all the solvents of natural 

 rubber, and no solvent being known for it, a complete result 

 has not been obtained from the various experiments made for 

 the extraction of the sulphur held in combination. 



Quoting the words of the writers of the article: "There are 

 in reality, therefore, only 'pseudo-regenerates.' In practice, 

 after having pulverized the debris, the only course taken is to 

 iiitroduce a high degree of heat, in order to restore to the rubber 

 a certain plasticity; submitting the waste to the action of 

 hydro-chloric and sulphuric acids, which destroy any textile 

 substances present. This relative plasticity (always attained 

 to the detriment of the elasticity and tenacity) allows the prod- 

 uct thus prepared to be rolled, and subjected to the same opera- 

 tions as natural rubber. But it will not suffice by itself; to give 

 commercial results, it must be mixed with natural rubber, and 

 still only ordinary and sometimes medium qualities are obtained. 

 It is tliese agglomerate! waste products, which are currently 

 designated as 'regenerated rubber.' " 



Regarding the future, the opinion is expressed that while, as 

 long as rubber keeps at a high price, the industry will doubtless 

 continue to use waste rubber on a large scale, it is evident that 

 when it can procure natural rubber on favorable conditions, it 

 will cease to have the same interest in the adulteration of its 

 products. 



Such is of course only one side of the case, which is repro- 

 duced with the object of reporting the pros and cons of this 

 important question. 



RUSSIAN SYNTHETIC RUBBER. 



The report of the necessary financial arrangements having 

 been made for developing the recent invention of Professor 

 Ostromylensky is confirmed. It seems to have been acquired 

 by the "Bogatyr" Rubber Goods Manufacturing Co., of Moscow, 

 this company being said to contemplate increasing its capital and 

 manufacturing capacity. It proposes to erect new premises for 

 the production of synthetic rubber on a large scale. The project 

 will be submitted to the shareholders at the approaching general 

 meeting of the company. 



