36 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



[October 1, 1915. 



ASSOCIATION FOR ADVANCEMENT OF SCIENCE. 



The British Association for the Advancement of Science 

 held its 8Sth anniversary meeting this year at Manchester. 

 Hitherto at these meetings the subject of synthetic rubber has 

 been quite prominent. This year it practically did not enter 

 into any of the discussions. One of the most interesting 

 features of the meeting was the inspection by the members 

 i)f the .Association of the cable works at TrafTord Park of 

 W. T. Glover & Co.. Ltd. .\t a luncheon given by the com- 

 pany to the visitors the managing director, E. A. Claremont, 

 who acted as chairman, gave an interesting account of the 

 origin of the company 50 years ago, the founder being a Sal- 

 ford draper who conceived the idea of covering crinoline 

 steel with waxed cotton so that damp would prevent the 

 steel from damaging the dress fabric. From this small be- 

 ginning the insulation of cables arose, necessitating the re- 

 moval to a Salford works, which were repeatedly enlarged 

 until about 15 years ago the present works were built on a 

 more modest scale than they exist today. With regard to 

 the war, Mr. Claremont said they had had to make very large 

 quantities of telephone wire for field service; this material 

 only had temporary use, as it could not be picked up again in 

 active warfare for future use. 



The visitors were then conducted through the works, where 

 they inspected the various processes of pickling, drawing and 

 tinning the copper wire; the insulation of the wire either 

 with paper, rubber or bitumen; the lead covering where the 

 molten lead is applied at a pressure of 13 tons to the square 

 inch; the armoring and final testing. The paper cables, which 

 are specially for use in damp situations, are insulated with 

 Glover's diatrine, which is paper treated with a special insulat- 

 ing compound. After seeing the making of paper insulated 

 telephone wires a visit was made to the rubber department. 

 .Mthough at an earlier period of the firm's history the rubber 

 compounds were bought manufactured up to the vulcanizing 

 stage, this is not now the case, a complete rubber manufac- 

 turing plant being now installed. This proved of special in- 

 terest to the visitors. The only rubber on view was a quan- 

 tity of Fine Hard biscuits and it was stated that only small 

 quantities of plantation rubber were used and no inferior 

 brands or reclaimed rubber. Among the foreign orders the 

 firm has in hand is a cable for the Calcutta Electric Supply 

 Co. to carry a pressure of 30,000 volts, and this is being 

 tested up to 75,000 volts. The tendency of recent practice 

 in electricity is the employment of higher and higher pres- 

 sures and a new responsibility is thrown upon insulated cable 

 makers. 



Among other works which received parties of members of 

 the association were the British Westinghouse Co. and the 

 F'ord Motor Co. (England), Limited. 



wliole of the excess of exports to find its way to Germany, that 

 country would still be receiving but one-third of its quantity 

 of crude rubber. It must also be taken into consideration that 

 neutral countries are obliged to supply themselves with many 

 rubber articles they formerly imported from the countries now 

 engaged in the war, and this has stimulated their domestic rub- 

 ber industries and rendered increased imports of crude rubber 

 necessary. No doubt some leakage has occurred but it is prob- 

 able that it has been of little importance. At a meeting of the 

 Council of the Rubber Growers' Association, a special committee 

 was appointed to con.sidcr this question. 



SYNTHETIC PRODUCTS CO. 



The English company formed to manufacture synthetic rubber 

 lias published some interesting information in its general annual 

 report. 



.A factory known as the Rainham Works, was installed for 

 experimenting with the manufacture and the vulcanization of 

 synthetic rubber, but work has been stopped as the government 

 commandeered the factory. 



Of the total paid-in capital of the company there only remains 

 il,289 ($6,273) in the banks, a great part of the capital 

 having been spent in installing the experimental plant. The cost 

 of .scientific research amounted to over £12,000 ($58,398), and 

 the company has spent £40,000 ($194,660) without having sold 

 any rubber. In spite of the declarations of the managers it 

 appears that the undertaking was not on the way to success. 



The manufacture of acetone at Kings Lynn seems to be 

 giving good industrial results in spite of the difficulties experi- 

 enced in separating properly the two bacterias that act on the 

 starch. All the acetone manufactured since June, 1914, has been 

 purchased by the British war department. 



The Russian-French India-Rubbcr, Gutta-Percha and Tele- 

 graph Works, "Prowodnik," of Riga, Russia, reports gross profits 

 of £6tOmO ($3,211,890) in 1914, against £415,000 ($2,019,598) in 

 the previous year. As the company maintains branches in Germany 

 and Austria, it was necessary to deduct a large sum for "doubt- 

 ful" debts in addition to £165,000 ($802,973) for ordinary depre- 

 ciation, as against £100,000 ($486,650) in 1913; so that there 

 only remained £180,000 ($875,970) available for distribution, as 

 compared with £252,000 ($1,226,358) distributed to share- 

 holders in 1913. The dividend proposed was £1 ($4.8665) per 

 share on the capital of £1,800,000 ($8,759,700), as compared 

 with £1. 4s. ($5.87) per share paid in previous year. The actual 

 payment was postponed until September on account of the de- 

 preciation in the Ru.ssian rate of exchange. 



IS BRITISH RUBBER LEAKING INTO GERMANY! 



For some time it has been believed in Mincing Lane, that 

 Germany was still succeeding in obtaining supplies of rubber 

 from Great Britain, and it has been suggested that the rubber 

 trade should cooperate in refusing to sell to firms of alien 

 origin. It is stated that 60 per cent, of the crude rubber sold 

 in London is sold to German firms whose members have become 

 naturalized British. Some people profess to believe that export 

 figures show that there exists a serious "leakage." The Board 

 of Trade returns for the first six months of 1915 show that 

 British exports of rubber to "other countries" (the United 

 States, France and Russia) were very nearly double what they 

 were in the corresponding period of 1914, amounting in value 

 to £1,088,000 ($5,294,752), as compared with £549,000 

 ( $2,671,709) exported during the first six months of last year. Ship- 

 ments to Germany and Belgium during the first six months of 1914 

 amounted to £1,650,000 ($8,029,725), so that even were the 



TIRE FAMINE IN SWITZERLAND. 



il is reported that the Swiss government has caused census 

 bureaus to be opened throughout the country for determin- 

 ing the quantities of cycle, motor cycle and automobile tires 

 available for immediate use. Owners and holders of such 

 tires are under obligation to report at these bureaus. 



The latest monthly report of the electricity bureau in the 

 communications department at Tokyo gives an increase of 

 14 in the number, and $541,475 in the combined capital of 

 electric enterprises since the end of the year 1914; of which 

 power suppliers make up the largest number. During May 

 four companies were promoted in Hokkaido, Niigata, Nagano 

 and Ishikawa Prefectures for the purpose of carrying on 

 lighting operations, with a combined capital of $62,897 and 

 total power generated of 267 kilowatts. 



