332 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



[April 1. 1916. 



and consequent decreased use of belting. (The 1909 

 census figures are, $51,625,000.) 



Belting is given separately, but in previous years 

 v^-as grouped with hose. These two branches show- 

 but a fractional increase over 1909 figures, doubtless 

 in part due to above-mentioned change in power trans- 

 mission. 



This is the first time scrap rubber and reclaimed 

 rubber are given in the census reports. These ma- 

 terials are valued at over $12,500,000. This reckoned 

 at seven cents per pound, a very low average, would 

 mean nearly 90,000 tons of scrap and reclaimed rub- 

 ber, showing how important are these materials in the 

 rubber industry. 



In a report of the census of the industry taken in 

 1909, we compiled figures of the principal accessory 

 industries, in which the rubber is used to a large ex- 

 tent. A similar calculation with such figures as are 

 now available from the 1914 census, without adding 

 insulated wire, brings the total beyond $300,000,000. 

 More than a million dollars each productive day of 

 the year puts the rubber trade among the great in- 

 dustries of the country. 



THE PASSING OF THE DRY HEATER. 



TIRE TEXTS. 



THE beginnings of texts, or advertising catch 

 phrases, for tires were in the early bicycle days 

 when a simple rectangular card bore the legend 

 "Morgan & Wright Tires Are Good Tires." This text 

 on posters, letter-heads, catalogs and in advertise- 

 ments was, in its way, a bit of genius. 



It was most natural, therefore, that when the motor 

 tire made its bid for popular approval, the alert minds 

 that planned the selling campaigns should cast about 

 for motor tire texts equally apt. One of the clev- 

 erest, "The Best In The Long Run," was also one of 

 the first to appear. It was closely followed by "Time 

 To Re-tire," a picture of a very sleepy youngster, giv- 

 ing the needed double entendre. Indeed, it is pos- 

 sible that the pleasant picture forestalled the pang that 

 re-tiring costs the average motorist. 



"Mightier Than The Road," has a certain oratorical 

 flavor that is impressive. A captious critic might 

 complain that, strictly speaking, roads do not possess 

 might. It may also be suggested that American roads 

 are mighty bad, but of course that is slang. "Made To 

 Make Good" was well intentioned, but hardly euphonic. 

 "Made To Make" hits one's sense of consecutiveness 

 where it is particularly tender. "The Man With A Red 

 Tire Knows" is a bit mystical, but not more so than its 

 suggested alternate, "The Man With A Red Nose Tires." 

 There are many more, all more or less clever, all do- 

 ing their best. Be they praised or criticized, they are 

 very difficult sentences to create. Further than this, 

 whether praised or criticized, the end is attained. — 

 attention is drawn to the special tire to which the 

 text belongs. 



FROM the time of Leverett Candee to the present, rub- 

 ber shoes have been made up, varnished and cured 

 in one uniform, orthodox manner. Minor innovations 

 such as sole-cutting machines and ten-roll calenders came 

 in, to be sure, but in no way affected the established order 

 of things. The rows of making-up tables with crowds of 

 busy-fingered girls, the dripping varnish room, the 

 cavernous dry heater, were integral parts of a system that 

 was founded solidly on experience. No change was 

 needed, none was imminent : nay, none seemed possible. 

 Especially was this true of the curing. And yet almost in 

 a day came the pressure cure and the most important part 

 of rubber shoemaking was revolutionized. The question 

 that at once obtrudes itself is, "Where will the innovation 

 stop?" The mechanical goods manufacturers, the hard 

 rubber men, the makers of druggists' sundries, have long 

 been dominated by pressure in vulcanization, and their 

 goods have been the better for it. And now that rubber 

 shoes are pressure-cured, what of other goods of the dry 

 heat kind? How about surface clothing, mackintoshes, 

 carriage cloth? Is it a good guess that the pressure cure 

 will in time enfold them, too, in its warm embrace? 



There are somewhat grave fears, both ix Great 

 Britain and in this country, that at the conclusion of 

 the European war Germany will at once endeavor to 

 regain its export trade by offering, in foreign markets, 

 manufactured goods which have accumulated, either as 

 such, or made from materials thus collected, at prices so 

 low as to kill all competition. 



In Great Britain an active movement has been 

 started in favor of an anti-dumping law. In this coun- 

 try similar legislation has been agitated. Doubtless 

 there are lines of industry which may be thus afifected, 

 but a perusal of "The Rubber Situation in Germany," 

 as reported by our correspondent, on another page, will 

 allay such fears, if any are entertained by manufactur- 

 ers in the rubber trade. Germany has no such surplus. 

 In fact, her manufacturers could find immediate use 

 for thousands of tons of crude rubber, were they able 

 to procure it. This industry, at least, can rest assured 

 that there will be no post-bellum ruinous competition 

 from Germany. 



It is certainly gratifyixg to read the words of 

 so able a man as Vice Chairman Hurley of the Federal 

 Trade Commission in appreciation of the trade journal 

 and the trade association, both of which he deems most 

 important factors in the progress and prosperity of 

 the trade. His address given on other pages in this 

 issue, is worthy of careful perusal by manufacturers 

 and business men. He points out some of the disad- 

 vantages under which American industries are labor- 

 ing, advises conservation and co-operation, and out- 

 lines some of the work being done by the Government 

 Commission, of which he is an important officer. 



