February i, 1904] 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



151 



cover has been largely removed and the various layers of duck 

 exposed and in one place the wall of the hose completely cut 

 through. Faulty workmanship is shown in the hose illustrated 

 in Figure 6. The break occurred at a seam in the duck which 

 had not been lapped sufficiently to secure a proper hold. 

 There is no reason why the joint in the duck should not be as 

 strong as any other portion, if carefully made and overlapped 

 one inch. In the example illustrated the lap did not exceed a 

 half inch. 



The matter of flexibility in air hose is of especial importance 

 during the extreme cold weather experienced in the northwest. 

 The effect of frost in stiffening hose to the point of rendering 

 it liable to breakage by bending is given as the reason why the 

 C. M. and St. P. railway company specify three ply hose, Ji inch 

 thickness of wall in 

 place of the custom- 

 ary f ou r ply. It is 



1 



under a power punch through an 

 attached device which spreads 

 open and holds flat the split 

 hose as it passes under the 

 punch. In this way a series of 

 nine or ten locomotive throttle 

 valve packing rings are obtained 

 from each hose and. owing to 

 the high grade of the hose ma- 

 terial, a very superior quality of packing is thus secured and the 

 amount of junk rubber to be sold is considerably reduced. 



The absence of chemical requirements in the specifications 

 of hose is due to the practical impossibility of prescribing 

 them, and even more to the fact that the quality of the rubber 

 employed is effectually regulated by the simple physical tests 

 friction, strength, stretch, and set. The requirement forbidding 

 the use of substitutes meaning, doubtless, the sulphurized oil 

 products, is rightly insisted upon, although a reputable manu- 

 facturer would not be likely to use them. Refusing the right 

 to use reclaimed rubber is not so necessary. It isan undoubted 

 fact that the intelligent use of high grade reclaimed rubber re- 

 sults in a much better compound for the money than can be 

 produced without its aid. This is because of the fact that it is 

 essentially a fair quality of vulcan- 

 izable stock, possessing the physical 

 properties of new rubber to a marked 

 degree. There is no adequate rea- 

 son why its use should be denied to 

 the manufacturer of air brake hose 

 if the resulting stock fulfills all the 

 requirements of the physical tests 

 specified; a condition which is well 

 within the bounds of possibility. 



FIQ. 5- 



found that this 



construction gives 



ample strength 



and flexibility 



without kinking. 



The practice varies in regard to the plies required in air 



hose. Some of the foremost roads of the country find three 



ply hose satisfactory and gain in the matter of first cost over 



(our ply. 



Some roads secure a short additional service from broken air 

 hose by cutting out the unbroken part when sufficient length 

 can be got intact and uniting two such pieces with an iron pipe 

 nipple. This is not only questionable economy, but very incon- 

 sistent practice when compared with the same road's specifi- 



WHY PEOPLE BUY RUBBER SHOES. 



cation requirements, designed to pro- 

 mote safety as well as economy. 

 A very excellent method of securing service from the mate- 

 rial of discarded air hose is that adopted by one of the leading 

 American roads. The disused hose is split lengthwise on one 

 side by means of a circular saw. In this condition it is passed 



THE following paragraph, which appeared in the New York 

 Sun while the streets were covered with a foot of snow, 

 repeats an assertion which appears year after year, to the effect 

 that people buy rubber shoes to cover defects in their leather 

 footwear : 



The demand for overshoes is one of the best indications of what the 

 times may be. When money is plentiful there are few persons who want 

 them, for the reason that they are able to buy new shoes. When money 

 is scarce, however, the price of overshoes is better suited to the means 

 of most persons than the purchase of a new pair of shoes would be. The 

 proprietors of shoe stores are thus able to keep a more than usually ac- 

 curate tab on the state of the public prosperity. But nobody could fail 

 to regret that the real purpose of over 

 shoes should be so much misunderstood 

 that they should be used only when there 

 are weaknesses in the under coverings. 



According to this idea, the rubber 

 shoe manufacturers should have 

 their harvest during hard times — 

 the poorer the people, the better for 

 the rubber trade. Such, however, 

 is not the observation of the rubber 

 men themselves. Rubber footwear is in good demand when- 

 ever snow is plentiful, whether the people are rich or poor, and 

 is not in demand at any other time. 



George Ade, in his inimitable " Fables in Slang," has coined 

 a new phrase, which shows an intimate knowledge of the rub- 

 ber business. He calls rubberers " Goodyear specialists." 



