THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



[November 1, 1919. 



and skirts, made by Miss O'SuUivan, assistant commandant and 

 clothing controller of the force. The main charge was that the 

 garments were cut on the bias, but the court found that only the 

 sample coat was thus cut, the deliveries not being cut in that way 

 after the lady had complained to Mr. Cohen. It was not found that 

 the contract negatived this form of cutting by which only a few 

 inches of cloth per garment would have been saved. The result 

 of the charges generally was that no one, either inspectors, 

 officers or contractors, was really to blame for anything which 

 had occurred, a somewhat common result when departments hold 

 their own courts of inquiry. 



LONDON BUSES. 

 A rubber authority has expressed the opinion that in less than 

 two years all London buses will be running on pneumatic tires. 



PROPOSED BRITISH ROAD TAXES INCLUDE TIRES. 



Suggestions for keeping British roads in repair by the taxa- 

 tion of vehicles, are made in the "Financial Times," as neither 

 the Government nor the local rates provide sufficient money for 

 the purpose. It is proposed to tax automobiles according to 

 weight on a progressive scale, so that a car weighing a ton 

 would pay ten guineas or about fifty dollars and a car weighing 

 a ton and a half would pay 465 shillings or about $116. The 

 proceeds would be devoted wholly to keeping the roads in or- 

 der. It also is proposed to tax pleasure cars in proportion to 

 the dust they raise and to impose extra taxes on tires that cut 

 up the road. English makers might thus be driven to manu- 

 facture lighter cars which could compete with the American 

 makes in the colonies and the foreign markets. 



AN ASSOCIATION OF JAPANESE CRUDE RUBBER MERCHANTS. 



The leading crude rubber merchants of Osaka and Kobe, 

 Japan, have organized the Osaka and Kobe Crude Rubber Mer- 

 chants' Association with headquarters at the offices of Y. 

 Miyagawa & Co., the standing manager, in Kobe. The other 

 managers are Otomune Shoten, Limited, and the Yuasa Trading 

 Co., Limited, both of Osaka, the Masuda Trading Co., Limited, 

 and Mitsui Bussan Kaisha, both of Kobe. The latter firm will 

 act as accountant's supervisor. The by-laws of the association 

 prescribe the procedure in all the transactions and disputes of 

 members. 



Other Kobe members include the Ito-Cho Shoten, Imaeda 

 Ryutaro Shoten, Oyawa Shokai, Limited, Ogura Sutejiro Shoten, 

 Kawanishi Zembei Shoten, Kato Shokai, Takahashi Brothe 

 Shokai, Tsuhara Hilcojiro Shoten, Naigai Boyalci Kaisha, 

 Limited, Nanyo Yashi Kaisha, Limited, Kuhara Shoji Kaisha, 

 Limited, Miyazahi Tatsujiro Shoten and Sugimura Sataro 

 Shoten. 



The other Osaka members are Higashi-Indo Trading Co., 

 Limited, Kawahara Girolsu Shoten, Furulsawa Shoji Kaisha, 

 Limited, Mitsui Bussan Kaisha and Gomel Kaisha. 



FRENCH RUBBER STATISTICS. 



Crude rubber was imported into France in 1918 to the extent 

 of 18,957 tons— a decrease of 3,644 tons as compared with the 

 preceding year ; 197 tons came from the United States and 12,910 

 from Great Britain. The importations of manufactured rubber 

 declined from 7,070 tons in 1917 to 6,526 in 1918. The United 

 States furnished 2,863 tons of manufactured rubber in 1918 as 

 compared with 2,705 tons in 1917 ; while imports for these two 

 years from Great Britain were 3,138 tons and 4,146 tons, re- 

 spectively. 



In the past six months of 1919, France imported 39,588,664 

 pounds of crude and reclaimed rubber, value $29,907,400, the 

 official figures quoted by "Le Caoutchouc et la Gutta Percha." 

 Of this 1,899,924 pounds came from French West Africa, 601,194 

 pounds from Senegal, 548,504 pounds from the French Congo; 



England contributed 15,782,070 pounds, the British East Indies 

 10,185,354 pounds, Brazil 4,687,861 pounds, and other countries 

 5,882,755 pounds. 



The imports of January-June, 1918, were 21,787,655 pounds, 

 valued $16,080,000, and in 1917, 29,159,142 pounds, valued $19,- 

 697,000. The value of the manufactured rubber goods imported 

 was $25,374,400 in the first six months of 1919, $11,078,800 in the 

 same months of 1918, and $14,962,000 in 1917. 



The exports of crude and reclaimed rubber, January-June, 1919, 

 were valued $4,886,400; in 1918 they were 4,471,812 pounds and 

 in 1917 7,678,022 pounds. Manufactured goods to the amount of 

 $15,112,400 were exported January-June, 1919. 



DR. ANDRE DUBOSC, C. E. 



THE LIKENESS here shown is that of the noted French chem- 

 ist, .'Xndre Dubosc, editor in chief of our valued contempor- 

 ary, Le Caoutchouc et la Gutta Percha." 



M. Dubosc's name stands high 

 ill the investigation and chemistry 

 fir rubber, and his books are 

 sianriard in the literature of the 

 nililier industry. His work, in 

 Liillaboration with Dr. A. Luttin- 

 ger, "Le Caoutchouc ; Sa Chimie 

 Nouvelle ; Ses Syntheses," pub- 

 shed in Paris in 1914, and in 

 English later in this country, 

 shows deep research and is a 

 valuable contribution on the sub- 

 ject. Equally valuable is his "Les 

 Cholsterols, au Point de Vue 

 Scientifique et Industriel." 



M. Dubosc is a tireless invest- 

 igator, and a prolific writer, par- 

 ticularly on rubber chemistry. 

 Among his studies and conclu- 

 sions may be mentioned the recom- 

 mendation of the use of formic acid, in place of sulphuric acid 

 in reclaiming ; the discovery of a new process for separating 

 pure rubber from combined sulphur in reclaimings ; a method 

 of determining the amount of uncombined rubber in reclaimed 

 vulcanized rubber; an investigation of the treating of crude 

 jelutong with acetone and ether; a study of the various methods 

 of analysis of the sulphides of antimony; of the influence of 

 hypophosphites on colored crepe rubber; a review of catalysis 

 and its application to vulcanization ; essays on rubber substi- 

 tutes, etc. Many of these were prepared for and published in The 

 India Rubber World. His briefs of the work of contemporary 

 scientists, as published in his own journal, show a complete grasp 

 of the subjects, much research and keen observation. 



M. Dubosc visited the United States in 1915-1916, and one re- 

 sult of his inspection and investigation here was the instituting 

 in Paris of a course in chemistry applied to rubber, similar to 

 those in this country, in England and in Germany, the classes 

 being held in his laboratory in Paris. 



Andre Dubosc. 



FRENCH TESTS OF PNEUMATIC AND SOLID TIRES. 



A N iMPORT.\NT Paris transportation company has 100 trucks 

 **• of 21/2 tons capacity running on dual pneumatics and is 

 convinced that, for a lYz-ton load the pneumatic tire is superior 

 to the solid because of its lower cost of maintenance and the 

 greater tonnage transported by reason of the higher average 

 speed. The experience of this firm is that with six-inch dual 

 tires on the rear and the same size single on the front, the average 

 tire life is 7.500 miles on the front wheels and 5,000 miles on the 

 rear. There is reason to believe that if these trucks had been 



