222 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



[April i, 15 



at Leyland, considerable damage being done. This works is now 

 entirely in the hands of the Baxter family. Mr. J. E. Baxter, 

 I regret to say, has been seriously ill with pneumonia, but has 

 happily pulled through. 



Every now and then I refer to certain metallic oxides which 

 interest me from both a rubber and mining point of view. In the 

 last twelve months both lead and zinc 

 ZINC OXIDE. oxides have fallen considerably in price, 



but while lead continues on the down grade 

 zinc has had an upward spurt during the last week or two. This 

 is due to an agreement among the principal Silesian (German) 

 producers to restrict the output. Unlike copper, which the world 

 cannot get on without, zinc is never likely to go much above £30 

 per ton because its use is not really indispensable. America now 

 takes the lead in zinc production, having quite recently got ahead 

 of Germany. As the production of zinc has increased so much 

 of late years a fall in price to the point at which mining is no 

 longer attractive seemed imminent and it is not surprising that 

 something in the nature of an arrangement among producers has 

 come to pass. Although an increasing amount of zinc ore is 

 being mined in England none of the oxide used in rubber works 

 is made in the country. The principal mine in Cumberland be- 

 longs to the well known Vieille jNIontargis Co., of Belgium, and 

 the ore is shipped to Belgium to be smelted and converted into 

 oxide by burning. 



Though not on a scale to effect the threatened congestion of 

 raw rubber supplies, a reference may be made to a comparatively 

 new use of rubber. This is in connection 

 with the pianola, which is gaining in- 

 creased favor among those who are not 

 piano players. Vulcanized rubber tubing about yi inch diameter and 

 of lengths from 8 to 24 inches or more is now generally used in 

 the mechanism instead of the metal pipes previously employed. 



Mr. Arthur Du Cros has been elected member of parliament 

 for Hastings, in place of his father, Mr. Harvey Du Cros, who 

 resigned his seat owing to pressure of 

 business. The new member, who had as his 

 liberal opponent a son of the late Sir W. 

 Vernon-Harcourt, made tariff reform a strong feature, and a 

 good deal was said about foreign competition in motor cars and 

 tires. Mr. Du Cros, who is 36 years of age, has been closely 

 concerned for some years with the Dunlop Pneumatic Tyre Co., 

 first as works manager and now as director of the businesses at 

 London, Birmingham, and Coventry. As in the case of Mr. 

 Harvey Du Cros at the general election, motor cars played a 

 very conspicuous part on the polling day. 



KEW APPLICATION OF 

 EUBBEK. 



A TIHE MAN IN PAH- 

 LIAMENT. 



THE COTTON SITUATION. 



/""HIN.A., long an important consumer of cotton goods, ap- 

 ^»-' pears to be a larger producer of raw cotton than has 

 been generally supposed, though as yet no trustworthy statistics 

 exist. A member of the American consular service at Shanghai 

 estimates the total possible production of Chinese cotton at 590,- 

 000,000 pounds. The Chinese are showing a determination to im- 

 prove the products of their cotton fields, in which they are en- 

 couraged by the growing demand for raw cotton by the mills of 

 Japan. If success attends the various plans now being worked 

 out, tlic consul referred to thinks that "American cotton will only 

 be bought by Japan when her requirements exceed China's pro- 

 duction." Cotton manufacturing under modern systems is also 

 making progress in China, in addition to the native methods of 

 working cotton, which give rise to a large consumption. 



* * * 



The growth of cotton in Mexico is increasing. The local pro- 

 duction does not yet equal the consumption. Imports of raw 

 cotton show a falling off, however, and some Mexican cotton is 

 exported. Daily Consular and Trade Reports says: "The exports 

 of cotton from the United States to Mexico during the fiscal 



years 1905, 1906 and 1907 were valued at $3,768,126, $1,620,443 and 



$36,413. respectively." 



THE EDITOR'S BOOK TABLE. 



ROYAUME DE BELGIQUE. MINISTERE DE L'INDUSTRIE ET 

 DU TRAV.\IL. Monographies Industrielles, Apergu Economique, Tech- 

 nologique et Commercial. Group VI. Industries du Caoutchouc et de 

 L'Amiante. Bruxellesi 1907. [Paper. 8vo. Pp. 237 -|- plates -|- map.] 



'T'HE industrial monographs now being issued by the Belgian 

 •^ ministry of industry and labor form a series unique in one 

 respect. It is not usual for a governmental office to publish 

 works of this class, and when the attempt is made the books pro- 

 duced are not apt to be of a practical character. The volume 

 before us, however, devoted to the caoutchouc and asbestos in- 

 dustries, could hardly have been better written, or more in- 

 forming, considering its scope and purpose and its limited size. 

 The object of this series seems to be to give briefly accurate 

 information regarding the more important industries of Bel- 

 gium, and the fact that the volume is devoted to rubber of it- 

 self indicates the estimation placed upon this industry by the 

 government of that kingdom. The rubber industry there, by 

 the way, is more extensive than may be generally supposed, there 

 being named 30 factories devoted to production of rubber and 

 asbestos goods, and with only one or two exceptions these em- 

 ploy rubber. 



The volume begins with a chapter on the trees and plants 

 producing rubber and the character of their product, with notes 

 on the methods of extracting latex and preparing rubber and 

 statistics of the world's production. The properties of rubber 

 are discussed and the materials employed in connection with 

 it in inanufacturing. Details of factory practice are next re- 

 ferred to, and a description of the principal articles of rubber 

 manufacture. Incidentally gutta-percha and balata receive the 

 same attention in this volume as india-rubber. A separate di- 

 vision of the work relates to asbestos and its industrial uses and 

 treatment. A number of informing illustrations relate to pre- 

 paring crude rubber and operations in rubber factories, with 

 further factory illustrations devoted to asbestos. The most in- 

 teresting single feature of the work is a map of the world on 

 considerable scale, showing the distribution of native rubber 

 species and also countries where rubber plantations have been 

 formed, different colors being used for the several species. 



The author of this work is not named, except that M. Gus- 

 tave van den Kerckhove is mentioned in connection with the 

 map, and it is understood that this well known Belgian rubber 

 expert collaborated in the preparation of the text of the voluine. 



KALENDER FUR DIE GUMMMNDUSTRIE UND VERWANDTE 

 BETRIEBL. 1908. - - ■ By Edgar Herbst. Mit der Beilage: Jahrbuch 

 der Kautschuk- Industrie. Dresden: Steinkopff & Springer. [1907.] 

 [Leather. 24mo. Pp. 454. Price, 4.50 marks.] 



In this little book the German rubber company manager or 

 factory superintendent has in most convenient form for reference 

 a large amount of information which is likely to come into 

 frequent use and which without such a compilation is very 

 often difficult to put one's hands on. It gives the latest in- 

 formation regarding the various associations in the German and 

 Austrian rubber trade, notes on the import duties of the principal 

 countries, tables of comparative rubber prices in the money of 

 different countries, per pound and per kilo ; specific gravity of 

 rubber and other materials, statistics of rubber production and 

 of rubber goods imports and exports ; a summary of patent 

 laws — but these are enough to suggest that the book contains a 

 very wide variety of information. The volume each year brings 

 all its data up to the latest date, including a review of progress 

 in the industry during the preceding year, the more important 

 patents, and so on. 



ALSO RECEIVED. 



Rubber Insulation for Conductors. By Fred. J. Hall. Reprinted from 

 Electrical World. 25 pages. [Abstracted in The India Rubber World, 

 January i, igo8.] 



