544 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



[August 1, 1912. 



terial. A guarantee covering only noticeable defects and ex- 

 cluding responsibility for wear, is so far unfavorable to the 

 user. Thus a belting of such poor quality as to become useless 

 after a few weeks would give just cause for complaint, even in 

 the absence of visible defects. Qualities, it is added, which do 

 not last at least six months, do harm to the whole belting in- 

 dustry. 



Moreover, no belting manufacturer should hesitate about un- 

 dertaking a guarantee of longer than six months, but should be 

 guided by the price. It would not be difficult, it is added, to es- 

 tablish a scale of proportion between thickness, price and dura- 

 tion of the guarantee to be undertaken for rubber belting. The 

 nature of the work has, of course, a material influence upon the 

 life of the belting. 



While abuses have in some cases resulted from the improper 

 use of guarantees, to the detriment of belting manufacturers, the 

 opinion is expressed that they cannot be dispensed with. The 

 buyer will not and can not, in his own protection, abstain from 

 asking a guarantee. It is only necessary to look at such an en- 

 gagement in the same light as any other contract, and so to pro- 

 tect the interests of both parties, that it may give mutual satis- 

 faction. 



RUBBER GOODS IN MODERN TRAVELING. 



VIEWS OF GERMAN MANUFACTURERS ON BELTING GUARANTEES. 



As the result of a circular letter addressed to the members 

 of the Central Association of German Rubber Goods Manu- 

 facturers, it has been found that a guarantee on rubber belt- 

 ing for day work of a year, and for day and night work of 

 six months, was generally recommended as a normal maxi- 

 mum. Such a guarantee would be limited to defects in ma- 

 terial and working. 



The further elaboration of the proposed guarantees has 

 been placed in the hands of the Continental Caoutchouc and 

 Gutta Percha Co., of Hanover, and the Rheinische Gummi- 

 waren-Fabrik, Franz Clouth, of Cologne ; members of the 

 above named association. 



THE GERMAN ARMY STILL USING DIRIGIBLES, 



The appalling fate of the Vaniman balloon does not appear to 

 deter the German military authorities from further experiment- 

 ing with dirigibles as an accessory to army movements. The 

 German authorities have just completed the purchase of the 

 Siemens-Schuckert dirigible balloon, the greatest non-rigid air- 

 ship in the world. It has a speed of over forty-three miles an 

 hour. 



TARIFF REFORM IN HOLLAND. 



While the total United States exports of manufactures of 

 rubber to the Netherlands for the fiscal year 1911 only repre- 

 sented $48,240, rubber manufacturers doing business with that 

 coimtry will do well to watch the possibilities of the increased 

 trade which always precedes an advance in tariff. 



Holland has hitherto been practically a free trade country, 

 levying on imports only an ad valorem duty of 5 per cent. By 

 the measure now under consideration, three broad groups of 

 dutiable articles are dealt with : semi-manufactured articles, 3 to 

 6 per cent.; doors, window frames, and similar articles for use 

 in further operations 10 per cent.; manufactures available for 

 consumption as they are, 12 per cent. 



The free list is a large one and includes various descriptions 

 of machinery, while the duties on carriages and motors are in- 

 creased. Owing to the opposition the measure called forth, it 

 is now being studied by a government committee, but is still a 

 factor deserving of consideration. 



Replete with information for rubber manufacturers : Mr. 

 Pearson's "Crude Rubber and Compounding Ingredients." 



'I ' RAVELING has become such a characteristic feature of 



•*■ modern life, that in some European resorts the stream of 

 visitors practically never ceases. This is particularly the case 

 at some of the Mid-German points, where the season proper 

 lasts from May to November, with the addition of a winter sea- 

 son prolonged until April. This double season, unknown ten 

 years ago, is more frequently met with as the Alpine regions are 

 approached. 



One of the first results of this new development of traveling 

 is the improved comfort provided by hotels for their visitors.* 

 In catering to the more exacting requirements of travelers first- 

 class hotels (as a writer in the "Gummi-Zeitung" points out), 

 cannot do without rubber in its various forms. When leaving 

 the station on arrival, the traveler's luggage is carried to the 

 hotel auto by a porter wearing noiseless rubber heels, while the 

 auto itself conveys him to his destination on rubber tires. The 

 steps of the auto-'bus have rubber covering and the floor is cov- 

 ered with rubber matting. The rattling of the windows is pre- 

 vented by a U-shaped foundation of rubber, while the heavy 

 luggage is carried up a ladder with rubber-covered rungs to the 

 roof of the vehicle. On wet days the hotel servants and the 

 chaufl-'eur wear rubber clothing. 



The vehicle proceeds through the streets to the hotel, which 

 the traveler enters through rotating doors, the sides of which are 

 provided with strips of rubber, so as to exclude draughts. He 

 reaches the vestibule, which is covered with an immense rubber 

 mat, bearing the name of the hotel in large blue or red letters. 

 Passing over the rubber stair covering, made to suit the width of 

 the marble staircase, he reaches the hotel ofiice, being then con- 

 ducted to the elevator over rubber-tiled flooring by noiseless at- 

 tendants wearing rubber shoes. 



Meanwhile his luggage has been placed in his room on stands 

 covered with rubber, while the doors and windows are provided 

 with rubber strips. The bedsteads rest on rubber pads in order 

 to prevent noise. The doors leading to the adjoining rooms have 

 rubber strips for excluding sound, while the telephone at the 

 writing desk has a receiver and other parts of hard rubber, with 

 antiseptic protective mouthpiece of the same material. 



The bathroom has an anti-slipping rubber mat ; rubber tubing 

 conveying hot water to the foot bath and sitz bath. At the 

 douche is a curtain of rubberized fabric. After the bath the 

 traveler steps on to a rubber-sponge mat, where he dries him- 

 self. 



Having been thus "humanized," bodily sustenance next claims 

 the voyager's attention. On his way to the dining room he 

 passes by numerous doors, each with a rubber mat of uniform 

 size. When the dining room is reached he notices the waiters 

 first adjust the tables and chairs, the rubber casters of which per- 

 mit noiselgss movement; the ladies' chairs being provided with 

 rubber air cushions. Every separate course is served on a small 

 rubber-wheeled table. 



If the traveler then wishes to patronize the "Kursaal" he can 

 there try his luck at the "Jeu de Boule" in which a rubber ball 

 may win or lose money for him. Variety in play can be obtained 

 by the use of hard-rubber dice. In the restaurant the bottle of 

 wine he orders is served on a hard-rubber plate, polished like 

 ebony. 



Should there be a storm there is an opportunity for the dis- 

 play of ladies' raincoats, hurriedly fetched from the hotel and 

 showing the latest Paris novelties in that line. 



Rubber forms an essential feature of modern railway service, 

 through the adoption of many hotel conveniences. The traveler, 

 whether in motion or at rest, benefits all the time by the skill and 

 enterprise with which that material has been adapted to the needs 

 of modern life as a factor in its necessities and luxuries. 



