12 



THE INDIA RUBBER 'WORLD 



[October i, 1903. 



"RUBBER FROM CORN OIL." 



IT will be remembered by those who follow the newspapers, 

 that some years ago the daily press chronicled the mar- 

 velous discovery that rubber could be manufactured from corn 

 oil, and jumped to the conclusion that in a very short time the 

 patient rubber tree would be put out of business. Rubber 

 manufacturers, and indeed those who manufacture corn prod- 

 ucts, had not such visions, but understood that the new product 

 was simply a rubber substitute. That this substitute would be 

 produced in larger quantities than any other and be shipped in 

 carload lots all over the world was not, however, forecasted by 

 rubber manufacturers. Such now, however, is the case, the 

 popularity of the material being due to its usefulness as a filler 

 and insulator and its absolute harmlessness when widely used, 

 besides which it has the advantage of low cost. 



There is perhaps another reason for the remarkable success 

 that this substitute has enjoyed, and that is the manner in 

 which it has been made and marketed, and that leads up to a 

 brief description of the company — the Corn Products Co. — one 

 of whose minor products it is. This company is a huge cor- 

 poration, which would perhaps by many be called a trust, with 

 a capital of $80,000,000 and operating a dozen plants, all of 

 which are located in the corn belt of the United States. These 

 plants manufacture glucose, sugar, starch, dextrine, syrup, 

 glycerine, cattle feed, corn oil, and so on. One of their new 

 products, which is now being widely introduced, is " Karo " 

 syrup, which is likely soon to be known in every household. 

 The company is under the personal management of Mr. C. H. 

 Matthiessen, who is the president, and who was in reality the 

 creator of it. He is notable for having up to date plans, and a 

 great staff of capable assistants and chemists. 



As was mentioned above, the Rubber Substitute is a by-pro- 

 duct, but has been developed as if it were a single manufacture 

 in the Corn Products Co., and it is all made at the Chicago 

 plant ; one grade only being supplied and the price to consumer 

 being based on the market price of corn oil. When one re- 

 members that but a few years ago a five barrel order for corn 

 oil substitute was a large one, and learns that as developed by 

 the company above named it is now sold in carload lots, the 

 story of a very interesting development is told. 



SO-CALLED "MANJAK" FROM TRINIDAD. 



THE reference to " Manjak as a Substitute for Rubber " in 

 the July issue of The India Rubber World was based 

 upon a report by the commercial agent for Canada at Port of 

 Spain, to the effect that large quantities of this material had 

 been discovered in Trinidad, and that it was being shipped to 

 the United States, where a use for it had been found in connec- 

 tion with India-rubber. Later this official made a further re-, 

 port in the same vein, besides which the British colonial report 

 on Trinidad for 1901-02 mentions the discovery of " manjak in 

 paying quantities " on that island. 



Inquiry has disclosed the fact that considerable of the ma- 

 terial referred to had been brought to New York by Messrs. 

 Arkell & Douglass, shipping and commission merchants, at 

 No. 11 Broadway, who informed The India Rubber World 

 that good deliveries had been made to a certain local firm of 

 dealers in shellac, varnishes, and the like, and that their under- 

 standing was that it was been sold for insulatiou work and also 

 for a floor covering. The India Rubber World was denied 

 any information by the latter firm, but there is reason to doubt 

 that any important amount of the material has gone into use in 

 connection with rubber or as a substitute for rubber. It now 



appears that the Trinidad product is not even true manjak, the 

 nature of which was referred to in our July issue. The follow- 

 ing letter has been received from an expert in asphalt products : 

 To the Editor of the The India Rubber World : In reply to your 

 letter of September 16, asking me in regard to the discovery of Manjak 

 in the Island of Trinidad, I would say that, although I am familiar with 

 the bituminous deposits of the island and generally have new materials 

 brought to my attention when discovered, I have never seen anything 

 that approaches Manjak in quality or characteristics which was found 

 in Trinidad. Smill veins of glance pitch have been discovered from 

 time to time, but have not furnished a commercial supply. Of late a 

 vein of Grahamite has been discovered near San Fernando, Trinidad, 

 but this miterial is very far removed in its character from good Manjak, 

 as can be seen from the data on an accompanying sheet. This Gra- 

 hamite is inferior to Manjak for varnish purposes. It will certainly not 

 yield a rubber substitute which has any value commensurate with its 

 cost. The San Fernando material is that which is sold on the market 

 as " Trinidad manjak." Very truly yours, . 



CLIFFORD RICHARDSON, 

 Director New York Testing Laboratory. 

 Long Island City, N. Y., September 17, 1903 



RUBBER CEMENT IN SHOEMAKING. 



THERE is an interesting history connected with the rubber 

 cement industry which I collected from a young man 

 who is now in the third generation of cement manufacturers. 

 The first cement ever made for the shoe industry was manufac- 

 tured by the late W. W. Hadley in 1850. The rubber at that 

 time was prepared with ether and chloroform and turpentine. 

 It was used for making " Compo " shoes by William Harris of 

 Marblehead, Massachusetts. For a long time after McKay 

 shoes were made it was considered too expensive an article to 

 use, and shoemakers used what was called a channel wax. 



This was used until the middle of the '6o's, although the first 

 cement made with naphtha was made by Jacob Hadley, of the 

 firm of Hadley & Pierce, of New Bedford, Massachusetts, who 

 by the way, were the first to produce naphtha from kerosene 

 oil. The first cement put upon the market cost $6 a gallon. 

 The materials at that time were very expensive and the pro- 

 cesses of making were crude and very slow ; but Yankee in- 

 genuity began to assert itself in this as in everything else. 



New and improved methods were brought out, which brought 

 the price down to $4 a gallon. There it remained for some 

 time, until competition has brought it down to a very low 

 price, although there are many different varieties of rubber. 

 Para rubber is used mostly for making high grades of channel 

 cement. - - - It is an easy matter to detect poor rubber cement. 

 Cheap rubber is chemically composed of 87.5 parts carbon, 12.5 

 parts hydrogen. Place a bottle of this cement in the window 

 exposed to the sun and in a few days it will go back to naphtha. 

 Para rubber acts differently. The naphtha will evaporate, 

 leaving only pure Pard rubber. — Shoe and Leather Reporter. 



French Talc and Rubber. — As far as the rubber business 

 is concerned, the use of talc commonly and inaccurately known 

 as soapstone as a support during vulcanization, is an old story. 

 With the advent of dipped goods such as finger cots, gloves, 

 etc., a new use has been born ; the talc becomes a dry lubricant 

 and a package of it goes with every pair of gloves accompanied 

 by the request that it be liberally used. As a matter of fact 

 the glove is most intractable without it. 



The Connecticut Asbestos and Mining Co. have been incor- 

 porated under the laws of Maine, with $300,000 capital, to con- 

 trol what is said to be the only asbestos mine in Connecticut. 



