418 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



[Septemrer I, 1908. 



TRADE NEWS NOTES. 



At the recent great mining exhibition at Olympia, London, 

 were shown two Robbins belt conveyors in operation, handling 

 ores and the like. In care of one of the behs the material 

 passed over an automatic weighing machine. This was Merrick's 

 patent conveyor weightometer, and was one of the first of its 

 kind exhibited. 



Business is reported very good at the works of the National 

 India-Rubber Co. (Bristol, Rhode Island), particularly in the 

 insulated wire department, where some very large orders are 

 in hand. 



Mr. John E. Dickson has resigned as representative in Chicago 

 of the Cincinnati Rubber Manufacturing Co., to become Western 

 manager for the Trenton Rubber Manufacturing Co., with head- 

 quarters at No. 253 LaSalle street, Chicago. 



At a recent second convention of the selling force of Batchelder 

 & Lincoln Co., extensive jobbers of leather and rubber footwear, 

 of Boston, Mr. William H. Palmer, of the sales department of 

 the Boston Rubber Shoe Co., gave a talk on the way in which 

 his department is run, and gave details regarding the business re- 

 lations of the two companies, mentioning that Batchelder & 

 Lincoln Co. have been longer on the list of customers of the rub- 

 ber company than any other firm, the connection having existed 

 for more than 50 years. Mr. Walter E. Piper, superintendent of 

 one of the factories of the Boston Rubber Shoe Co., explained the 

 principal details of the rubber shoe manufacture, illustrating his 

 remarks with samples of the materials used and specimens of 

 footwear in various stages of manufacture. 



The president of the Women's League of New York State, 

 who estimated recently that about 75,000 women in the State 

 who usually work for wages or salaries were out of employment, 

 reports prospects favorable for the number being materially re- 

 duced during the ne.xt month or so, owing to improved business 

 conditions. The worjc of the league has been confined not so 

 much to providing positions for women as to finding where they 

 can go to get them. A recent report of the league mentions 

 that "The B. F. Goodrich Co. (the rubber manufacturers of 

 Akron, Ohio) wanted to know how many women from New 

 York were willing to go there." 



In regard to the financial situation Albert B. Beers (broker in 

 crude rubber and commercial paper, No. 68 William street, 

 New York), advises as follows: "General money market con- 

 ditions have continued easy through .-Xugust, and there has 

 been a fairly good demand for paper, the usual run of rubber 

 names ruling at 4 to 5 per cent, for the best and s'/2 to 6 

 per cent, for those not so well known. The demand is likely 

 to fall oflf somewhat in the course of the next month or two." 



VULCOLE. 



Joseph Dixon Crucible Co.'s Factory. 



[From a photograph taken during the erection of an important addition 

 to the plant at Jersey City, New Jersey. In the buildings shown is included 

 their rubber factory, for erasers and such like goods.] 



A VERY curious and unusual assistant for rubber compounds 

 ^ *• has just coine into the market, under the name of Vulcole. 

 It seems to have such an effect on sulphur in the compound that 

 sulphur may be put in as a compounding ingredient, very much 

 as one would put in whiting, with the probable effect that the 

 fused sulphur, instead of lessening the elasticity as in the case 

 of whiting, leaves it the same as if the compound were pure 

 gum. For example, it is said that a compound consisting of 10 

 pounds fine Para, "'X pounds sulphur, 8 ounces lime, 3 pounds 

 litharge, and 6 ounces vulcole, cured in a mold 15 minutes at 

 45 pounds of steam, gives a soft rubber with an elasticity of 

 7 to I. Samples made six months ago are apparently as good 

 as when they left the molds. Another point is that the goods 

 come out of the molds without the necessity of soaping, the 

 impression being wonderfully clear. 



Vulcole, added to a non-blooming compound, reduces the time 

 of cure at least two-thirds, so it is said, which would seem 

 paradoxical in the face of the statement that 75 per cent, of 

 sulphur with Vulcole added makes a soft compound in a 15 

 minutes cure. The new product is manufactured by the Amer- 

 ican Vulcole Co., of which Jlr. W. C. Coleman, of Boston, is 

 sales agent. 



SOME WANTS OF THE RUBBER TRADE. 



[459] "/"^AN you tell us wlio manufactures a rubber guard 

 ^^ to fit on the paddles for canoes, to prevent the 

 water from running back on the hand?" 



[460] "Can you advise us of a concern manufacturing erasing 

 rubbers in the United States?" 



[461] "Kindly furnish us with the names of manufacturers of 

 rubber tools ; such as scratchers, hand rollers, etc." 

 [462] "Kindly furnish us with a list of the different manufactur- 

 ers who would be apt to use the following scrap : Hard rubber, 

 solid; hard rubber shavings; soft rubber scrap, cured and un- 

 cured; cloth inserted scrap, cured and uncured." 



LOWER COTTON YIELD IN EGYPT. 



THE production of cotton in Eg>pt appears not to have 

 kept pace with the area planted, according to a report of 

 the Egyptian Cotton Commission, printed in the Alexandria 

 Gazette. While the actual reported production increase from 

 an average of 583,703,515 pounds for the three years 1896-1898 to 

 an average of 634,660,951 pounds in the years 1905-1907, the 

 yearly annual yield per acre has declined about 24 per cent. — 

 from 538 to 410 pounds. This is said to be due to too constant 

 cropping with cotton, the deterioration of the plant, the in- 

 crease of the insect pests, and the lack of fertilizers. The cot- 

 ton commission hope to remedy these ills. 



Rubber shoes imported into Chile are valued arbitrarily at 

 the custom house at $1.46 (gold) per kilogram [=662/3 cents 

 per pound], and the duty assessed is 25 per cent, ad xalorem. 

 The reduction in duties on most kinds of footwear which went 

 into effect under the presidential decree of March 21, igcS, docs 

 not apply to ruliber boots and shoes. 



The London Financial News hears from Paris: "Advices 

 from the French Congo state that a crisis has arisen in the india- 

 rubber trade there. Exports are diminishing considerably, in 

 consequence of higher prices, and fears are expressed by the 

 authorities of the colony that financial uneasiness may follow." 



The working expenses of the Electromobile Cab Co., of Ber- 

 lin, were substantially reduced during 1907, the diminution in 

 the maintenance of tires having alone been 27 per cent. 



