March i, igo8.] 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



173 



Published on the 1st of each Month by 



THE INDIA RUBBER PUBLISHING GO., 



No. 393 BROADWAY, NEW YORK. 

 CABLE ADDRESS: IRWORLD. NEW YORK. 



HENRY C. PEARSON, 



EDITOR. 



HAWTHORNE HILL, 



ASSOCIATE. 



Vol. 37. 



MARCH I. 1908. 



No. 6. 



Sdbscbiptions : |3.00 per year, $1.75 for six months, postpaid, for the 

 United States and dependencies and Mexico. To the Dominion 

 of Canada and all other countries, $3.50 (or equivalent funds) 

 per year, postpaid. 



Advertisinq : Rates will be made known on application. 



Remittances : Should always be made by bank draft, Postofflce or Ex- 

 press money orders on New York, payable to Thb India Rubbbb 

 Publishi.no Company. Remittances for foreign subscriptions 

 should be sent by International Postal order, payable as above. 



DiscoNTiNDANCES ; Yearly orders for sub.^icrlptlons and advertising are 

 regarded as permanent, and after the first twelve months they 

 will be discontinued only at the request of the subscriber or ad- 

 vertiser. Bills are rendered promptly at the beginning of each 

 period, and thereby our patrons have due notice of continuance. 



roPYRiGHT, mos, nr 



THE INDIA RUBBER PVBLISHINO CO. 

 Entered at New York postofflce as mall matter of the second class. 



TABLE OF CONTENTS ON LAST PAGE READING MATTER. 



THE PATERNAL PURCHASER. 



T' 



HERE is a very general impression that it is easier 

 to buy goods than to sell. To prove this one has 

 only to advertise for good men in (.ach class, 

 with the result that there will be 20 ap])licants for a 

 purchasing position to one for selling. The truth is, 

 however, that wise buying is as much of a science as 

 wise selling. One result of this general impression 

 is a feeling on the part of purchasers that they can not 

 only demand full measure, pressed down and running 

 over, but that their rights go far beyond this, even to 

 the beginning of the production of the goods they se- 

 cure. 



The present condition of things has been the result of 

 a very natural evolution. Years ago, when a great cor- 

 poration wanted rubber goods, the purchasing agent in 

 an ofif-handed manner saw the manufacturer or his 

 representative, gave a verbal order, told him 1o be 

 good to himself in the matter of price, and both parties 

 made large profits. A little later came the written 

 order, and if the buyer thought he was shrewd, a sub- 

 sequent claim for shortage in weight or defects in man- 

 I I ufacture that notably discounted the bill. Then came 

 '^> printed specifications and competitive bidding. This 

 reduced the manufacturer's profits, but as the specifi- 



cations first framed covered the style of goods wanted 



and the service required, it was a hardship only to 



those who did not know their business, or who in their LIBRA i 



shortsightedness skimped the compound and paid for 



it later. , , 



The next step in the evolution of specifications was G.^' 

 the paternal attitude. The purchaser availed himself 

 of the knowledge manufacturers were willing to give 

 him. and of the service of his own chemists, and began 

 to insist upon a regulation of ingredients used, of com- 

 pounding, calendering, and manufacturing processes, 

 with the result that many manifest absurdities crept 

 into the specifications, and, what was worse, that ser- 

 \iceable goods were thrown aside because they did not 

 come up to specification. An analysis of specifications 

 tor rubber goods in almost any line to-day shows 

 clauses that certainly never would be written in by 

 manufacturers making the goods for themselves. 



The whole trouble lies in the fact that the buyer 

 iias carried a good system too far. If he wants to man- 

 ufacture he should have his own factory and devote 

 himself to that line. If, on the other hand, he simply 

 wants to purchase, he will in the long run get a far 

 l;ctter product if his specifications say: 



"I want goods of such and such a type, for such a 

 ser\ice. Use Para rubber or mud, as your own wisdom 

 may dictate, but do your best and give me a reason- 

 able guarantee of service." 



Of course, only reputable manufacturers would be 

 dealt with on this basis, and the result would be not 

 only fewer complaints on the part of purchasers, but 

 a steady advancement in quality and durability of the 

 goods produced. There is just as much sense in the 

 jnirchaser specifying that only red haired men should 

 run the calender on which his goods are turned out, 

 as for him to specify that only Para rubber should be 

 used in ordinarv lines of mechanical rubber goods. 



Perhaps no one line of manufacture in the United 

 States has received more careful attention on the part 

 of purchasers than steel rails. All sorts of tests have 

 been insisted upon, the most rigid specifications drawn, 

 and vet very recently the Pennsylvania Railroad Co., 

 heretofore the leader in this line of endeavor, has rad- 

 ically changed its method, vastly simplified its specifi- 

 cations, and practically said to the rail makers: "We 

 want such and such product : Get it out your own way, 

 under your own mill practice, but give us the goods." 



This subject may have more pertinence just now to 

 the rubber trade in view of the various investigations, 

 which have been made, or are now in progress, re- 

 garding the quality of fire hose in use by the New York 

 fire department — a line of supplies which for some 

 years past has been supplied only on specifications 

 drawn by the department's experts. 



The same principle as related to the manufacture of 

 rubber insulation was clearly set forth in a paper which 

 appeared in a recent issue of our journal. 



