February 



1904.] 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



145 



LESSON OF THE RUBBER STATISTICS. 





QmA-P0 # 



Published on the 1st of each Month by 



THE INDIA RUBBER PUBLISHING CO. 



No. 150 NASSAU ST., NEW YORK. 



HENRY C. PEARSON, 



EDITOR. 



HAWTHORNE HILL, 



ASSOCIATE. 



Vol. 29. 



FEBRUARY 1, 1904. 



No. 5. 



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Entered at New York Post Office as mail matter of the second-class. 



TABLE OF CONTENTS. 



PAGE. 



Editorial : 



Lesson of the Rubber Statistics 145 



Real Test of the Automobile 146 



Mr. Pearson in Ceylon 147 



New Trade Publications 147 



The Congo Rubber Prospect 148 



Papers on Air Brake Hose -III 149 



[Air Brake Hose in Service. With Six Illustrations.] 



Rubber and Textile Testing Machines 152 



[With Three Illustrations.] 



Vulcanization and Vulcanizing Temperatures 153 



The India-Rubber Trade in Great Britain 



Our Regular Cnrrtspondtnt 155 



[tf)03— A Retrospect. Electrical Matters. Rubber Footwear. North- 

 western Rubber C 5. Seddon Motor Tire. New Packing Work. The 

 New Gutta-Percha Co. Parliament in the Rubber Trade. Consu- 

 lar Reports on Rubber.] 



Rubber Notes from Europe 157 



[The Dunlop-Moseley Tire Litigation. United Staies Rubber Co.'s 

 Employes' Dinner in London. Notes.] 



The Fountain Pen Industry 158 



Tires at the New York Automobile Show 159 



[Detailed Descriptions of the Exhibits.] 



Recent Rubber Patents [American, British and German] 161 



The Rubber Shoe Jobbers Will Maintain Prices 163 



American Consumption of India-Rubber in 1903 165 



[With Diagram of Rubber Prices for Three Years.] 



Rubber Planting Interests 166 



The Textile Goods Market 170 



New Goods and Specialties in Rubber 171 



[A Non Puncturable Pneumatic Tire. Williams Non Slipping Tire. 

 " Kleen Inside" Nursing Bottle. "Dr. Hall's Magical Syringe." 

 " All Rubber " Stamps.] 



Miscellaneous : 



The New Rubber Shoe Prices 140 



Licensed by Macintosh (With Cut) 148 



-Why People Buy Rubber Shoes , 151 



Richard Butler Scholarship . . 164 



Rubbered Wheels for Trucks ( With Cut) 164 



American Rubber Goods Exports 177 



Amazon Steam Navlga ion Co. 177 



News of the American Rubber Trade 172 



The Trade in Chicago Our Correspondent 167 



The Trade in Akron Our Correspondent 168 



Review of the Crude Rubber Market 177 



\X/"E feel that the space devoted in this issue to statis- 



* * tics of the crude rubber situation is well employed, 

 for the reason that the figures are all recent, all carefully 

 prepared, and all authentic, and that they have a meaning. 

 They have come from many independent sources, and have 

 not been prepared for the purpose of advancing any par- 

 ticular interest, or proving or disproving any theory. 



They show, in the first place, that the rate of production 

 of crude rubber is larger than at any previous period. 

 More rubber reached the consuming markets in 1903 than 

 ever before within twelve months. And yet the standard 

 of prices was materially higher at the end of the year than 

 at the beginning, and the visible supplies of rubber were 

 exceptionally small. 



There is nothing in the recent large production of rub- 

 ber inconsistent with the idea that, on the whole, the nat- 

 ural resources are decreasing. Ever since India-rubber 

 first came to have a commercial value the wotld has been 

 growing smaller, in a sense, and its most remote recesses 

 becoming more accessible through the extension of trans 

 portation facilities. 



Charles Goodyear never heard of Manaos, and nobody 

 in his day thought of the existence of rubber in the district 

 of which the present city of that name is the commercial 

 and political capital. Yet there was shipped from Manaos 

 last year more than 40,000,000 pounds of " Para rubber," 

 most of it on ocean going steamers direct to New York and 

 European ports. There has been like development, but 

 more recent, in the African rubber trade. 



There is more rubber coming out of those countries be- 

 cause it can be reached at less cost and in less time than 

 formerly ; there was a time when transportation rates from 

 the upper Amazon were prohibitive. But so far as a great 

 part of the rubber regions is concerned, the faster the pro- 

 duct is gathered, the sooner will be the period of exhaus- 

 tion. British India formerly shipped millions of pounds 

 of rubber annually, and now only a few hundred thousands. 

 This country once obtained more rubber from Colombia 

 than from Para, whereas now the Colombian output is but 

 a drop in the bucket. 



Still, there is a great deal of rubber in sight. The con- 

 cern of the manufacturer at this time is not exhaustion, 

 but the fact that, with all the advantages of commercial 

 extension, instead of rubber becoming more plentiful and 

 cheaper, prices go up and stores of rubber become smaller. 

 The one consolation is the indication which these condi- 

 tions afford of a steady and general demand for rubber 

 goods, lending hope of the permanence of the industry. 



A rise in price does not lessen the demand ; there are 

 not only more rubber goods bought to-day, but better 

 goods than could be made when 60 cents a pound was a 

 price for " Para fine." One reason is that more people are 

 becoming able to buy rubber goods in the countries where 

 such goods have longest been known, and their use is be- 

 ing extended into new countries all the while. The out- 

 look is hopeful so long as the world wants rubber goods; 

 if the price of raw materials goes up it may interfere tern- 



