398 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



[May 1, 1916. 



tion. Foljambe, of the S. A. E., estimates that the auto- 

 mobile trade will need 42,000,000 gallons for 1916, and 

 that other industrial uses will call for 21,000,000 gallons. 



The users of this amount will be motor boats, stationary 

 internal combustion engines, dry cleaning establishments, 

 rubber manufacturers and chemical manufacturers. Just 

 what proportion of this is used in the rubber trade is 

 only a guess. Supply men off hand sa\- from 4.000.000 

 to 5,000,000 gallons. Rubber manufacturers think it is 

 very much more. One who uses 3,000 gallons a dav ])uts 

 the amount at twice 4,000,000. 



Whatever the amount needed, the increased price is 

 serious, not only to the dipped goods, spreader and cement 

 producers, but to all rubber manufacturers, ^^'ith cheap 

 gasolene it has hardl\- been thought worth while to try 

 to recover the solvent which evaporates. Now, however, 

 in spreader work, that will undoubtedly Ije done more or 

 less completely in the near future. 



The price of gasolene, which was as low as 9 cents a 

 gallon in 1911, gradually rose to 16 cents, dropped back 

 to 13 cents, and finally rose to 20 cents and is now 28 

 cents. Nor is there any immediate relief promised. Of 

 other solvents in sight, benzol is that to which the trade, 

 in normal times, would turn. But its use in warfare has 

 put its price so high that it is at present out of reach. 



In the meantime, economy in the use of gasolene, gov- 

 ernmental investigations and cracking processes, may 

 keep the price down to its present level. Of course, con- 

 tinued high prices would, in time, stimulate the production 

 of gasolene from natural gas and from the shales, or the 

 establishment of benzol plants simply for rubber use. But 

 all that takes time and the plants devoted to such work 

 might not be able to compete when gasolene returns to its 

 ten cent level. 



PRACTICAL PATRIOTISM. 



I 'HERE have been many Americans who, honest and 

 fair in their dealings with individuals, have taken 

 every advantage of the government. "The State has 

 no friends" was a proverb among such. The same 

 has been true of corporations big and little. That a 

 decided awakening has come about, however, is shown 

 by the work that many business men, heretofore in- 

 diilferent, are doing to make the country better. This 

 is not confined to any one industry, but a notable case 

 points these remarks, and it is in the rubber trade, too. 

 The I'^ederal Government needed much expert ad- 

 vice in connection with aeronautics, such as balloon 

 fabrics. No money was available for such work. The 

 splendidly equipped research laboratory of one of the 

 great rubber corporations was at once put at the service 

 of the government, without cost, and the problems 

 solved. Such willing, broad-gage patriotic service is 

 one of the most hopeful signs of the times. 



THE SEPTENNIS SYNTHETICUS. 



I T is a disease that occurs in the rubber trade at frequent 

 intervals, but in its most virulent form about once in 

 seven years. Since the discovery of vulcanization it 

 has broken out badly ten times. The symptoms are pro- 

 found secrecy, feverish avarice and alternating fits of 

 marked exaltation and deep depression. Its victims are 

 ca]Mtalists, half-educated chemists, occasional rubber man- 

 ufacturers, widows and orphans. It breaks out in widely 

 separated localities. Massachusetts, New Jersey, New 

 York, Ohio have been afflicted at intervals and have both 

 recovered and suffered relapses. At the moment of writ- 

 ing the disease has broken out in Brooklyn. The attack 

 is in this instance not of the most virulent type. One 

 patient is still in a very feverish condition and bewails 

 the loss of some $31,000. Another, possibly under tem- 

 porary aberration, has disappeared leaxing only a huge 

 tank containing a stick}- tar-like mixture. I-'ederal spe- 

 cialists, ha\-ing been called promptly, hope to localize 

 the outbreak and ])redict speedy convalescence if not 

 recovery- — nf the money. 



COLOR IN TIRES. 



THE non-technical press is at the moment questing for 

 information as to how tires are colored. A non- 

 conscientious expert could flood the country with the 

 statement that tire colors were obtained by dyeing after 

 vulcanization, or by the chemical action of the violet ray, 

 and the tale would obtain credence. 



Instead, the reply is after this fashion, although the 

 analogy is not quite perfect : For white bread the baker 

 uses white flour; for brown bread, brown; for black 

 bread, black. And if red bread were desirable red flour 

 would be used. So with tires, white rubber tires contain 

 white flour (zinc oxide) ; black tires, black flour (carbon 

 black) ; red tires, red flour (sulphuret of antimony). 

 There are, to be sure, many other whites, blacks and reds 

 that may be used, but the principle remains the same. The 

 rubber dough is simply colored by mi.xing a dry color in 

 it before bakinsf. 



One of our interesting .and polysynthetic contemporaries 

 advises purchasers of rubber packing to insist upon the floating 

 test as a guide to its value. In other words, pure rubber and 

 sulphur is what the writer believes the buyer should aim to secure. 

 The facts, however, run a trifle contrary to such assumption. 

 Sponge rubber floats, also rubber compounded with floating sub- 

 stitute, and would last about as long in steam as a slice of Swiss 

 cheese. On the other hand, rubber weighted down with plumbago, 

 asbestos, infusorial earth, and other heat resisters, while it will 

 sink like lead in water, will outlast and outpack anything else in 

 the world. But then, no engineer would try the test anyhow. 

 He buys of a friendly salesman who has bully cigars and never 

 mentions water. 



