40 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



[November i, 1907. 



amounted to i7,ooo,oeo- lire [=$3,281,000], of which 5,ooo,ooO' 

 lire [=$965,000] was in foreign trade. Their total floor space 

 then was about 702,000 square feet, and they employed about 

 4000 workers. Most of this, of course, was contained in the 

 Milan works, which cover 583,000 square feet, and employed 

 3200 laborers. There is reason to believe that Pirelli & Co. will 

 continue to expand even more rapidly than they have done in 

 the past, particularly since they have taken up so actively the 

 manufacture of automobile tires. 



Pl,.\.M OF IHH O.MAklu Tow tK Co., .\T X l.\G.\k.\, Wllil i'lRELLI 



C.VBLES. 



of 1906. Dr. Alberto Pirelli, the son, who is taking charge of 

 his father's business, has braved the dangers of the Amazon 

 valley to study rubber in the initial stages of production. 



The breadth and depth of their education have been important 

 factors in the success of the Pirelli family. European manu- 

 facturing is thoroughly feudal in character, so that these things 

 mean more than in America. Thus the management of Pirelli 

 .& Co. have made it a constant study to promote the physical 

 and spiritual wellbeing and the safety of the 4,000 or more 

 workers in their employ. Aside from the element of philanthropy, 



Pirelli Cables at Niagara. 



they find that such a course pays. Because of this close attention to 

 every detail, Pirelli & Co. have a well ordered house and no 

 labor troubles to interrupt the course of their prosperity. 



On taking the form of a joint stock company, in 1883, Pirelli 

 & Co. possessed a capital of 2,000,000 lire [=$386,000], which 

 has been increased gradually to the present date. In 1906 the 

 fgures stood at 7,000,000 lire in shares and 3,000,000 lire in de- 

 bentures—a total of 10,000,000 lire [=$1,930,000]. Quite recently 

 the share capital alone has been increased to 10,500,000 lire. 

 According to a statement made a year ago their annual business 



PRODUCTION OF SULPHUR. 



A CRISIS is reported to be imminent in the sulphur trade of 

 Sicily. The mines for the most part have been owned for 

 several years past by the Anglo-Sicilian Sulphur Co., Limited, 

 under whose monopoly the sulphur trade for a time was very 

 profitable. But in view of the growing competition of Louisiana 

 sulphur, the wage scale in Sicily was reduced, until the available 

 labor supply has largely been driven from the island, to seek 

 more remunerative work. The problem with the mine owners 

 to-day is how to secure sufficient labor to keep their business 

 going. By the way, the American consumption of Sicilian sul- 

 phur has declined greatly. The importation direct from Italy of 

 crude sulphur in the fiscal year 1901-1902 reached 163,000 tons; 

 in 1905-06 it was only 66,000 tons. 



There has been some interest of late in the possibility of 

 mining sulphur in the New Hebrides, Pacific islands of volcanic 

 formation, now held by the French. A British subject claiming 

 a lease of all the sulphur mineral lands on Vanua Lava island 

 has served legal warning upon the French Sulphur Mining Co. 

 to stop trespassing by mining sulphur on that island, all of which 

 is set forth in documents sent to The India Rubber World. 

 from the municipality of Pango Bay, with a request to "please 

 notice." 



The Sulphur Position in England. 



An English correspondent writes to The India Rubber 

 World: "After doing very well for its shareholders during the 

 ten or eleven years of its existence, the Anglo-Sicilian Sulphur 

 Co. is shortly to go into liquidation — that is, the sort of liquida- 

 tion by which the shareholders do not lose any capital, but 

 rather the reverse. It is common knowledge how the discovery 

 of the Louisiana sulphur deposits has knocked the Sicilian in- 

 dustry, which will now be kept going by government aid. In 

 past times the United States was Sicily's best customer for 

 sulphur, but in 1906 the exports to the States were only 8500 

 tons, against 170,000 tons a few years ago. However, despite 

 the competition which has arisen, consumers don't seem likely 

 to reap any advantage, and in England at all events prices have 

 remained stationary. It seems as well to say this, as the rubber 

 works might think that their chemical merchants were not being 

 quite fair over the matter. The British rubber manufacturers, 

 as far as sulphur is concerned, may be divided into two classes, 

 (i) those who buy sulphur in bags at the lowest price from gen- 

 eral chemical merchants, and (2) those who buy it specially 

 prepared free from crystals and acid from those who make its 

 preparation a specialty. There are not wanting also those who 

 are very anxious to obtain the latter qualities at the prices 

 quoted for bay sulphur." 



A BIT OF FACTORY PRACTICE. 



TO THE Editor of The India Rubber World: In reply to in- 

 quiry No. 429 (on page 19 of your last issue), how to pre- 

 vent rubber from sticking to iron molds during vulcanization, I 

 beg to suggest that your correspondent try a solution of two 

 tablespoonfuls of carbolic acid in a pint of lime water. This I 

 have found efficacious when soap and talc have not given satis- 

 faction. J. W. GARY. 

 No. 160 Hum[>hrey avenue, Bayonne, New Jersey, October 2, 1907. 



