10 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



[October 1, 1915. 



To refer again briefly to the European war, while various anti- 

 toxins have done much to reduce mortahty, still the vast armies 

 in the field would long ago have been decimated by one or more 

 scourges but for the modern methods of disinfecting camps, 

 trenches, and hospitals. The medical staffs of the several 

 have looked verv well, indeed, to this form of defense 



against devastating fevers, and it is in this particular that the 

 present strife stands out in vivid contrast to past conflicts. 



The one malady, however, that has caused an enormous sacri- 

 fice of life has been typhus. This has lingered in the Balkan 

 region since the war there several years ago, and within the past 

 twelve months Serbia has suffered frightfully from that fever's 

 ravages. The Russians also contracted the disease during the 

 campaign in the Carpathians and in Galicia, and the Teutonic 

 medical men, especially those of the German armies, have taken 



C.'^R Being Fumig.\ted bv Ste.^m from ..\ Locomotive. 



effective means to rear a barrier against the spread of that 

 scourge among the Kaiser's forces and in the Fatherland w^here 

 Russian prisoners are quartered. 



For this service they have had recourse to the sterilizing power 

 of steam. The particular object of this method of attack is the 

 typhus-transmitting louse. Unhappily, the filthy creature is a 



very common thing among the lower classes of the Czar's sub- 

 jects, and the hardships of camp and march have engendered 

 careless personal habits, thus favoring the propagation of these 

 disease-carrying insects. As a precaution, the Germans have 

 instituted disinfecting plants at many points for the sterilizing 

 of clothes and the destruction of these vermin. All railroad 

 trains used for bringing in from Russia either Russian or Ger- 

 man wounded from the eastern field of action are thoroughly 

 cleansed in this fashion by steam. At Potsdam, for instance, a 

 great steel cylinder, sealed at both ends by circular doors seating 

 Mil rubber gaskets, makes it possible to run a whole train inside 

 In sterilization. The steam, hot water, or formaldehyde is 

 cklivered by rubber hose from an available plant, .^gain, the 

 >;inic death-dealing vapor is blown into other cars used for trans- 

 Parting troops to and from the eastern theatre of war, and thus 

 disease germs of every kind are effectively disposed of. Our 

 illustrations give a very comprehensive idea of the means and 

 the methods employed in this vitally necessary service. 



ITALY AS A MARKET FOR AMERICAN RUBBER GOODS. 



Although a state of war has never been ofticially declared 

 to exist between Italy and Germany, the former's entry on 

 the side of the Allies has broken off all her commercial rela- 

 tions with the German empire. 



Italy has been a large purchaser of German rubber goods. 

 but it is a question whether she will be so in the future if 

 it can be avoided. The latest available statistics of the rub- 

 ber trade between Germany and Italy are for 1913, which 

 was the last normal commercial year. These statistics onl)' 

 show direct imports from Germany, not taking account of 

 the large quantities of German rubber goods that reached 

 Italy indirectly through other countries. They show that 

 Italy imported 54,533,600 pounds of German rubber goods, 

 consisting principally of rubber sheet, rubber solutions, rub- 

 ber thread, hose, tubing, solid and pneumatic tires, printing 

 cloths, rubberized and elastic fabrics, rubberized garments, 

 mechanical goods such as packings, belts, etc., rubber and 

 gutta-percha covered wires and cables, and hard rubber 

 goods. The most important imports were insulated cables 

 and wires. 



The war will undoubtedly result in the extension of the 

 uses of rubber and rubber goods in Italy. Italians will 

 hardly be disposed to purchase from Germans if they can do 

 otherwise with equal satisfaction. Italy should, therefore, of- 

 fer a good field for American rubber manufactures. 



AMERICAN EXPORTS OF MOTOR VEHICLES. 



The fiscal year ending June 30, 1915. marked the close of an 

 exceptional period in the annals of the .■Xmerican motor truck in- 

 dustry. Exports of commercial motor vehicles amounted to 

 1,1996 machines, valued at $39,140,682. as compared with 784 

 vehicles, valued at $1,181,611 exported during previous fiscal 

 \car and 993 commercial automobiles valued at $1,737,141 ex- 

 ported during the 12 months ending June 30, 1913. 



The year 1914-1915 was less favorable to exports of pleasure 

 cars, which only amounted to 23,880 cars, valued at $21,118,953, 

 asainst 28,306 machines, valued at $25,392,963 during the pre- 

 vious year and 24,292 vehicles, valued at $24,275,793 exported 

 during the fiscal year 1912-1913. 



AEROPLANES ARE IN DEMAND ABROAD. 



During June and July of the present year Great Britain im- 

 ported from the United States aeroplanes valued at $765,544. 

 Italy imported aeroplanes w^orth $10,105, and Mexico imported 

 $3,535 worth of flying machines during the same period. 



REDUCTION IN PENNSYLVANIA TIRE PRICES. 



On September 1 the Pennsylvania Rubber Co. reduced the 

 prices of its smaller sized vacuum cup tires. The following are 

 some of the new prices : 31 x 3/^, $16.90 : 30 x 3'A. $16.20 ; 30 x 4, 

 $19.55; 28 X 3, $12.65; 28 x 3^, $15.40. 



