330 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



[July i, 1908. 



to be expected just yet, though I think it may be taken that 

 no further reduction will be made. Of course, the motorists 

 have benefited always, supposing that there has been no 

 reduction in quality, but the advantage to the trade is not so 

 apparent. In fact, one dealer is emphatic that instead of 

 buying tires eagerly when the reduction is announced, the 

 motorist decides to wait for a further reduction, and that 

 this frame of mind has been all against the expected acces- 

 sion of business. 



I hear nothing but glowing accounts of the progress made 

 by the Kempshall tire in popular estimation, and this in spite 

 of their price being considerably above that of the well- 

 known makes, which have been so long on the market. As 

 previously mentioned, this tire is made solely by Messrs. 

 Charles Macintosh & Co., Limited, though it is quite dis- 

 tinct from their well-known Macintosh tire. 



The Collier beaded edge tire is now being made with a 

 rubber nonskid, the extra cost of this tire over that of the 

 ordinary round tread cover being from all accounts amply 

 justified. With regard to the nonskid question generally, it 

 seems to be the fact that the all rubber nonskid tread is 

 knocking out the metal studded form, and it seems a fairly 

 safe surmise that in two years' time the metal studded tire 

 will have become almost extinct. This does not apply to 

 the chain attachment, as I understand these are still in con- 

 siderable demand. What we shall probably see in a year 

 or two hence will be the rubber nonskid in general use with 

 the chain attachment in demand where the exigencies of 

 particular roads necessitate it. 



If the weather was the factor of importance in the situa- 

 tion, the sales of tires should be in advance of last year, 

 which was a very wet one. Business generally, however, is 

 not so good and there will be less money to spend. Al- 

 though we have had some weeks of fine hot weather, the 

 late Easter seems to have established a record for cold and 

 snow, a good many motorists having a rough time of it. I 

 myself had the novel experience of spending the night at a 

 farmhouse in Scotland, on account of tire troubles, impend- 

 ing darkness, and heavy snow. The farmer, by the way, was 

 under the impression that rubber was dug out of the ground, 

 an idea which was not based on reading a recent paragraph 

 in The Indi.\ Ruuber World about a stratum of rubber hav- 

 ing been struck at depth during boring operations. 



Dr. Carl Walther Thiel, f. i. c, whose retirement from 

 the scientific staff of the Harburg-Vienna rubber works, at 



Harburg. was mentioned in tlie last 

 PERSONAL. IxDLV RuBBER WoRLD, somewhere 



about a decade ago, was chemist at 

 the Manchester works of F, Reddaway & Co,, Limited, and 

 made many friends in that district, who doubtless will be 

 interested to hear of his recent move. On leaving Manches- 

 ter he first took up an appointment at the Calmon rubber 

 and asbestos works at Hamburg, proceeding thence to the 

 well known Harburg company, 



I NOTICE that a non rubber printer's blanket has been pat- 

 ented by Messrs. Harris Markus and Edward Turner Whit- 

 clow. The new blanket is built of layers 

 of woven cloth and a composition of 

 glue, water, and vegetable oil, and is 

 said to withstand tlic deleterious action of printer's ink bet- 

 ter than is the case with the ordinary rubber blanket. The 

 position is somewhat analagous to that in the card cloth 

 manufacture, where composition cards containing glue are 

 now made speciallj- for use in woollen carding machines 

 where the oil acts upon tlie rubber cards. With regard to 

 tjie patentees, they are both connected with the Barnewell 

 Machine Co., Limited, now located at the Droylsden Rubber 

 Works, near Manchester. These works were founded over 



DROYLSDEN 

 RUBBER WORKS. 



30 years ago by Thomas Worth, and were known under his 

 name. Later they became the Droylsden Rubber Works, 

 which, on getting into financial difficulties, were sold at auc- 

 tion as a going concern to one or two men well known in 

 the rubber trade in Manchester. They were not, however, 

 worked regularly, and a year or two ago passed into the 

 possession of the Barnewell Machine Co., with which Mr. 

 Harris Markus, formerly of the Fleetwood Rubber Co., was 

 identified. One of the specialties now being produced at 

 Droylsden is Markalite, which is not exactly a substitute, but 

 rather a binding material for use in rubber mixings. 



OTHER BRITISH RUBBER NOTES. 



CALLENDER'S CABLE AND CONSTRUCTING CO. 



""THE trading profits of Calkndcr's Cable and Construction 

 •^ Co., Limited, for 1907 were £108,573, against £122,926 in 

 the preceding year and £124,521 in 1906 (the best year in 

 the company's history). The net profits came out at £35,835 

 [=$174,391], against £54,050 in 1906. The report ascribes 

 to general business conditions the falling off in the com- 

 pany's trade, but points out that they probably had their 

 full share of business to be done. Their two factories for 

 cables and accessories were fairly well employed. A great 

 improvement is reported in the working of the rubber works 

 at Leigh, now owned by the company; the rubber trade has 

 increased and a satisfactory profit has been made on the 

 operations of that branch. The company paid £13,500 in 

 debenture interest (from gross profits), £10,000 in preference 

 dividends (at 10 per cent.), and £26,250 in ordinary share 

 dividends (at 15 per cent.) — the same as for the two pre- 

 ceding j'ears. 



PROFITS OF BRITISH COMPANIES. 



The accounts of F. Reddaway & Co. (Manchester) for 1907 

 show a net profit, after providing for debenture interest, de- 

 preciation, etc., of £26,476 [^$128,845.56], out of which the 

 directors recommended dividends of 6 per cent, on the prefer- 

 ence shares and 2;/2 per cent, on the ordinary. The sum of 

 £10,000 was added to the reserve fund, increasing it to £95,- 

 000. The amount of debentures outstanding has been re- 

 duced to £138,759. 



Claudius Ash, Sons & Co. (1905), Limited, report that 

 business was well maintained during 1907. The profit was 

 £84,747, against £83,359 in 1906. The dividend of syi per 

 cent, on the preference shares and 8 per cent, on the ordi- 

 nary shares amounted to £52,820 [=$257,548.53], the same 

 as last year. Added to reserve £20,000. The business is the 

 manufacture and sale of dental rubbers and other dentist's 

 materials. 



DRIVING APRONS IN THE HOUSE OF LORDS. 



The British house of lords has been called upon to say 

 the final word in a patent infringement suit relating to a 

 motorist's driving apron- — "particularly waterproof aprons, by 

 which the driver's feet will be perfectly protected from rain." 

 Robert Arnot, of Edinburgh, assignee of patent No. 16,509 

 (1902), on such aprons, sued the Dunlop Pneumatic Tyre Co., 

 Limited, alleging infringement. The court decided that, 

 were the patent valid there would have been infringement, 

 but that the invention in question has been disclosed by an 

 earlier patent. Arnot appealed to the house of lords, where 

 the court decision was confirmed, and the appeal dismissed. 



VOLEMITE. 



A MEETING of the shareholders of Volenite, Limited, was to 

 be held in London on June 3 to hear an account of the 

 winding up, from the liquidator. About seven years ago, 

 this journal, in mentioning a windup of the company and re- 

 construction then in progress, spoke of Volenite, Limited, 

 as "making a fresh bid for popular favor in connection with 

 a material into which Pontianak gum is said to enter largely." 



