102 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



[January i, igo8. 



They hypnotize themselves into believing that it is prac- 

 tically rubber. 



This is not synthesis ; it is silliness. 



The second class begins with crude rubber, fine Para 

 preferably, doctoring it with something like oil of winter- 

 green to thoroughly disguise it, and by dark and mys- 

 terious ways and sleight-of-hand performances, produce 

 for the edification of capital what they call "synthetic 

 rubber." 



This is not synthesis; it is sin. 



The third class embraces honest, usually aged scientists, 

 who buy most of the ingredients for secret formulas, upset 

 all rules governing chemical reactions (not knowing at 

 just what point the inventor slips the ace out of his 

 sleeve), and produce "synthetic rubber." 



This is not synthesis ; it is senility. 



Not that it is claimed that synthetic rubber will never 

 be attained. It may be. But its first cost for years will 

 probably make it only the plaything of the laboratory. 

 Indeed, so far distant does the production of synthetic 

 rubber seem, when one reviews the attempts towards its 

 production, that it is safe to say that when it does appear 

 the cradles of the land will also be filled synthetically. 



Not to hit in any way the honest seekers for this ideal 

 product, but for the guidance of such geniuses as the one 

 who is now in enforced retirement because of his synthetic 

 camphor claims, and who deserves "several years" for 

 robbing certain New Yorkers by his "synthetic rubber" 

 claim, the following working formula is submitted : 



10 pounds Para rubber. 



I gallon benzol 



I oiuicc oil of wintergreen. 



Mix thoroughly and evaporate the solvent, then thor- 

 oughly mix 



15 parts above mixture. 

 10 parts igncrance. 

 25 parts avarice. 

 50 parts duplicity. 



Compound in secret. 



AMERICAN IMPORTS OF TIRES. 



THE United States customs returns continue to record 

 imports of rubber manufactures on an increasing 

 scale, but fail to indicate the particular kinds of 

 goods to which the increase relates. Up to a decade ago 

 the total of such imports amounted to only a few hun- 

 dred thousand dollars worth in a year, whereas for the 

 last fiscal year the figures reached two and a half mil- 

 lions. The details for three fiscal years, at intervals of 

 five years, may be summarized as follows, the figures 

 embracing all goods classified under the tariff act as 

 manufactures of india-rubber and gutta-percha: 



From — 1896-97. 1901-02. 1906-07. 



Germany $15546^ $301,325 $1,095,660 



France 80,468 120,099 827,873 



Great Britain IS7,9I9 120,782 266,711 



Other countries 1,294 35,330 266,603 



Total $395,147 $577,536 $2,456,847 



It is safe to assume that no rubber footwear worth 



mentioning is imported into the United States. Nor do 

 imports of belting, hose, or other staple lines of mechan- 

 ical rubber- goods figure in our trade. Certain surgical 

 goods, particularly of hard rubber, have always been 

 embraced in the imports, but the improvement in the 

 output of American factories in this branch renders it 

 unlikely that their importation is on the increase. Prob- 

 ably more rubber toys are coming in, owing to the in- 

 genuity of certain European factories in fashioning such 

 articles on original lines and in attractive fast colors, 

 but the increase under this head is not likely to be 

 enough to account for the large totals shown in our 

 table. 



The one important line which remains to be mentioned 

 is motor tires. That the importation of tires is consider- 

 able is a matter of common knowledge, and if an analysis 

 of the trade were made it is possible that the gain in 

 tire imports would account for a large part of the dif- 

 ference between $577,536 five years ago and $2,456,847 

 for the fiscal year last closed. The gain has been prin- 

 cipally in the imports from Germany and France, the 

 foreign countries whose tires are bought most largely 

 in America. The gain shown in imports from Great 

 Britain has been chiefly in gutta-percha — a stray fact 

 which the customs returns do reveal. One more item in 

 the table is $266,603 ^^'orth of imports from "other 

 countries," against about one-eighth as much five years 

 ago. It may be mentioned that the countries figuring 

 most largely in this gain are Italy, Belgium, and Austria, 

 all of which are now shipping tires to America. 



It may be pointed out, however, that nothing stated 

 above indicates any decline in the rubber industry in the 

 United States. While we are buying more rubber goods 

 abroad we are exporting more. And some light is thrown 

 upon the great advance in the home consumption of goods 

 by the fact that during the last fiscal year the imports 

 under the headings of rubber and gutta-percha (including 

 scrap) reached a total of 135,283,581 pounds, against 

 90,684.069 pounds five years ago, and 40,346,059 pounds 

 ten years ago. 



GERMAN SEA CABLE INDUSTRY. 



THE establishment in Germany within a few years past 

 of a submarine cable industry on a scale which 

 permits of competition with the world has been 

 an accomplishment which would have justified a less 

 modest celebration by its projectors than they have been 

 content with. There may be those who would consider 

 it an indifl:'erent matter where a new factory is to be 

 located ; is it not a mere matter of capital and technical 

 knowledge and the employment of workers? But this 

 view was long disputed in high places. Only a few years 

 ago, when the United States government was planning to 

 lay cables to the new insular possessions, the idea was 

 accepted even by many Americans that such cables could 

 not be made in this country because there were no long 



