THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



W-PU^ 



Reg. United States Pat. Off Reg. United Kinidom 



Published on the Isl of each month by 



THE INDIA RUBBER PUBLISHING CO. 



No. 25 West 4Sth Street, New York. 



Telephone — Bryant 2576. 



CABIF. ADDRESS- IRWORLD. NEW YORK. 



HENRY C. PEARSON, F.R.G.S, Editor 



Vol. 62 



JULY 1. 1920 



No. 4 



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TABLE OF CONTENTS ON LAST PAGE OF READING. 



SOLID TIRES NOT DOOMED. 



PMiU.M.XTic TIRES have become so important of late 

 that some are predicting the passing of solid tires. 



The success of cord tire construction and the country's 

 sudden need of rapid freight and express transit have 

 created an abnormal situation. The experience gained 

 has been of much value to tire and truck manufacturers, 

 and to the countr}'. It has shown both the possibilities 

 and the limitations of pneumatic truck tires, but does not 

 show that pneumatics will supplant solids. There is 

 need for both, and both will continue and increase. 



The threat of the pneumatic has already served to 

 stimulate development in design, compounds, treads and 

 rims, so that the solid tire is steadily growing better. 

 Where speed or the protection of fragile merchandise is 

 the important factor, the giant pneumatic solves the prob- 

 lem, but where very large and heavy loads of goods not 

 readily damaged can travel more slowly the solid tire 

 answers the purpose and gives longer service at lower 

 cost and with less trouble on the road. Tires must be 

 chosen with respect to the service thev will be called 

 upon to render. 



The pneumatic is ahead in the race at this moment. 



but solids and semi-solids are not by any means out of 

 tlu- running. 



AMERICAN PLANTATION RUBBER. 



Vi;kv i..\K(iic .\KE.\s in the American Southwest will 

 sooner or later be given over to the culture of rub- 

 l)er-i)roducing plants, in the opinion of Dr. Herbert J. 

 Webber, who is recognized as being the foremost plant 

 breeder in the United States. He is also confident that 

 the Chrysothamnus could be made to yield 15 or 20 per 

 cent of rubber after improvement through breeding and 

 selection. This, of course, does not mean that Chryso- 

 thamnus is the best plant for cultivation in the South- 

 west, but that it is one of the sorts which should be given 

 a trial. In any event, it seems desirable that the rubber 

 investigations being conducted by the botanists of the 

 University of California should be carried through to a 

 definite conclusion. 



THE GOODYEAR VULCANIZATION "ACCIDENT." 



S(i M.\Nv WKITEKS describe the discovery of vulcaniza- 

 tion in a variety of ways that the true story should be 

 published and emphasized, this for the sake of historical 

 accuracy. 



In the first place a "spoonful" of mixture of rubber 

 and sulphur did not accidentally fall on a hot stove, flat- 

 ten out and become vulcanized. It couldn't. Goodyear's 

 solvent was s])irits of tuq^entine. A mixture, fluid 

 enough to "spoon," falling on a hot stove would bubble, 

 foam and probably burst into flame. .At all events the 

 result, spongy, brittle, charred, would not suggest vul- 

 canized rubber. 



Xor did a team load of coats on their way from Wo- 

 burn to Boston catch fire and a charred fragment point 

 the way to the great discovery. 



The truth is this : Goodyear was trying to incorporate 

 some sort of dryer in rubber that would permanently pre- 

 vent rubber clothing from becoming sticky. It was easy 

 to make goods that were free from tackiness for a week 

 or two, but they soon softened and became valueless. 



One of his hundreds of experiments was a combina- 

 tion of rubber, sulphur and white lead, dissolved in spir- 

 its of turpentine. This was spread with a broad bladed 

 knife on several pieces of cloth. To hasten the evapora- 

 tion of the solvent he hung the pieces near a stove. One, 

 through accident, rested against the hot iron and turned 

 black, while the others were of a grayish white color. 

 Disgusted at his carelessness Goodyear took the black 

 sample and was about to throw it away when its curious 

 texture halted him. He examined it carefully and recog- 

 nized what he termed the "change" and which P>rockedon 

 later happily termed vulcanization. 



This is the story related by men who knew Goodyear, 

 who were rubber men and knew the beginnings of the 

 business. Emory Rider, John Murphy, A. Schlessinger. 

 Henry G. Tyer, Daniel Hay ward. J. P.. Forsyth, all 



