August i, J904.] 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



389 



Exhibit of The Banner Rubber Co., of St. Louis, at the World's Fair. 



THE Banner Rubber Co., of St. Louis, are showing the 

 world how their products are made, by working a full 

 " ticket " on boots, arctics, and overshoes, in their own factory, 

 in the Palace of Manufactures at the World's Fair. This com- 

 pany has a floor space 12 X 32 feet, in Block 22 a, in the south- 

 ern section of the building. The booth is 12 X 35 feet, and 

 15 feet high. It was the original intention of the company to 

 operate a fully equipped rubber factory on the fair grounds, but 

 lack of space for the heavy machinery required in preparation 

 of the rubber, and for the vulcanizing outfit, made this imprac- 

 ticable. The work done in this booth, therefore, begins with 

 the receipt of the prepared rubber from the company's factory 

 outside of the fair grounds, after which the work of making 

 footwear proceeds until the products are ready for vulcanizing, 

 when they are carted to the factory. 



There are enough people at work at the exhibit, however, to 

 show the public how rubber shoes are made " in the Banner 

 company way." A comprehensive idea of the material used 

 may also be obtained from the exhibit, by a study of the con- 

 struction of the booth, which is made up largely of raw mate- 

 rial. The general plan is open, of course, which permits the 



exhibitors to bring out some unique effects. The rubber cov- 

 ered columns supporting the arches rest at the bottom on a 

 half "biscuit" of the crude article, and at the top they are capped 

 with the other half inverted. Washed and dried Para rubber 

 covers all the plain parts, and the entire booth has the appear- 

 ance of being built up from stock from the calender. Designs 

 worked out with heels, soles, etc., are used on the panels for 

 ornamentation. 



An unrefutable argument for the toughness of the soles of 

 the " Buckskin " boots is shown by an actual test in one part of 

 the exhibit. A strip two inches wide is cut from the sole of a 

 boot suspended by the heel, which has sustained a weight of 

 1 10 pounds. The loosened strip is stretched to more than dou- 

 ble its original length, and is held in that position by a fasten- 

 ing to the floor. A strip of the same width cut from another 

 shoe is shown supporting the weight of a ten pound flatiron, 

 and is stretched to a double length. 



It is believed that this is the first time that rubber shoe 

 making has ever been shown at any large exposition. Indeed, 

 no large exposition has ever before been held in a city where a 

 rubber shoe factory was located. 



