THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



[DECEMftU J. 1919. 



Interesting Letters from Our Readers. 



ANALYSIS OF THE COVERINGS OF A ZEPPELIN. A BIT OF CHARLES GOODYEAR HISTORY 



To THE Editor: To the Editor: 



DEAR SIR;— The external covering (of a Zeppelin) was pvEAR SIR:— I wonder if you know that a man lives at the 



made of a tissue that was colored grayish blue at the top *-^ Congress Hotel in Chicago who was at one time quite 



and black at the bottom. The gray blue was obtained by intimaiely connected with Charles Goodyear? He is Mr. I. S. 



printing with indanthrene blue by means of a roller engraved Deutsch, whose father bought the Goodyear estate at Burrville, 



with very fine lines as though for a border of calico. The tissue Connecticut. 



covered with its varnishes weighed 146 grams a square meter. As a boy, Mr. Deutsch ran across a great variet>' of experi- 

 Treated with hot tetrachlorethone it loses its varnish of mental curios left by Charles Goodyear. Later, Mr. Deutsch mar- 

 cellulose acetate which dissolves ; with the varnish gone the tissue ried one of the daughters of the late J. M. Brunswick, the pioneer 

 preserves its coloring, therefore it was printed before varnishing. ol the Brnnswick-Balke-Collender Co.,' and here again he was 

 The composition of the tissue per square meter was: brought into contact with India rubber. For example. Mr. Ben- 

 Grams, singer, another son-in-law of Mr. Brunswick, vyas closely asso- 

 CenuYole''l°ce'tat'e' ■.".■.'.■.■.■.■.■.■.'.'.:;:!■,!■.■.;:;::;;; "iJ c'^^'^d with Dr. B. F. Goodrich, and it is said that It was he 

 The prime material of the tissue was cotton in very fine threads. who exerted strong influence in inducing Dr. Goodrich to go to 

 The lower portion was wholly black. It weighed 127.60 grams Akron. As Mr. Deutsch remembers it, Dr. Goodrich's intention 

 per s'quare meter. Treated with solvents it jdelded (1) Cellu- at first was to confine his factory output to hard rubber. He, 

 lose acetate, (2) Japanese black varnish. however, later went into mechanical rubber goods and a general 

 After the black varnish was removed it showed a blue-gray l"ie. some of which were made on patents, owned by Dr. Good- 

 coloring like that of the tissue of the upper portion. The black rich and Mr. Benslnger. 



varnishing seems to have been put on after the balloon had been Strange to relate, Mr. Benslnger was one of the first to sug- 



constructed, in order to make it less visible. The composition of gest the amalgamation of canvas with rubber to get additional 



the tissue, per square meter was : resiliency and durability, essentially the same construction as is 



Grams. now used for the manufacture of tires. 



^^.t^Lkr-::::::::::::::::::. tf w. c. jenkins. 



Black varnish 7. Chicago, llliuois , • >•.. 



The tissues contained no trace of rubber varnish. The cover- ^^.^^ ^^ ^.^^^^^ ^^ this sort are exceedingly interesting as they 



mg of the mtenor small balloons intended to hold the hydrogen ^j^,^ ^,^,^^^,^ ^.j^,;^^^^ ^^ ^^^^^^^ ^^^^ ^^^ oftentimes either for- 



was made of a thms.lk tissue, covered with a varnish formed of: g„j,^„ ^^ misunderstood. It Is the writer's impression, however, 



(1) Factices of chloride o sulphur that could be extracted with ^,,^j ^^^ ^^^^ ^^^^^^ ^^^.^^^^ ^^.^^ ^^ ^^^^^.^,^ ^^^,^ ^^^^ 



alcoholic potash. (2) A fat varnish of Imseed oil. 3) A ^^^^^ ,^„g ^^^^^ druggists' sundries and mechanical goods had 



varnish with a base of coumarone or of bakel.te soluble in a cohol. ^een installed and successfully manufactured. It may be true 



On this tissue were glued by means of a varnish of cellulose ^^^^ ^j^ Benslnger first suggested the amalgamation of canvas 



acetate two layers of gold-beater sskm. These gold-beaters skins ^j^^ ^^^^^^ j^ ^^^^^_ ^^^ ^^^^ ^^^ ,^^^ ^^^_^ ^^^^ .^ ^^^^^ 



were covered with a supple layer of cellulose acetate with a base manufactories for thirty or forty years, and indeed, dates back 



of furfurol. The composition of the tissue was as follows: ^^ jgjo^ ,„ be exact, when it was used in England. In fact, It 



Weight of whole tissue per sq. meter ^ISO.^' antedates the discovery of vulcanization. This statement of 



Weight of varnishfrt tissue.^^.^^. . . .^^.^^ 103. course Is not made to minimize In any way the work that either 



Weight ^Clvk^ <iU\i"/..'.''.'^".'.-^^"^-'.'-'.'.'.'.'.'.'.'.'.'.'.'.'.'.'.'.'.'.'.'.''.'. 84.1 Mr. Benslnger or Dr. Goodrich did, as the great company that 



Puri°"goirbe"a?er-s skin""'.'! ■.:;:'.:::::'.;■.;■.:::'.:::::::::::■..■:■ ilx ^^^ ''"'" "p through the pioneer efforts of these men speaks for 



Varnish of gold-beater's skin 11.9 itself. — The Editor.) 



Total weight of varnishes 30. 



This wrapper bore no trace of rubber. 



■-; Andre Dubosc. „ RUBBER in slickers. 



_ . T- ,T ' , on ,fM-i To THE Editor: 



Paris, France, November 20, 1917. t-v it a r. c-tt, t , 



I ^ tAK bIK:— In the so-called slicker as made to-day, is rubber 



PHILIPPINE GUTTA AND THE BRITISH. "'"^; ^'=°' ^^= "' "^^'^ '" *« "'d-ti"^^ ^'i^ker of forty 



years ago? 



To THE Editor : , _ 



DEAR SIR:-I understand from the newspapers that the Rockport, Massachusetts, 



gutta percha in the Philippine Islands is owned by the t-vUc. <,i;,-i,=,. ,o ~-j 4. j .. ■ 1.1. t j j 



T, •.• u T^, . A .Mr .J . ^^"^ Slicker as made to-day contains no rubber. It depend* 



British. That we Americans are practically frozen out and cannot ,,^„„ c„<„-;.,ii ^^ j -i r ■» . - ,• • 



^ ,. , T , . "Pon specially prepared oil for its waterproot qualities, 



cover our own cables without English consent. Is not this an- y^,^^ ^^^^ j,^^^.^^.^^^ ^^^^^^ ^^^ ^^^^^ .^ ^ ^^^ ^^^ ^^^^_ 



other case of unwarranted British aggression? i„„^d Cape Ann slickers. One of the prominent manufacturers 



^ „ .... ^ ,.^ . ■'°"'' *^ctORMicK. f„j.jy yg3^5 ^g^ ^^^ Le^j Ni^hok^n ^f Swampscott. They 



San Francisco, California. ^^^^ ^,3^ ^^^^ ^^^ ^^^^ ^^ ^^^ ^^^ ^^^ j^^, Cummings & 



(The jiewspapers are wrong. Philippine gutta belongs to the Howes at Orleans. They went out of business 35 years ago. The 



Filipinos, is gathered and marketed by them The middlemen are recipe used was : 



Chinese who ship it to Singapore, grade and sell it. If vou desire 1 gallon linseed oil. 



to lay a cable you can buy gutta in the Philippines if the Chinese iM'ounces'r'e/pari'rubber. 



do not get It first. If you do not plan cable construction but are Lampblack dissolved in turpentine to color. 



simply working up a racial grudge better thrash a Chinaman. One successful manufacturer treated the oiled surface \vith a 



Don't hit an Englishman ; first, because he is not at fault and sour milk wash with good results, an acid cure through the use 



second, because he is liable to hit back.— The Editor.) of lactic acid.— The Editor.) 



