416 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



[May 1, 1916. 



THE EDITOR'S BOOK TABLE. 



STANUARDiZATlO.N OF AUl OMOIilLE TIRE FABRICS. TECHNO- 

 logic i'apcr No. 68 of ihc liureaii of Standards, Washington, D. C. 

 liy Walter S, Lewis and Charles J. Cleary. 



THIS pamplilet records the various steps taken by the authors 

 in the study of the fabrics for the purpose of developing the 

 best method.s of testing 17,'4-ounce standard tire building fabrics. 

 The chief causes of variations in test results were found to be 

 due to diflferent testing machines, size of test specimen, mois- 

 ture in fabric at the time of test, method of selecting samples 

 and differences in the fabric. Comparative tests were made 

 to determine which of the several common methods for ascer- 

 taining each particular physical property of the fabric would 

 give the most reliable results. 



The difference in strength of the same fabric tested upon two 

 difTerent testing machines was often large. In one case it was 

 40 pounds and the strength of the fabric was about 225 pounds. 

 Several kinds of test specimens prepared for the strength tests 

 were carefully compared. The results indicated that a test 

 specimen one inch wide and 3 inches long is fully as satisfac- 

 tory as regards accuracy and reliability as any other dimension. 

 The quantity of moisture in the cotton fabric has a marked in- 

 fluence upon the weight and strength. Methods of sampling 

 for strength tests are, also, fully discussed and tables are given 

 showing in detail the results of the various investigations. 



THE AUTOMOBILE FUEL SITUATION. BV E. S. FOLJAMBE, 

 Society of Automobile Engineers, New York City. [8vo, 18 pages, 

 paper bound.] 



An address on the present gasolene situation given by E. S. 

 Foljambe, managing editor of the Chilton Co., before the 

 Metropolitan Section of the Society of Automobile Engineers at 

 its March 16 meeting, has been published in pamphlet form. He 

 claims that the present high price for gasolene seriously affects 

 the automobile industry, which already shows a falling off in 

 demand for new machines. He quotes from the report of Sec- 

 retary Lane of the Interior, who gives as the causes for the 

 phenomenal rise in the price of gasolene, increase in consump- 

 tion and in e.xports, causing a depletion of stock on hand, 

 and to these are added decreased production of crude oil, 

 rich in gasolene, and the increase in the price of crude oil from 

 which gasolene is made. The United States Bureau of Mines 

 places the value of petroleum wasted at not less than $50,000,000 

 a year, due largely to evaporation, nearly all of which is pre- 

 ventable. If no new oil fields are discovered, and even if the 

 production of casing-head gasolene from natural gas continues 

 to increase, the author figures that the total supply will be ex- 

 hausted in IS years. .\lcohol, he deems, offers no relief at 

 present. Benzol may be used — in fact, is used in Europe as a 

 substitute, but sells at present at a higher price than gasolene. 

 Natural gas under pressure has proven practicable for short 

 runs. Kerosene may come into use, but it brings problems. The 

 engines would need to be modified and low-grade fuel car- 

 buretors must be devised. Some form of thermostat must be 

 installed. Gasolene would be needed even then to start the en- 

 gine, and perhaps a mi.xture of fuels of high and low volatility 

 might be used, a combination valve being provided which would 

 allow any proportion of each in the mixture. Several special 

 carburetors are described and their principal merits mentioned. 

 The suggestions as regards remedies, or measures for relief, are 

 a tax on exports, improvement and general use of more econom- 

 ical distillation processes, the curtailment of waste, the develop- 

 ment of crude oil fields, oil-bearing shales and natural gas 

 districts. 



PEEPS AT MANY LANDS. SOUTH AMERICA. EDITH A. BROWNE, 



F.R.G.S. A. & C. Black, Limited, London, England. [Price, Is. 6rf.] 



Many of our readers know Miss Browne, whose contributions 



to The India Rubber World have been read with interest. She 



IS the author of several books, one of which, in the series of 

 "Peeps at Industries," is devoted to the rubber industry. Miss 

 Browne is well qualified to write on these subjects, having visited 

 many of the countries of South .America, and having been asso- 

 ciated with A. Staines Manders, the organizer of the Interna- 

 tional Rul)ber Exhibitions, to whom this book is dedicated. The 

 book is one of the "Peeps'" series of small, handsomely printed, 

 concisely written books, and this one on South America is par- 

 ticularly attractive, having 12 full-page illustrations, reproduc- 

 tions of water-color sketches. In a volume of 88 pages only 

 a fleeting view can be had of such a large country as South 

 .America, and Miss Browne is to be congratulated on getting 

 so much in the way of facts concisely but entertainingly told in 

 so small a compass. One of the chapters is devoted to "Para 

 Rubber" and another to "A Voyage Up the Amazon." But, be- 

 sides these, all the principal cities are briefly described, as is also 

 the trip on the Trans-Andine railway to the West Coast. Four 

 other trips — across Lake Titicaca, through the Panama Canal, up 

 the River Magdalena in a house-boat to Bogota, and to the 

 Kaieteur Fall of the Potaro River in British Guiana, are par- 

 ticularly interesting. 



LIST OF PARA EXPORTERS AND IMPORTERS, 1915. PUBLISHED 

 by the Associacao Commercial do Para (Commercial Association of 

 Para, Brazil), in Portuguese, French and English, for free distribution. 

 [Bvo, paper cover, 104 pages.] 



Giving expression to part of a progfam traced for itself, the 

 Commercial Association of Para is distributing without charge 

 a complete list of exporters and importers established in that 

 important trading center of Brazil. 



Besides being a handy and serviceable directory this publication 

 contains valuable information regarding Para, its climate, its 

 trade and banking statistics, its school for practical commerce 

 and its commercial association. 



The list of exporters opens with the names and addresses of 

 crude rubber exporters, while the importers' list contains the 

 names and addresses of importers of electrical instruments and 

 ;ip|)aratus, automobiles, department stores, importers of footwear, 

 commission merchants, druggists, importers of hardware, tele- 

 phones, the commercial agents and representatives of national and 

 foreign houses, banks and exchange brokers, and a list of foreign 

 consulates. 



The book will be found valuable to all interested in commercial 

 relations with the great trading and rubber exporting center of 

 Northern Brazil. 



NEW TRADE PUBLICATIONS. 



■T^HE March number of "Footprints," the house organ of the 

 •'■ Canadian Consolidated Rubber Co., Limited, Montreal. 

 Canada, is really a catalog of the many lines of footwear manu- 

 factured by that corporation. It is a handsomely printed pamphlet 

 of 120 pages, ahnost every page containing one or more half-tone 

 illustrations of the lines of footwear, which are fully described, 

 giving all particulars so that dealers can order understandingly. 

 Some of the pages are in color, where the goods are manu- 

 factured in other than black or gray rubber. Besides the catalog 

 proper, there is an explanation of the standard assortment of 

 case packings, showing the number of pairs of each size packed 

 in a case unless ordered otherwise. There is a description of 

 each last and outline cuts showing a side and sole view. Some 

 pointers are given wearers on the care of rubbers and to dealers 

 regarding fitting. The cover, printed in blue and orange, carries 

 out the idea of the name "Footprints," the sub-title being so 

 arranged as to simulate a footprint by the shaping and placing 

 of the letters. 



Tlie United States Rubber Co. has been sending out to its foot- 

 wear customers some attractive cut-outs to advertise their "Cham- 

 pion" tennis shoes. A square frame showing styles of tennis 



