314 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



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worn-out rubber footwt'ar and tliousands of men. women and 

 children found a livelihood in collecting, sorting and packing 

 rubber scrap. L'nder present conditions this industry is prac- 

 tically dead. 



The total exports for 1914 amounted to only $73,000. This 

 state of affairs is due to the lack of transportation, the prac- 

 tical impossibility of e.xport trade due to high freight rates, and 

 to the lack of sufficient demand for rubber waste. It is also due 

 to the fact that (jther fields are far more remunerative at present. 

 For example, much of the unskilled labor employed formerly 

 at gathering and preparing rubber scrap, is now chop- 

 ping and selling fire wood and earning almost five times as 

 much as formerly. Enormous quantities of rubber scrap are 

 accumulating throughout the country. 



M 



THE RUBBER TRADE IN GREAT BRITAIN. 



By Our Regular Curcspoudcul. 

 AXL-FACTL'KEKS in nearly all branches of the trade 



port being extremely busy, many of the larger works con- 

 tinuing to be mainly engaged upon governmental work. Two 

 of the largest plants in the Manchester district have recently 

 been added to the list of factories 'controlled" by the Ministry 

 of Munitions, which means, inter alia, that their profits are lim- 

 ited to 20 per cent above their normal pre-war profits. 



The position with regard to the raw rubber market is more 

 tranquil than in the immediate past, it being generally recog- 

 nized that there is sufficient rubber for all likely demands. 



The rush up to the dollar line occurred without any good 

 rea.son, a fictitious market being created owing to the fact that 

 both Russia and the United States were large buyers at the same 

 time. The freight question of course remains, and will con- 

 tinue to influence the market, though too much has been made 

 in Slime i|uarters of the diversion of the traffic from the Suez 

 Canal t.. the Cape route, which only takes seven or eight days 

 longer. Manufacturers generally are looking forward to rub- 

 ber at 2s. 6d. or 3s. per pound. 



Busy as rubber manufacturers are, they haxe plenty of worries 

 to contend with, such as shortage of labor, high prices of chem- 

 icals, internal transit difficulties, etc. Women are being in- 

 creasingly employed in place of inen, and with quite satisfactory 

 results 



The modest announcement in the January Ini)I.\ Rubber 

 World of the election of Henry C. Pearson as a Fellow of the 

 Royal Geographical Society of London came as an interesting 

 and appreciative item of news to British readers, to many of 

 whom Mr. Pearson is personally known. It has been said of 

 some of the Fellows that they have obtained their entry to 

 the society too easily ; in other words, that the amount or the 

 nature of the ground they have covered has been too limited. 

 .\'o objection of this sort can be justly made in the present case 

 by those who know Mr. Pearson's wanderings in rubber pro- 

 ducing regions. 



SIR CLEMENTS R. M.\RKH.\M. 



The society has come into prominence lately by reason of the 

 death of one of its oldest and most prominent fellows. I refer of 

 course to Sir Clements R. Markham. By the way, in the various 

 obituary notices which I have read I have not seen any refer- 

 ence to his journey to Panama in company with Robert Cross, 

 of Liverpool, to obtain seeds and cuttings of the Castijha tree. 

 No doubt this was not of as much importance as the quinine 

 business, hut the ultimate outcome of this journey has proved 

 by no means of an insignificant nature.* 



Sir Clem 



KlBliKR COLL.ARS. 

 1 have never worn a rubber or celluloid collar, though they 

 have long had admirers. One of the numerous changes of 

 procedure which the war has brought about is the greater 

 use of these collars, mainly by the better class of workmen, and 

 sales have been very brisk. This is not attributable to the 

 higher cost of linen collars because these, if anything, have 

 been cheaper, owing to the number of men wearing khaki col- 

 lars. The cause is due rather to the increase in laun<lry charges, 

 which have shown a substantial rise. 



WRINGER ROLLS. 

 Specializing in the rubber industry has long been a feature 

 of American practice, while in Great Britain it has been cus- 

 tomary for factories to make a wide range of goods. Wringer 

 rolls for domestic washing machines were at one time largely 

 imported from America, and for all I know this may be the 

 case today. There is now, however, a small rubber works, the 

 .-\cme Rubber Co.. situated in a suburb of Glasgow, where 

 these goods are the sole product. It has by no means a monop- 

 oly of this business as many of our large works also make these 

 goods. I mention the case as an interesting example of special- 

 ization — a procedure which is uncommon with us. 

 REMO\AL OF WORKS. 

 Some months ago I mentioned that the Burnett Motor Tire 

 & Rubber Co. had commenced manufacturing at the Limpley 

 Stoke Works, formerly occupied by Wallington. Weston & Co., 

 Limited. The premises, being too small, the Burnett company 

 has removed a few miles to larger works at Trowbridge. 



LETTER FROM FRANCE. 



■ By Our Regular Correspondenl. 

 T T NDER war conditions solid rubber tires have not been aver- 

 ^^ aging better than from 1,500 to 2,000 miles, less than one- 

 tenth of what is expected from them in commercial use. These 

 low. war mileages have been attributed to bad roads, overloading, 

 over-speeding, constant exposure to the elements and to lack of 

 proper attention. Some trouble is being experienced with quality 

 which is far below the average peace time standard. This condi- 

 tion is not due to lack of crude rubber, for we have more than 

 we can use, but to lack of skilled labor which for a time was 

 scarcely felt. 



From a mechanical point of view trucks in our army use are 

 in much better condition than is usual in commercial service. 

 Wheels out of parallel which grind the life out of tires and 

 which are fairly common in commercial trucks are rare. One 

 feature of war service that certainly helps to explain low mileages 

 is that trucks are constantly under heavy loads. Temporary 

 shortage of correct sizes and the necessity of keeping trucks in 

 constant service have often led to the use of too small tires. 



Interesting results have been obtained by using oversize tires ; 

 110 millimeter (4'/2-inch) tires have in many instances outlasted 

 two sets of 90 and 100 millimeter (i\A and 4-inch) tires for 

 identical service. 



In spite of many difficulties French tire manufacturers have 

 been well able to supply all demands. Rubber has always lieen 

 plentiful, but certain other raw materials have often been scarce. 



In the early months of the war numerous American trucks were 

 imported with .\merican tires and .American rim sizes. Our 

 army has been altering these inch-size rims so that they can 

 receive standard French-made tires. All new American trucks 

 now coming into the country are built to receive French tire 

 sizes. 



The Societo I'VauQaise B. V. Goodrich is the only .American 

 tire concern W'ith a plant in France, but the United States Tire 

 Co. has for some time had a representative studying conditions 

 here. The Goodrich plant near Paris manufactures both solid and 

 pneumatic tires and inner tubes and also imports finished tires. 

 The French customs-duty makes the profitable sale of .American 



