92 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



[December i, 1903. 



over it. It is absolutely waterproof and dustproof. It folds in 

 a case the size of a ladies' pocketbook and can be carried with- 

 out any inconvenience. It looks like a silk chiffon veil, and is 

 just as light. These veils are particularly adapted for automo- 

 biling, driving, and stormy weather. It will fit over a hat of 

 any size and will not harm the trimming. The demand for 

 these veils is constantly increasing as the ladies realize their 

 many advantages. 



CRAVENETTE IMPORTERS WIN. 



THE decision of the board of United States general ap- 

 praisers against Brown & Eadie relating to a protest 

 made by them against the collector of customs at New York, 

 was reversed on November 25 by Judge Townsend in the United 

 States circuit court. The case is known as the Cravenette 

 cloth case, and comes under the Tariff act of 1890. 



In 1893 Brown & Eadie made an importation of cravenette 

 cloth which was assessed for duty by the collector of customs 

 as woolen or worsted cloth, under said Tariff act at 44 cents per 

 pound and 40 per cent, ad valorem. The importers filed a pro- 

 test with the board of general appraisers, who upheld the collec- 

 t:r. In their protest Brown & Eadie claimed that the mer- 

 chandise was assessable as waterproof cloth at 15 cents per 

 square yard and 30 per cent, ad valorem under paragraph 369. 



The opinion of the board in overruling the protest was writ- 

 ten by Judge Henderson M. Somerville. In his decision Judge 

 Somerville stated that cravenette cloth was not a waterproof 

 but was a cloth which had been subjected to a process which 

 made it water repelling although it was not absolutely water- 

 proof, inasmuch as a quantity of water would soak through it. 

 His opinion further stated that the commercial interpretation 

 of the meaning of waterproof cloth was a cloth in which was 

 rubber, oilcloth or some material rendering it waterproof in 

 fact as well as name. 



The attitude of the government in the matter is, that if wool- 

 en cloth after undergoing a process can be classified as water- 

 proof the entire woolen schedule is liable to be abolished. 



Over 500 similar cases are suspended awaiting the outcome 

 of the final decision in regard to cravenette cloth. The case 

 will be taken to the United States court of appeals. 



RUBBER HOSE STILL IN USE. 



RUBBERMEN have their full share of the privilege of 

 reading obituaries of their business, and no doubt some 

 of the obituaries that are published escape their notice. That 

 may be the case with one published more than a year ago in 

 the Philadelphia Record which is brought to attention at this 

 late day only on account of the exceeding liveliness of the sup- 

 posed corpse. 



The article in question was an account of a metal hose which 

 seems on paper to be an excellent device for some kinds of 

 work to which rubber hose is not perfectly adapted. But the 

 point of present interest lies in the opening sentence of the ar- 

 ticle, which reads : " Rubber has been entirely supplanted in 

 the manufacture of hose, an industry which it was long 

 thought could be conducted only by the use of the sap of the 

 rubber tree." 



We may pass without comment the writer's evident pro- 

 fundity of knowledge of crude rubber and stop only long 

 enough to query what he supposed the manufacturers of rub- 

 ber hose were doing with their product. It is of interest to 

 note, however, that there was never a year in which rubber 

 hose was produced in so great quantities as the year directly 



following the entire supplanting referred to by the Philadel- 

 phia discoverer, and when sales were so large in amount. Rub- 

 ber is still used in fire hose, in garden hose, in brake-coupling 

 hose, and in all the dozens of minor varieties of hose that are 

 made and adapted to special purposes. 



One sometimes wonders at the persistence of the rubber 

 hose market, but reflection upon the growing demand espe- 

 cially for the kinds just specified makes the problem an easy 

 one. Besides the natural demand to replace worn out goods, 

 there is a rapid growth in all our cities, necessitating new sup- 

 plies of fire hose for new districts and garden hose for lawns 

 and gardens cultivated on what has been waste land. The rub- 

 ber hose business in all its branches is very much alive ; and 

 we do not hear that the metallic substitute has even made its 

 competition felt. The obituary will have to wait. 



GENERAL JEAN NOT FORGOTTEN. 



THE following, from the United States Investor (Boston), 

 recently, refers evidently to General Joseph M. Jean, 

 mentioned some years ago in The India Rubber World in 

 connection with the "Jean Rubber Co.," as well as the com- 

 pany named below : 



"91)22. (Allentown, Pa.). We would be pleased to learn something 

 in reference to the Franco-American Rubber Co. We believe that this 

 is a company incorporated under the laws of the state of West Virginia, 

 with offices at New York. 



" Ans.: We can find no record of this company in New York 

 city. From an authority on rubber and rubber companies, 

 however, we learn that such a company existed back in 1896, 

 though its life was short and sweet. A certain Frenchman, 

 ex-army officer and consul, for want of some more lucrative 

 means of employment, finding some rubber lands in French 

 Guiana, conceived the brilliant idea of floating a rubber com- 

 pany that should rival the wonders of the " Arabian Nights." 

 Some influential New York people were got into the director- 

 ate and enough stock sold to guileless investors to pay Mr. 

 Johnny Crapeau's expenses to England, where he made him- 

 self and scheme prominent enough to get considerable news- 

 paper notoriety. After this, he and company escaped from the 

 stage of public attention. Only 400 kilos of rubber were ever 

 shipped, which fact is the best commentary as to what the 

 company amounted to." 



But where is General Jean ? 



RUBBER BOOTS FOR CITY WEAR. 



(< "T^vOES anybody wear rubber boots nowadays ? Why, we 

 •L' can't supply the demand," said the rubber dealer. 

 " True, you don't meet large numbers of men walking down 

 Broadway in rubber boots, but you would meet plenty of men 

 wearing them in the subway. 



" And stablemen wear them, and carriage washers; and men 

 in fish markets. Rubber boots are worn in fact by many work- 

 ers of one sort and another in the city. 



" In the country rubber boots are worn by farmers and 

 miners, by lumbermen, fishermen, and hunters, and there are 

 many so worn. 



" Coming back to the city, you will find rubber boots worn 

 in large numbers by small children ; every schoolboy wants a 

 pair of rubber boots, and a great many get them ; they have 

 largely taken the place of the famous old red tops of years ago. 



" Does anybody wear rubber boots in these days? Well! I 

 should say yes with great vociferosily." — New York Sun. 



