January i, 1904.] 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



119 



many to be the case since the upsetting of the patent by Mr. 

 Justice Joyce. On the contrary, it has taken a new lease of life 

 in its works near London, though a modification is perceptible 

 in the extravagant claims made for the product in the days of 

 its first announcement to the world. The recently issued re- 

 port of New Pegamoid states that in spite of the cessation of 

 the large government orders due to the South African war 

 steady progress is being made, a dividend of 8 per cent, being 

 available for distribution. 



Some rubber manufacturers, more especially those whose 



business is practically confined to one class of goods, have been 



anxiously debating within themselves as to 



a question w hether the expenses incurred in the employ- 



OF POLICY. , , K , 1. . .- j 



ment of a regular traveler are really justified, or 

 whether just as satisfactory results could not be obtained by 

 means of postal communication alone. Of course it would be 

 difficult to speak generally on the matter; it is one for each to 

 decide for himself with the facts and figures at his disposal. 

 As a manufacturer there is much uncertainty about the prog- 

 ress of a traveler ; on one journey he may get satisfactory in- 

 terviews with customers and justify his appointment. Next 

 time he may find that he has been preceded by a rival and that 

 there are no orders to give away, or the buyer is engaged and 

 cannot see him that day. Next time, perhaps, he is more for- 

 tunate. Thus the cycle goes on, the result being that at the 

 end of the year the traveler has made his expenses. These ex- 

 penses of course have to come out of the price charged for the 

 goods, and it has occurred to some that this extra cost might 

 be taken oflf the goods if they were offered by the post. The 

 buyer would at once see the advantage in price and this might 

 do more in persuading him to give his orders than would the 

 persuasive eulogies of the traveler offering the same goods at a 

 higher price. As I have said, it is a matter for each to decide 

 for himself, but it seems of sufficient interest to make a refer- 

 ence to it. 



The Board of Trade Report on South African trade contains 

 one or two remarks of interest to our industry. Rubber goods 

 are mostly obtained from England, but there is a tend- 

 south enC y_ especially among American mining engineers, to 

 give preference to the manufacturer of the States for 

 mechanical goods. American goods are said to owe their su- 

 periority to attention to small details and the British manufac- 

 turer is exhorted to act on similar lines if he would stem the 

 threatened loss of his prestige. With regard to the require- 

 ments of the mining engineer, I referred in a recent issue to 

 the fact of the rubber belts for Frue vanners being mainly sup- 

 plied from America and I suggested that British manufactur- 

 ers might look into this matter. Events, however, move rapidly 

 in mining and I hope I shall not be accused of any under- 

 hand motive if I say that the Frue vanner with its rubber belt 

 bids fair to be more and more displaced by the Wilfley concen- 

 trator. In this machine the buddling surface consists of lino- 

 leum, this material having been selected as the best after a 

 long series of experiments, in which wood, rubber, marble, slate, 

 and numerous metals were tried. I am not here advertising 

 the merits of any particular form of concentrating table, but it 

 seems important to say that recent events go to show that the 

 amount of rubber used in mining machinery may decrease 

 rather than increase. 



It would seem that the prominent position of the Dunlop 

 ompany as litigants in the courts is to be sustained right up 



to the lapsing of the patents, a date which is now 

 dunlop rapidly approaching. The recent action against 



Messrs. Moseley failed because the judge held that 

 the manufacture and sale of outer covers alone was not an in- 



fringement. In another case versus the North British Rubber 

 Co. the Dunlop company were not more fortunate. This some- 

 what complicated action had to do with the arrangement come 

 to between the North British Co. and Michelin of Clermont-Fer- 

 rand for the latter to manufacture the clincher motor tire for 

 sale by the former in England. The arrangement certainly 

 caused some little surprise when it was announced about a 

 year ago, because it seemed to amount to a confession by the 

 North British that their own manufacture was not up to the 

 mark. In connection with some remarks on the Dunlop pat- 

 ents a London financial paper says : ■' We are not sure it will 

 not be a good thing for the company to be relieved of the ne- 

 cessity for constant litigation which the protection of its pat- 

 ents has involved and in future have to rely entirely on excel- 

 lence of manufacture and superiority of workmanship." Apart 

 from litigation troubles it is satisfactory to see from the recent 

 balance sheet how the earnings and prospects of the company 

 have increased. 



I had the pleasure in November of meeting Mr. Pearson in 

 London, and I take the present opportunity of conveying to 

 those British manufacturers whom Mr. Pearson had 

 no time to call upon, his regret that the time at his 

 disposal in England was too short to enable him to 

 renew old friendships or to add to the list of subscribers with 

 whom he has personal acquaintance. I am sure that those 

 members of the trade who have experienced our editor's hos- 

 pitality and attention when in the States will regret that his 

 brief stay in England allowed only of a stoppage in Liverpool 

 and London, and the more prolonged visit to our shores which 

 he proposes to make at no distant date will doubtless be antici- 

 pated with pleasure. Mr. Pearson is at present in Ceylon and 

 proposes to return to the States via Japan on the completion of 

 his tour. 



DEMAND FOR AUTOMOBILE TIRES. 



OUR 

 EDITOR. 



UNDER the new law in New York state licensing automo- 

 biles and requiring each to be tagged with a number j 

 about 8800 machines have been registered, of which number it 

 is estimated that one half are owned in New York city. There 

 is no city office, by the way, for the registry of automobiles. 

 To take this state alone, an idea of the great expenditure for 

 automobile tires may be gained. The report of the 500 mile re- 

 liability contest, between New York and Boston, in October, 

 1902, indicated $35 each as the average retail price of the tires 

 on the automobiles entered. An official of the Automobile 

 Club of America, under whose auspices the contest was made, 

 estimates that the average pleasure car now in use in the 

 United States requires six tires per year. Applying this esti- 

 mate, and the above price of tires, to the number of automo- 

 biles registered in New York state, a yearly expenditure of $1,- 

 848,000 for tires would be required. But the above list in- 

 cludes many heavy commercial vehicles, requiring heavier and 

 more expensive tires than were entered in the New York- Bos- 

 ton contest, so that the expense for tires is probably nearer $2,- 

 ooo,ooo.==On March 23, 1903, an automobile licensing act 

 went into effect in New Jersey, and on December 15 it was re- 

 ported that 4287 machines had been licensed in that state. In 

 Connecticut, 1343 automobiles have been registered, and in 

 Massachusetts 3714, of which 500 are motor cycles. It is un- 

 derstood, of course, that some of these figures are duplicates, 

 the same vehicle being registered in two states. A recent 

 statement was to the effect that 1700 automobiles weVe owned 

 in the city of Chicago. There certainly must be as many more 

 automobiles in the remaining forty states. 



