Septembiuj 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



789 



German paper suits. The suits wear about a week. A rub- 

 ber binder that in no way affects the color, that makes the 

 product practically waterproof and more flexible, may bring 

 the product into permanent competition with cotton, wool 

 and silk wearing apparel. .'\nd speaking of silk, is not this 

 addition just what is needed to bring artificial silk a bit closer in 

 lasting quality to nature's product? 



IMPROVED RUBBER THREAD. 



Among the lines of manufacture that suggest themselves 

 as being revolutionized by this or an analogous process one 

 mfght cite rubber thread. This product as made today shows 

 a square end in cross-section. A stretched rubber thread 

 when it begins to give away shows a multitude of tears along 

 the sharp edges. A round thread would not be open to this 

 objection. Harking back to the beginnings of rubber thread, 

 it was once made round by forcing rubber in solution 

 through metal dies. Had the rubber dough been self-vulcan- 

 izins it is doubtful if the square thread ever would have 

 appeared. 



THE QUESTION OF MASS VULCANIZATION. 



The possibility rf making molded goods by this process is 

 already engaging considerable attention. Fcr these articles molds 

 or forms of almost any material could be used, plaster of Paris, 

 for example. It is likely that molds of porous material might 

 find use. These have already been suggested by the inventor. 

 For thick articles, however, they would hardly do. The reason 

 is that in the vulcanization by mass there must be opportunity 

 for the liquids to escape. It would be much like coagulation of 

 rubber late.x. If done in mass, water is imprisoned and unless 

 sheeted it is held in the interior. In the same way a mass 

 of rubber vulcanized by the Peachey process would inevitably con- 

 lain water, and if solvent was used, much of it would be im- 

 prisoned. As to porous molds carrying this off, when earthen 

 plates were tried for coagulating latex only the surface moisture 

 was absorbed. 



The statement is made that buffers (springs) may be made in 

 layers, each vulcanizing itself in turn, adhesion between the layers 

 being obtained by Peachey process cement. This is possible, and 

 it is also possible that solid tires may be made by a similar build- 

 ing up process. 



THE UNKNOWN EFFECT ON RECLAIMS. 



A question of considerable moment upon which no light is yet 

 thrown, is the behavior of the new process toward reclaimed rub- 

 ber. So far no one seems to know just what results will be 

 obtained, particularly in the medium and lower grades of reclaim. 

 As fully as many pounds of recovered rubber are used as of 

 crude, it is naturally one of the first of the queries that maiui- 

 facturers put. 



EXPORTS OF INDIA RUBBER MANUFACTURES 



FROM THE UNITED STATES DURING THE 



CALENDAR YEAR 1919. 



RUBBER MEN WILL DISCUSS SAFETY PROBLEMS. 



The Rubber Section of the National Safety Council will consider 

 safety problems of especial interest to the industry at a section 

 conference to be held September 29 to October 1, in connection 

 with the national session of the Council to be held at Chicago. 



Amc ng the topics for discussion will be : "The Present and 

 Future of Safetj' in the Rubber Industry," chairman, S. M. 

 Schott, United States Tire Co.; "Health Hazard.s," J. H. Horan. 

 Hood Rubber Co. ; "Making Mills and Calenders Safe," C. B. 

 Mutchella, The B. F. Goodrich Co.; "Handling Materials," F. B. 

 Martens, Firestone Tire & Rubber Co. ; "Vulcanizing Apparatus," 

 F. Scott, Hamlin & Co. ; "Industrial Sanitation," W. N. Fitch. 

 The B. F. Goodrich Co. ; and "Teaching Safety in the Factories." 

 H. T. Martin, The Fisk Rubber Co. .^n address will be made 

 by J. X. Gunn, president of the United Stales Tire Co., on the 

 opening day of the section meeting, and by A. A. Frank, facton.- 

 manager of the Federal Rubber Co., on the last day. 



THE ANNOUNCEMENT of the United States Government that 

 henceforth all tables of import and export statistics shall 

 be for the calendar instead of the fiscal year ending June 30 

 as heretofore seems to be a step in the right direction. At any 

 rate, it greatly clarifies such tables and permits a much simpler 

 analysis and comparison for the layman, to whom "double- 

 barrelled" year numerals like 1916-17 or 1917-18 were often a 

 source of confusion. 



Of much interest is the recently published table of exports 

 of india rubber manufactures from the United States during 

 the calendar year 1919, printed elsewhere in this issue. The 

 total value, $53,865,655, as against $31,501,292 in the calendar 

 year 1918 is proof positive to the rubber manufacturer that 

 business is "picking up." Any business that nearly doubles itself 

 in the space of a year is a good one to be engaged in. A com- 

 parison of the 1919 figures with the small export of $12,441,220 

 during the year before the war (1913-1914) shows the progress 

 made by the rubber industry of the United States in foreign 

 markets. 



By countries the report is just as encouraging. The exports 

 of automobile tires rose to $28,924,659 (more than half of the 

 total rubber exports, by the way) as against $14,511,621 for 

 the calendar year 1918. Of these, $11,907,480 went to Europe; 

 $2,970,464 to Asia; $4,986,024 to our neighbor South America; 

 $3,872,374 to Oceania and Africa; while $5,188,317 stayed near 

 home, being exported to other -places in North ."America. Cuba 

 took $2,013,071, while Canada called for $1,021,014. Of tire 

 exports to South America Argentina leads with $1,788,147, with 

 Brazil second at $1,018,055. France took nearly a third of the 

 tire exports to Europe, $3,535,178; England bought $1,508,460; 

 Sweden. $1,373,847, and Denmark, $1,254,324, with the Nether- 

 lands not far behind at $1,043,981. 



Exports of tires to the Philippines totaled $1,372,544, while 

 New Zealand took $1,023,807. The largest consumer of American 

 tires in .Asia during 1919 was the Dutch East Indies with $686,873, 

 while British South Africa led that continent with $479,934. 



The rubber shoe export rose from $1,584,747 in the calendar 

 year 1918 to $4,551,386 in 1919, while rubber boots showed a 

 decided fall— from $2,799,116 in 1918 to $714,713 in 1919. This 

 is explained by the large exports to Europe where boots were 

 needed during the war, while shoes are now in demand. 



Exports of belting, hose and packing showed a considerable 

 increase from the previous year, the amount in 1919 being 

 $0,100,460 as against $4,525,243 in 1918. 



Druggists' rubber sundries, which were not specifically re- 

 ported before 1917-18, showed a gratifying increase ; while in 

 1918 the figures were $772,539, the amount nearly doubled the 

 following year, being $1,270,506 for the calendar year 1919. 



Rubber scrap exportations increased very largely over the 

 preceding year, the figures being $808,993 in 1919 and $287,883 

 in 1918. Reclaimed rubber also showed an increase, from $502,176 

 •n 1918 to $839,938 in 1919. 



COLLAPSIBLE PLAYING BALL. 

 .A collapsible playinsi ball is a novelty on the market. Made 

 entirely of cemented rubber, it may be inflated by blowing through 

 the specially constructed aortic valve. As soon as the action 

 ceases, the pressure inside causes a perfect automatic closure of 

 the valve. When the player has finished, he inserts a rod or 

 pencil, thus opening the valve and allowing the air to rush out. 

 The empty ball may then be folded in any suitable manner, and 

 carried without being in the way. (French patent No. 138,306. 

 Boguier Sc Burnet, 21-23 rue des Fillcs du Calvaire. Paris.) 



