May i, 1904.] 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



277 



indeed all the firms in that quarter speak as if they had noth- 

 ing to grumble at in the way of trade. 



The recently published will of Mr. George Ash, of Claudius, 

 Ash & Sons, Limited, manufacturers of dentists' materials, in- 

 dicates that this branch of business is a profit- 

 THE able one ; / 300,000 odd is a substantial sum to 



DENTAL RUBBER , , , . . . ... 



business. leave, though of course it has not all been 

 made out of the goods with which we are con- 

 cerned in this Journal. Still from what I know of the prices 

 charged for dental rubbers of various kinds, and the grumbles 

 of individual dentists on the point, it is clear that the business 

 has not been carried on at cut prices. Some few years ago the 

 dissatisfaction of the dental profession — not, be it understood, 

 at the quality, but merely at the price of Messrs. Ash's goods — 

 led to the formation of a new company, in which many dentists 

 of repute are shareholders. This company is called the Dental 

 Manufacturing Co., Limited, and has a capital somewhere in 

 the neighborhood of £100,000, paying its shareholders substan- 

 tial dividends. It is perhaps worthy of mention that it is in 

 dentistry for the million, as carried on particularly by the ex- 

 ponents of American practice, that the bulk of the compound 

 vulcanizing rubber is used. Such material is not used to any 

 great extent by those whose patients belong principally to the 

 wealthy classes, its place being taken largely by gold plate. 

 With regard to Gutta-percha, I do not find that the artificial 

 product, New Gutta, has been brought particularly before the 

 dental profession ; probably the amount of prospective busi- 

 ness is not such as to warrant the expenditure which would be 

 entailed, though if it is true, as I am credibly informed, that 

 some dental rubber is retailed at £2 per pound, the profits on 

 Gutta-percha may be such as to excite interest and cupidity. 



It is not surprising that the rapidly approaching end of the 



Dunlop monopoly is heralded with a good deal of speculation 



as to the course of events after October next. That 



A NEW competition will become keener goes without say- 

 tire ... .... . , 



fabric. ,n S • in l ^ e meantime it is interesting to note that 



the Dunlop company have some interesting novel- 

 ties in preparation. I understand from a source which is trust- 

 worthy, albeit not official, that great things are expected from 

 the chain fabric tire, samples of which have survived severe 

 road tests in a most satisfactory manner. This fabric, I may 

 say, is the invention of Mr. Midgley, of Birmingham, acoworker 

 with Mr. S. F. Edge, of motoring fame. The patent rights are 

 now the property of the Dunlop company, who have been en- 

 gaged in their exploitation for some time, though the material 

 is not yet on the market. Briefly described, the iron chain 

 fabric, which is specially manufactured in Birmingham, has a 

 rubber surface applied to both sides. It is then subjected to a 

 high degree of pressure and vulcanized under pressure in 

 molds to form a homogenous body. The customary use of can- 

 vas is here, it will be seen, dispensed with. I understand this 

 fabric is specially intended for motor rather than cycle tires. 

 It is announced that a receiving order in bankruptcy has 

 been made against Mr. Henry Cresswell, of Woodley Bank, 

 Hyde, near Manchester, and the fact will 

 come as a surprise to many who watched 

 the building of his fine residence in the neighborhood of the 

 erstwhile Hyde Imperial Rubber Co., where his fortune was 

 made, and subsequently lost. It would of course be out of 

 place at this juncture to refer to strictly business matters, but 

 one may make the general remark that Mr. Cresswell was one 

 of those who profited largely in the early days of the tire in- 

 dustry but who subsequently got stranded in the shoals and 

 quicksands of its competitive days. After closing his connec- 

 tion with the firm above mentioned, Mr. Cresswell founded the 



North Cheshire Rubber Co., a concern which seems to have 

 found itself in difficulties almost from its birth. 



At the sale by tender on April 20 the Gutta-percha amounted 

 to 50 tons and the rubber insulated wire to 4 tons. There were 

 also 10 cwt. of ebonite shavings and dust. The 

 condemned amount of Gutta-percha is rather above the 

 average of recent half yearly sales, a fact which 

 shows that the extended use of the dry core or 

 paper insulated telephone wires has not had the effect of oust- 

 ing Guttapercha insulation. 



At the moment I am not in a position to give any details of 



the new rainproofing process which was referred to at the 



recent annual meeting of J. Mandleberg & Co., 



NEW Limited. The fact, however, that the firm's 



rainproofing . are bein „ exerte d i n t hi s direction is 



PROCESS. = ^ 



important as indicating the direction of popu- 

 lar demand and can hardly, therefore, prove comforting to those 

 who predicted a great revival of the rubber proofing trade. 



The result of the libel action brought by Captain de Keyser 



against Captain Guy Burrows, author of a volume bearing the 



subjoined title, will hardly prove welcome to 



'the curse of t h ose w ho have joined in the protest against 



CENTRALAFRICA." '. i. j ■ 



the alleged Belgian cruelty and rapacity in 

 the Congo Free State. The fact, however, that Captain de 

 Keyser recovered substantial damages does not at all show 

 that the charges generally are untrue. In this case a mistake 

 seems to have been made and the author has to bear the pen- 

 alty. It is hardly possible that wholesale defamation of the 

 character of the Belgian authorities and traders can have been 

 indulged in, and I have not seen any indications in the press 

 that the just demands of the powers for an en'quiry will be 

 abandoned, though of course the London action will not be 

 minimized in Brussels. It has to be borne in mind, moreover, 

 that Captain Burrows was without the assistance of a most ma- 

 terial witness whose presence might have materially altered the 

 aspect of affairs. Lectures on the subject, I may say. are now 

 being given in English provincial towns and if all that has been 

 and is being said is untrue the prospects of the lawyers in view 

 of libel actions must be considered extremely bright. 



MR. HENRY CRESSWELL. 



THE INDUSTRY IN AUSTRIA-HUNGARY. 



THE Vienna Gummi-, Guttapercha-, Asbest- und Celluloid- 

 Zeitung says : "The efforts made of late to place this in- 

 dustry in a healthy condition, which is very much needed, seem 

 to have had but little success. While the number of establish- 

 ments employed in this industry is comparatively small, a 

 material overproduction is the rule with most of them, and the 

 few exceptions would have to be induced to make great sacri- 

 fices in order to lay the foundation for a healthy condition. 

 The present condition of this industry, owing to the severe 

 battle of competition, is a distressing one. The recent an- 

 nouncement of the liquidation of a stock company seems to be 

 of little consequence ; the retrogression of the whole industry 

 and the hoped for improvement having been in vain, all the 

 factories are insufficiently employed. Another unfavorable 

 factor in this condition is the abnormal advance in prices of the 

 raw material (the market prices of crude rubber having ad- 

 vanced within the past six months nearly 50 per cent, and more), 

 and the factories are therefore compelled to sell at a loss, in 

 order to keep employed. Even if the recent attempts to place 

 the industry in a healthy condition give some hopes of a reali- 

 zation through the fact that a large banking institution has 

 taken the initiative, much doubt of its success still prevails, 

 owing to the difficulty of combining the varied interests." 



