June 1, 1920.) 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



609 



during the war. The firm is also understood to be interested in 

 bakelite sj-nthetic resin manufacture. 



The Monarch Rubber Co., Limited, of Bradford Road, Man- 

 chester, proofers to the trade, are engaged in fitting up more 

 e.xtcnsive new premises at Miles Platting, a mile or so away, 

 and the Monarch Waterproof Co., Limited, which does the 

 making-up side of the business, will also be moving shortly from 

 its present address in Cheetham, Manchester, to more com- 

 modious premises in Lower Broughton Lane, Manchester. 



To commemorate its Silver Jubilee the waterproofing firm of 

 Fergruson, Shiers & Co., Limited, has issued an illustrated 

 souvenir giving details of the work and machinery. 



Rubber proofing is carried on at Phoeni,\ ^^ills, Failsworth, 

 Manchester, and rainproofing at Blossom Mills, Strangeways, 

 Manchester. Interest attaches mainly to the large new mill 

 erected at the Failsworth Works during the war, which for cer- 

 tain reasons was taken over on completion by a new company, 

 in which Messrs. Frankenburg were largely interested, to do a 

 certain class of work for the Government. As the armistice was 

 signed shortly after the formation of the company, this work 

 was never entered upon and the new mill has now reverted to 

 Ferguson, Shiers & Co., Limited. The huilding, which is well 

 planned with lofty work rooms, contains IS mixing machines 

 and 36 spreading machines and embodies all the latest con- 

 veniences for dealing with large quantities of single and double- 

 texture proofing in a hygienic manner, the ventilation system 

 having been designed to meet the latest requirements of the 

 Dangerous Trades Department of the Home Office. This firm 

 is quite distinct from that of A. O. Ferguson & Co., Limited, 

 which is located a mile or two away and which was founded 

 some years ago by the son of G. E. Ferguson, the late senior 

 partner of Ferguson, Shiers & Co., Limited. 



Worries incidental to labor, mainly with regard to remunera- 

 tion, are a somewhat warm theme, but of late a new sort of 

 labor worry has made itself felt. This is concerned with the 

 action taken by men's unions in cases where individuals are in- 

 clined to grumble about their accouterments. To take a concrete 

 case, the railway companies fit out their servants with mackin- 

 toshes, usually blue or black shades for station masters and 

 porters, and stout drill khaki ones for those engaged in rough 

 work, like shunters. Whereas ten years ago complaints were 

 practically unknown, some workman, who may possibly have 

 misused his garment, makes a fuss about its inferiority and his 

 union takes the matter up and starts correspondence with the 

 officials, who pass the complaint on to the manufacturers. 

 RUBBER SPONGES. 



The recent Draper,- and Textile Exhibition, held in London in 

 April, was not remarkable for its rubber exhibits, though a word 

 or two may be said about the sponge display of the Sorbo 

 Rubber Sponge Products, Limited. This business, which is car- 

 ried on in London to work a process of G. Leeson, late of Man- 

 chester, has met with considerable success in the sale of its 

 yellow natural-color sponges, which are not damaged by soap. 

 The business having outgrown the dimensions of the London 

 works, a new factory is being fitted up in the more countrified 

 surroundings of Woking, where a considerable number of hands 

 ■will be engaged. A development of interest is the use of the 

 sponge compound for toys and balls to take the place of inflated 

 rubber articles and of celluloid goods. It is also to be used for 

 truss pads and for other purposes such as flooring where re- 

 siliency is a desideratum. Such uses of sponge rubber seem to 

 indicate a development of considerable significance to the rubber 

 trade. Anyway, we have passed the initial stage of sponge mak- 

 ing with which many of our rubber firms were wrestling not so 

 many years ago. 



BRITISH NOTES. 



Edwin Swann, who was for fourteen years representative of 

 the .\nchor Chemical Co., Limited, has recently joined Alfred 



Smith, Limited, chemical manufacturers of Manchester, England 

 An exhibition of specimens showing the diseases to which 

 rubber trees are subject was recently held at the Imperial Col 

 lege of Science and Technology in South Kensington, London. 

 It was arranged by Professor J. B. Farmer, director of the bio' 

 logical laboratories of the college, the specimens being sent chiefly 

 from Ceylon and Malaya. The exhibits are diagrams; actua 

 trunks of Hei'ca, showing how tapping works ; specimens o' 

 rubber trees showing the diseases to which they are subject, and 

 cultures which have been transferred by inoculation since their 

 arrival in England, from the tainted stumps to other plants. 



ANOTHER TEST OF RUBBER PAVEMENT IN LONDON. 



The new stretch of rubber road pavement in Southwark, Lon- 

 don, which was mentioned in The Indi.\ Rvbber World last 

 July, has been laid in a busy thoroughfare where it will be 

 severely tested. It covers 400 square yards on one side of 

 Borough High Street, between St. George's Church and the 

 Elephant and Castle, and a great part of the South London 

 traffic must pass over it. 



The blocks are 9 by 3 inches and H of an inch thick ; yi-'mch 

 of gray rubber is placed on a layer of vulcanite held closely 

 to a steel plate with circular perforations into which the vul- 

 canite has been set to secure a firm hold. The steel plate is cut 



Rubber P. 



High Street. SouTHWARt 



in four places and the strips cut are turned down to form lugs 

 which are imbedded in a concrete foundation. The blocks rest 

 on this granolithic concrete which is Syi inches thick. 



This pavement was manufactured by the Leyland & Birming- 

 ham Rubber Co., Limited, and is looked upon as a great improve- 

 ment on those that were experimented with before the war, such 

 as that in the Old Kent Road. This road surface is claimed 

 to be sanitary, noiseless, and non-skidding, all of which has 

 been proved to the satisfaction of careful observers. 



FOREIGN NOTES. 



AT Manres.\, near Barcelona. Spain, an automobile tire fac- 

 torv' has been established, which expects to make fiftv' tires 

 a day, enough to satisfy the present demand. The main part 

 of the factory is used to produce alpargatas, cheap canvas shoes 

 such as the poorer Spaniards use, but with rubber soles. These 

 will outlast by far the usual hemp soles and can be made at a 

 smaller cost. 



Automobile tires are in great demand in Sweden at present. 

 Competition is keen with American tires predominating. There 



