January i, 1904.] 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



117 



erratic, even on hose of high quality friction, that it is safe to 

 say that the test is regarded with less favor than any other. 

 So far as known it is employed only by the Chicago, Milwaukee 

 and St. Paul railway and Swift & Co. A far more reasonable 

 flexibility or anti-kinking test is that requiring the 22 inch piece 

 of 1} inch four-ply hose to admit of being doubled back upon 

 itself till the ends are 16 inches apart, center to center, without 

 kinking at the bend. Also the deflection test by measuring 

 the deflection when a piece of hose firmly clamped is support- 

 ing 10 pounds, 10 inches from point of support. 



Among the notable specification requirements on air hose 

 should be mentioned those of the New York Central and Hud- 

 son River Railroad Co. which call for composite tube and 

 cover — i. e., the tube is to be "formed with a complete inner 

 tube of T V inch rubber, wrapped with a single wrapping of 

 loosely woven 12 ounce cotton canvas, the whole being covered 



with an outer tube of ^' 3 inch thick rubber. Cover 



must be made in composite form, in the same manner as pro- 

 vided for with the tube." Rubber 5 'o inch is called for either 

 side of the 12 ounce duck used in the cover. There is doubt- 

 less some advantage against wear and weathering in the com- 

 posite structure of the cover, but hardly enough to compensate 

 for the extra cost in making such a hose. 



In the specifications issued by the Baltimore and Ohio Rail- 

 road Co. is an interesting attempt to express quantitatively the 

 values of friction, tube and cover. It is done by a calculated 

 summary figured from the data derived by the tests. As deter- 

 mined by this summary the "comparative figure," as it is 

 termed, must be at least 400. The calculation is made as 

 shown in the following example which is quoted from the 

 specifications and illustrates an air brake hose that passes the 

 specified requirements with 23.8 points to spare : 



Friction. Example. 



In minutes up to 15 mins. Xlo 14 mins.Xio= 140.0 



Tube. 



35 minus 1st permanent set 35 — 12;— 23.0 



15 minus 2d permanent set X 10 15 — 4^X10= uo.o 



Strength at beginning of 10 mins.-i-ioo 2O0-f-to0= 2.0 



Ultimate elongation -f-ioo ( 450^-^100= 4.5 



Ultimate strengthH-200 650^-200= 3.2 



Cover. 



35 minus 1st permanent set 35 — H#= 24 o 



15 minus 2d permanent setX5 15— 3£X5= °-° 



Strength at beginning of 10 mins. -h 100 300^-100= 3.0 



Ultimate elongation-r- 100 5oo-moo= 5.0 



Ultimate strength-H2oo 625-^-200= 3.1 



50 minus % drop in strength of cover 50 — 4^= 46.0 



(during 10 mins. under 450^ stretch.) 



423.8 



The entire calculation is purely empirical and the factors are 

 arbitrarily selected and applied with the evident intention of 

 emphasizing certain of the tests known to give high results in 

 proportion to the quality of the rubber stock employed in mak- 

 ing the hose. The principal points thus markedly influencing 

 the final " comparative figure " are the friction, the permanent 

 set of tube and cover, and the percentage of drop or reduction 

 in strength of cover when under strain for ten minutes. 



It is stated that, as a result of these specifications, the life of 

 air brake hose on the Baltimore and Ohio has increased from 

 about 12 months for regular brands to about 24 months for 

 specification goods. If this be so, there would seem to be no 

 pecuniary advantage in paying high prices for specification 

 goods over medium priced regular brands with 24 months 

 guarantee. 



[concluding paper next month.] 



AN OLD SCHEME UNDER A NEW NAME. 



THERE has been widely distributed of late a printed sheet 

 with the heading Financial Topics — Vol. I, No. 1 ; De- 

 cember, 1903. It purports to be issued fiom — 



Room 717, Exchange Court Building, New York, 



The contents of the paper are devoted mainly to advertising 

 the "International Rubber and Trading Co.", the address of 

 which is stated to be — 



No. 52 Broadway, New York. 



Now it happens that these two addresses lead to one and the 

 same building. The latter address leads to the rooms occupied 

 by the late " Pard Rubber Plantation Co." The first leads to 

 a room on a lower floor, occupied by Mr. Jack Merrill, whose 

 versatility in advertising the shares of this company has been 

 mentioned hitherto in The India Rubber World. Which 

 would suggest that a certain investment scheme, no better than 

 it ought to be, is being conducted under a new name. 



There is also being distributed a pamphlet prospectus, bear- 

 ing on the cover the name " International Rubber and Trading 

 Co.", but filled inside with reading matter very similar to the 

 prospectuses of the old Para]Rubber Plantation Co. There is a 

 familiar picture — a view of the rubber warehouse of Messrs. 

 Witt & Co., at Manaos, but used in this instance as if to illus- 

 trate " Packing Rubber for Shipment " on the Casiquiare prop- 

 erty. The picture was derived from The India Rubber 

 World, by the way, and is used without respect for our copy- 

 right. 



There is not space here for a lengthy review of this prospec- 

 tus. But it is strongly advised that, before investing in the 

 company's shares, any one interested should investigate the 

 truth of the assertion (on page 13) : 



That there exist the best possible facilities for transportation. The 

 Amazon river is navigable for ocean steamers to Manaos, just above the 

 junction of the rio Negro and Amazon rivers. From Manaos, the rio 

 Negro is navigable to a point of conjunction with the Casiquiare river. 

 The latter joins the rio Negro river with the Orinoco river which, with a 

 Decoville railway at the Delta, is navigable to the Carribean sea. The 

 Casiquiare river is navigable at all seasons of the year, and no difficulty 

 whatever is to be encountered in bringing out the product of the region 

 contiguous to it. 



The " Decoville railway " should prove especially interesting. 



We are in possession of a letter dated December 3, 1903, and 

 signed by M. Doud as secretary of the International Rubber 

 and Trading Co., stating : 



The Company has contracted to deliver a large quantity of rubber in 

 the next ninety days, and will have no difficulty in marketing all that it 

 can produce, at a large margin of profit. 



According to this, the trade should be prepared, about 

 March 2, to see so much rubber thrown upon the market as to 

 depress prices below all records. Anything like stability in 

 crude rubber prices is maintained nowadays only by the free 

 exchange of information regarding stocks. But a $10,000,000 

 trading company that holds up its sleeve — or up the Casiqui- 

 are river — an indefinite large supply of rubber, about which 

 it refuses any information, could play havoc with the market 

 any day. It will be time to feel concern about this March 

 rubber, however, when it reaches the market. 



Asbestos in Canada. — The following figures, from an offi- 

 cial source, indicate the value of the production of Canadian 

 asbestos, in calendar years : 

 iSSi $35,100 1892 $099,878 1901 $1,259,759 



1S86 206,251 1896 429.S56 i°° 2 1,191,328 



The larger proportion of the asbestos exports are to the 

 United States. 



