February i, 1908.] 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



139 



industry is one of the last to be affected, and among the 

 first to revive, and there is nothing apparent at the pres- 

 ent to suggest an exception to this rule. 



FIGHTING FIRES IN "SKYSCRAPERS." 



THE progress which new America has made in so 

 many lines, as compared with some older coun- 

 tries, is due to the feeling which permeates the 

 whole population that whatever seems desirable can be 

 done, or obtained ; it is only a question of going to work 

 and bringing it about, without any regard to precedent. 

 For example, the tall office building, first developed in 

 this country in cities where certain conditions seemed to 

 demand this form of construction, has been put up in the 

 face of every objection it was possible to urge. Not the 

 least of these was that no known system of protection 

 against fire could be applied successfully to twenty-stor}- 

 buildings. "Then we must have new fire-fighting meth- 

 ods" was the concrete expression of American spirit, and 

 every year produces taller buildings than ever before. 



Whether progress in fire protection methods has kept 

 pace with the new architectural conditions remains to be 

 proved, but important evidence is likely to be brought 

 out soon in New York, where a new high pressure sys- 

 tem, involving the use of standpipes within buildings and 

 powerful stationary engines, has been designed to sup- 

 plant the portable steam fire engines now so familiar on 

 the streets of every city. These have been described 

 recently as "go carts," and this is what they seem when 

 trying to squirt their feeble little streams of water toward 

 a fire which may be raging a hundred feet or more above 

 their highest limit. 



Not all buildings are "skyscrapers" as yet, and the 

 ordinary fire engine — if supplied with good hose — has 

 a long career of usefulness before it. But the new sys- 

 tem will call for a new class of rubber equipment, and it 

 will be interesting to w^atch the progress of hose man- 

 ufacturers in meeting the requirements of the situation. 



CHEAPER "CHEWING RUBBER." 



and sawdust are doomed. The next generation are sure to chew 

 regenerated shoes, mats, and hose, "doped'' with potato meal 

 and flavored to taste. 



/~\NE of our esteemed contemporaries across the briny deep 

 ^-^ has an exceedingly interesting article on "chewing rub- 

 ber." the "chewing" being an adjective. After explaining that 

 it is very largely used in the United States and to some ex- 

 tent in England, they say that it is an excellent substitute foi 

 tobacco, cleans the teeth, and cleanses the breath. It tells how 

 it is made : 



"Raw rubber of the best quality; sweet woods in the finest 

 sawdust for lasting purposes ; liquorice : an essential oil, de- 

 pending on the flavor desired ; and lastly, a filling to cheapen 

 the article, and consisting mostly of potato meal, or in some cases 

 ■of magnesia." 



The article goes on to say that attempts have been made to 

 use vulcanized instead of raw rubber, but the product is deficient 

 in aroma and has a taste that requires getting used to. At 

 the same time such gum lasts a long time and is gradually get- 

 ting into favor for that reason only. This information, par- 

 ticularly, will be of intense interest to rubber reclaimers. Chicle 



LEST WE FORGET. 



BUT a few moons ago Para rubber was so high that the 

 trade did not know which way to turn. The reclaimers 

 and those who produce "assistants" did their best, but with 

 little effect upon the general situation. Just then, however, 

 some enterprising souls put millions of dollars into plants and 

 processes for the extraction of rubber from a hitherto useless 

 desert shrub. They produced on a magnificent scale and the 

 hearts of the manufacturers were gladdened. They got a new 

 and useful rubber and an assured and regular supply. Then 

 came a change. Para dropped in price, and — so it is said — they 

 forgot their shrub rubber friend, and would have none of it. 

 Yet it is here to stay. To take it out of the market would be 

 calamity. To use it, and to encourage its production against 

 the day when other grades reach their normal level would seem 

 to be good business. 



The rubber output from the Congo Free St.\te appears now 

 to have reached about a fixed annual total, the amount for eight 

 years past having not varied widely one year with another. The 

 trade will welcome every feature of the rubber supply that points 

 to stability of demand, as having a bearing upon stable prices. 

 .\t the same time it is possible that the conditions in the Congo 

 are such as to point to ultimate extinction of the supply, the 

 present output being maintained by the working of new terri- 

 tory everv year. A question of more immediate importance to 

 the trade is the keeping up of the quality of the output, about 

 which of late there has been a good deal of complaint. 



ELECTRICITY IN MEXICO. 



THE electrical development of Mexico is attracting wide at- 

 tention. The Electrical World notes that the Mexican 

 Light and Power Co., a Canadian concern alone have invested 

 more than $40,000,000 (gold )in the installation of electrical plants 

 at Necaxa and elsewhere in Mexico, for lighting and trans- 

 mission of power for street railways and industrial purposes. 

 The Necaxa plant is of such importance that the German govern- 

 ment has sent a commission of experts to study it. The Juana- 

 juato Light and Power Co. have equipped a large plant at El 

 Dura for supplying light and energy for motors to the neighbor- 

 ing mines. The Compafiia Electrica e Irrigado are developing a 

 plant in Hidalgo state, to cost $3,250,000. Tenders have been in- 

 vited for a plant at Tetepango, to cost $2,500,000. These are only 

 a few of the new^ electrical enterprises listed by the Electrical 

 World, the operation of which is, or is to be. spread practically 

 all over Mexico, involving no small demand for insulated wires 

 and cables. 



EXPORTS FROM THE UNITED STATES. 



OFFICIAL statement of values of exports of manufactures 

 of india-rubber and gutta-percha from the United States 

 for the month of November, 1907, and for the first eleven months 

 of five calendar years : 



Belting Boots All 



Months. Packing and Other Total. 



and Hose. Shoes. Rubber. 



November, 1907 $125,812 $130,705 $298,535 $555-052 



Jan. to Oct. 1 168,648 1,401,890 3,345,209 5,915747 



Total $1,204,460 $1,532,595 $3,643,744 $6,470,799 



Total, 1906 1.083.228 1. 137.445 2,993,804 S.2I4-477 



Total, 1905 1,066.804 1.182,784 2,622,162 4.871,750 



Total, 1904 808,771 1.099.030 2.149-273 4,o57-074 



Total, 1903 777.361 890,835 2,276,179 3,944.37s 



