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THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



[June 1, 1920, 



The Rubber Trade in Great Britain. 



By Our Regular Correspondent, 



THE TWO TOPICS about which one hears most at the time of 

 writing are the favorable position of the raw nib'or mar- 

 ket—that is,' for the manufacturers— and the budget with 

 its increase of the excess profits duty from 40 to 60 per cent and 

 the limited company profits tax of one shilling on the pound. 

 This latter tax will no doubt be the eventual permanent form of 

 the temporary excess profits duty, and its present imposition is in 

 order to get at the undivided profit put to reserve and after- 

 wards distributed in the form of bonus shares. It cannot be 

 denied that our manufacturers generally are doing much better 

 than was expected, owing to the dearth of goods in many coun- 

 tries, but they complain that the new taxes will have a most in- 

 jurious eflFect upon trade, as the large profits are required to 

 provide the extra working capital needed on account of the in- 

 creased prices being paid for practically everything. Perhaps 

 this statement should be taken with the proverbial grain of salt, 

 but to my mind the real trouble lies in the not too distant future 

 when European production of goods approaches the pre-war 

 standard and we have to meet serious competition with our high 

 wages bill and reduced output due to shorter hours of work. 



The present dullness in the rubber share market must be at- 

 tributed to the price of the commodity rather than to the new 

 excess profits duty, for although the newer companies are hard 

 hit by this tax, it is confidently expected that in 1922 demand 

 will overtake supply, with firancial results that will more than 

 make up for any temporary setback in dividends. On this point 

 we must wait with all the patience we can command to see if 

 the prediction comes true. 



WOMEN IN RUBBER MILLS. 

 In further reference to some remarks in the April issue of The 

 India Rubber World on the increased employment of women in 

 rubber factories, the position here, speaking generally, is that the 

 women taken on to replace men who were called up for service 

 in the war have been displaced by the latter on their return. In 

 those cases where the men have unfortunately not returned or 

 have preferred to take up some other occupation, the women 

 have remained at their new work where this has been satisfac- 

 torily performed. Thus one can still see women engaged at mix- 

 ing rolls, spreading machines, etc., work in which they did not 

 participate before the war, and this in the smaller concerns where 

 the nurse, the rest room and hot coiTee have not yet made their 

 appearance. 



The cotton mill boom appears to have almost spent itself, and 

 the trade is now threatened with a general strike of the opera- 

 tives for a larger share in its emoluments. There is hope that 

 the matter may be amicably settled, but the price of fabric is 

 going to continue a source of anxiety to those in the rubber 

 trade who use it extensively. 



CELLULOSE IN RUBBER. 

 The authors of the analytical method for determining the 

 amount of cellulose in rubber goods have rightly drawn atten- 

 tion to the fact that a wide search for various substances is 

 essential if the determination of rubber by difference is to be 

 taken as accurate. Except in such cases as fiber boot soles and 

 one or two other instances where the cellulose is present in 

 fairly large amount as a normal constituent, it seems unlikely 

 that the somewhat tedious method worked out will be a matter of 

 common application. When referring to experimental or an- 

 alytical work on reclaimed rubber the latter ought to be fully 

 described, as its variations are so great. In rubber reclaimed by 

 the mechanical method, no doubt the little cellulose left would 

 be in the form of the original cotton, while in an alkali reclaim 



it would be there, if at all, as oxy-cellulose, and it may be that 

 the acetylation method will not prove satisfactory in the latter 

 case. It is doubtful whether the cellulose determination as an 

 index to the presence or absence of reclaimed rubber in a mixing 

 will be found as reliable as the other indirect methods which 

 have preceded it. 



The appointment of D. B. Porritt, chief chemist of the North 

 British Rubber Co., Limited, to the post of director of research 

 has been received by the trade generally with approbation, and 

 with particular satisfaction by his personal acquaintances. He 

 combines academic distinction with that practical knowledge 

 which can be acquired only by many years of close association 

 with manufacturing, and the field in which such associated 

 qualifications are to be met with is by no means a large one. This 

 does not imply that the task of the selection committee was de- 

 void of all difficulty, but it is clear to outsiders intimately ac- 

 quainted with the trade that if there were hundreds of applicants 

 for the advertised post it would be a very simple matter to reduce 

 them to a round dozen. 



It is rumored that the work, which at first will be on some- 

 what modest lines, will take place in London, though the actual 

 spot has not yet been announced — perhaps it has not yet been 

 decided upon. The main activities of the Research Association, 

 it is understood, will be concerned essentially with fundamental 

 problems rather than with works difficulties and this is as it 

 should be, seeing that half the money is put up by the tax- 

 payers who, it appears, are not to be favored with details of the 

 discoveries made or work carried out. Speaking of research 

 associations generally which are now in progress of formation 

 for various industries and not specially of what may happen in 

 the association under notice, calls to mind the position of affairs 

 which led to complaints against the National Physical Laboratory 

 a year or two after its foundation when a good deal of routine 

 work ordinarily undertaken by professional analysts was being 

 done. The interesting announcement is made that the committee 

 in control of the work intends, if it seems desirable, to secure the 

 services of independent rubber chemists to assist in special work. 

 THE PROOFING TRADE. 



It is a sign of the progress that America has made during the 

 war period that the present demands of Canada are being so 

 largely met from the States instead of from Great Britain, as 

 was formerly the case. This defection is not a matter of great 

 concern at the moment because proofers have plenty of work on 

 their hands, but all the same, efforts will doubtless be put forth 

 to regain the lost trade. Other countries, which in normal times 

 would be doing more proofing on their own, are held up by a 

 shortage of cloth, a point which is all in favor of our export 

 trade. It rained steadily all April, which encouraged the mackin- 

 tosh as against the mere raincoat, an article which appears to be 

 losing some of its former popularity. It seems to have come 

 home to many purchasers that this latter is a nice looking com- 

 fortable sort of garment for fine weather or for wet weather if 

 you have an umbrella with you. 



It comes somewhat as a shock to hear that Vickers, Limited, 

 the armament firm of Sheffield, is going into the waterproof gar- 

 ment trade at its Dartford Works. It is common knowledge 

 that the firm controls the cable works of W. T. Glover & Co., 

 Limited, of Manchester, but it is not widely known that it is the 

 proprietor of the loco Proofing Co., Limited, of Anniesland, 

 Glasgow, where a large amount of airship material was proofed 



