834 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



[SEl'TEMlitH 



The Rubber Trade in Great Britain. 



/)'_v Our Regular Correspondent. 



THE PEACHEY VULCANIZATION PROCESS. 



ON July 7, at the Grand Hotel, Manchester, Louis Minton 

 gave a luncheon to a number of representatives of the 

 rubber manufacturing and allied industries to meet S. J. 

 Peachey, who it was announced would give a description of his 

 new vulcanization process. The chairman proposing Mr. Peachey's 

 health said he thought the gathering was unique in the annals of 

 the British rubber trade and suggested that an organization some- 

 what on the lines of The Rubber Association of America would 

 prove of interest and importance. He had no financial interest at 

 all in the new process, but having had from the trade many 

 inquiries concerning it he had conceived the idea of inviting Mr. 

 Peachey to make any explanations he thought fit. 



Mr. Peachey, in rising to respond, said that he did not propose 

 to give an account of his process, as he presumed it was suffi- 

 ciently well known by that time to the practical men he saw 

 before him, and he would therefore merely adopt the role of 

 answering criticisms, constructive or destructive as the case might 

 be, on his process, which he wished to state emphatically is not 

 a "stunt." 



Prominent among those who took advantage of the opportunity 

 to learn more about the process and its potential applications were 

 J. K. Burbidge of Warne & Co., Limited, Tottenham ; F. J. S. 

 Gray, of St. Helen's Cable & Rubber Co.. Limited ; A. E. Salmon, 

 of Chess & Stead, Limited; and Mr. Gibson, of Turner Bros. 

 Asbestos Co., Limited. 



The points raised related largely to the manufacture and appli- 

 cation of the two gases and to the application of the process to 

 molded goods, such as buffers. Rubber cable insulation, asbestos 

 jointing and waterproof textures also came up for discussion. 

 Naturally at this stage of affairs the patentee is not ready with 

 cut and dried details of procedure with regard to the large and 

 diverse number of goods which the rubber manufacturer produces 

 and he did not hesitate to say so. In some cases which had spe- 

 cial mention he said that experimental work was in progress and 

 he was not at the moment prepared to say anything by way of 

 elucidation. With regard lo pneumatic tires tlie present position, 

 Mr. Peachy said, is that tlie process is not applicable. It is clear 

 that there will have to be special mechanical appliances for build- 

 nig up, this being a matter for development in the future. With 

 regard to the production of buffers, a point on which considerable 

 discussion took place, the patentee was persistently optimistic as to 

 the results which might be expected by building up in layers to 

 be jointed by the new solution process, quite a moderate cold 

 pressure being all that would be required. 



Asked as to the formation of sulphuric acid through the process, 

 Mr. Peachey said that he had not noticed it, but a weak am- 

 monia treatment would be effective against it. As to the action 

 of sulphur dioxide in certain fillers, he had not made any experi- 

 ments, but in his ordinary procedure the hydrogen sulphide was 

 always in excess, which meant that no free sulphur dioxide could 

 occur in vulcanized goods. 



With regard to the gases, the sulphur dioxide would be pur- 

 chased by rubber manufacturers, though the hydrogen sulphide 

 would probably have to be made on the premises and he agreed 

 with one of the speakers that a permit would probably have to 

 be obtained from a Government department. He thought that 

 the toxicity of this gas had been exaggerated ; indeed, he ven- 

 tured to say that in small quantities it was an appetite improver 

 and a dietetic. Plans for the necessary plant are now being pre- 

 pared by important rubber engineers who have expressed them- 

 selves as confident of overcoming any initial difficulties. 



Questioned on the point of the water produced in the chemical 

 reaction between the two gases. Mr. Peachey said he had not 



found this to cause any trouble ; it was produced in a very finely 

 divided state and soon diffused out of the rubber, or could be 

 removed by drying the rubber for an hour or so at, say, 35 degrees- 

 C. He had ideas of a mold made of some porous material for 

 molded goods, but so far had nothing in that direction to report. 

 With regard to compounded goods, Mr. Peachey said that pure 

 rubber is more diflicult to cure than compounded rubber, the 

 gases penetrating more quickly in the latter case. 



On the motion of J. Brierley, of the Leyland & Birmingham 

 Rubber Co., Limited, seconded by H. W. Hatton, of the Premier 

 Waterproof & Rubber Co., Limited, and supported by F. J. S. 

 Gray, of St. Helens Cable & Rubber Co., Limited, a cordial 

 vote of thanks was jicmrdcd hy the guests to Mr. Minton for 

 his hospitality. 



THE WATERPROOF GARMENT TRADE. 



Considering the extremely wet weather which has prevailed 

 during the whole of July the continued stagnation in the weather- 

 proof garment trade and the consequent accumulation of stocks- 

 has come as a surprise. People in the rubber proofed garment 

 trade, however, say that wet weather does not usually bring an 

 access of business, their experience being that potential purchasers- 

 say that the old coat is good enough for dirty weather and that 

 they usually put off their new purchase until the fair weather 

 that follows in the wake of the foul. By the way the weather is- 

 behaving this summer, it rather looks as if the purchase would be 

 put oflf until the Greek Kalends, but we trust that there will be a. 

 turn for the better before long. 



-Although the making-up trade is by no means busy, the proof- 

 ing works do not report any slackness, though foreign demand' 

 is quiet owing to what are considered excessive prices. The 

 raincoat trade is in a poor way and makers are saddled with large 

 stocks they do not know what to do with. This has come about 

 chiefly on account of the cloth, a large amount of goods having 

 been made entirely of cotton instead of the woolen or union 

 gaberdine which used to be almost universally used and which 

 were really some protection against rain, whereas the cotton- 

 article is of very little use. At the present time, however, the 

 old-time gaberdine costs 25 shillings per yard and there is only 

 a limited sale for coats made of it. , 



RUBBER MACHINERY STOCKS IN DEMAND. 



New issues of capital have not been so frequent of late as they 

 were some months back, but Francis Shaw & Co., Limited, has- 

 had a successful issue and the same may be said of Vickers, 

 Limited, which, at one time an armament firm alone, is now 

 closely concerned with the rubber industry. 



.\mong recent developments in this line is the manufacture of 

 rubber machinery at the Barrow works and the production of 

 waterproof cloth at the Dartford works, Kent. These works- 

 were at first the home of the Clark tire of Australia and have 

 been utilized more recently by Messrj. Vickers for war work. 

 EXCESS PROFITS DUTY. 



A good deal has been said about the Excess Profits Duty now 

 confirmed at 60 per cent for the current year being responsible- 

 for the slackness in trade which is apparent in many quarters, 

 but it is much open to doubt as to the degree of influence which- 

 this tax has exerted. An interesting point of detail about deduc- 

 tion allowed in computing the profits of private limited companies 

 is the distinction made between the original partner directors 

 who are the real capitalists and other directors, generally heads 

 of departments, who hold a few shares and who have been given 

 the status of directors for certain reasons. The Chancellor of 

 the Exchequer distinguishes the latter by the term employe- 

 directors, which to my mind is a good idea and a useful distinc- 



