May 1, 1916.] 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



439 



similar to this. In the present instance, we have no informa- 

 tion other than that contained in a general article prepared for 

 the press, giving no details of the process. Usually in such 

 announcements, particular stress is laid on the low cost of pro- 

 duction of the synthetic product, and it is worth while to note 

 in this connection, the omission of all reference to the cost of 

 production. 



"Synthetic rubber is not a new discOTery ; it can perfectly 

 well be made in a laboratory, but its production on a com- 

 mercial scale has not yet been attained. 



"It is evidently quite possible for a process to be economical 

 in war time when one has to pay 21s. per pound for natural 

 rubber, while the same process could not be countenanced in 

 time of peace. The allusion to several years experimenting 

 may merely indicate the development of one of the well-known 

 patented processes. 



".\nother point worth noting is the indication concerning the 

 lasting quality of this rubber; it is 'sufficiently durable,' etc. If 

 all difficulties had been overcome a more energetic term would 

 certainly have been used." 



PERSON.-\LS. 



Baron de Wissocq, head of the Etablissements Hutchinson, 

 serving as captain in the army, has been promoted to the rank 

 of major and made Knight of the Legion of Honor. 



Count R. de Fleury, a well-known rubber authority and con- 

 tributor of your contemporary "Le Caoutchouc & la Gutta- 

 percha'' is serving as a lieutenant of artillery. 



Captain Rouxeville, the noted rubber chemist, recently re- 

 turned to the front after a rest necessitated by wounds suffered 

 in battle. 



.\ndre Dubosc, chemical engineer and authority on rubber 



manufacturing, has returned from an extensive American trip. 



TRADE NOTE. 



Rousselot & Cie, Paris, manufacturers of chemicals, are in- 

 stalling a plant that will produce 220 pounds of golden sul- 

 phuret of antimony per day. 



ACCUSED OF TREASON. 



The barbarities in the Putumayo district are again brought 

 to mind by the arrest and incarceration of Sir Roger Casement, 

 who is now in military custody, having been captured when a Ger- 

 man auxiliary was sunk, which was attempting to land arms and 

 ammunition in Ireland for use against the British Government. 



It was in 1910 that the stories were published of horrible atro- 

 cities perpetrated on the rubber gatherers in the Putumayo dis- 

 trict in South America. Sir Roger Casement was then Consul- 

 General at Rio Janeiro, and the British Government sent him to 

 investigate the truth or falsity of the story. .After spending 

 several months in the interi(.)r, he reported that the accounts of 

 the barbarities were not exaggerated. 



.\fter years of service in the British Government, holding 

 offices of honor and responsibility, and having been knighted and 

 having bestowed upon him medals and decorations, it is alleged 

 that he has endeavored to arouse the hatred of the Irish, and 

 that he has conspired with Germans against Great Britain. 



HOLLAND. 



The offices of the Amerikaansche Handelmaatschappij, con- 

 ducted by J. Polak Grodel, in .'\msterdam, representatives of 

 the United States Rubber Co.. Everlastik Inc., and several other 

 well-known firms, have been removed from their old location — 

 Prinsengracht 544 — to new quarters at Marnixstraat 402.A, in 

 the same city. 



EUROPEAN TRADE NOTES. 



SWEDEN. 



The Swedish Government is taxing all exceptional profits that 

 are deemed to be due to extraordinary conditions developed by 

 the war. The War Profit Tax Administration in Stockholm, 

 which has the task of estimating these war profits for taxation, 

 recently published a general list from which were obtained the 

 following names of dealers in rubber goods, together with the 

 amounts upon which each will be obliged to pay as war profit 

 taxes : VVahlen & Block, wholesale dealers in rubber mechanical 

 goods, 23,700 crowns [$6,352] ; Aktiebolaget Axel Christiersson, 

 wholesale dealers in rubber mechanical goods and general factory 

 supplies, 256,400 crowns [$68,715], and .'\ktiebolaget Andersson 

 & Pohl, wholesale dealers in scrap rubber, 18,000 crowns [$4,842]. 



The Aktiebolag J. R. Broman & Co., wholesale dealers in me- 

 chanical rublier goods, packings, beltings, etc., 17 Lilla Nygatan, 

 Stockholm, has declared a dividend amounting to 10 per cent. 



DENMARK. 



Statistics recently published show that the number of auto- 

 mobiles in Denmark on September 1, 1915, was 4,331, as against 

 3,430 machines at the corresponding date in 1914, and 682 in 1909, 

 when the first statistical information regarding automobiles was 

 published by the Kingdom. Of the total number of machines 

 on September 1, 1915, 3,773 were for passenger use; this number 

 included 1,291 used for cabs or omnibus service. Motor trucks 

 numbered 558. At the same date there were also 6,347 motor- 

 cycles in use. 



EXTENSION OF EUROPEAN EMBARGO ON EXPORTS OF RUBBER 

 GOODS. 

 SWEDEN. 

 The Swedish Government has extended its export embargo 

 to include soles for shoes made of rubber and fabric, and belting 

 made in whole or in part of rubber, gutta percha or balata. 

 NORWAY. 

 A recent circular of the Norwegian Foreign Office places an 

 embargo on all exports of rubber goods ; also all goods made 

 whole or in part of balata and guttapercha, with the exception 

 of belting. 



ITALY. 

 The Italian Government has prohibited all commercial inter- 

 course with the German Empire both for Italy and its colonies. 

 Further, an export embargo has been placed on all rubber, balata 

 and gutta percha goods, all waste materials and scrap from 

 which rubber may be reclaimed. Benzine is also on this list. 



NORTHERN FREIGHT ROUTE TO OPEN. 



.■\merican exporters will shortly have an opportunity to land 

 goods in Russia without delay from pressure of government 

 shipments. The American-Russian Chamber of Commerce, 60 

 Broadway, New York City, has received a cablegram from the 

 Russian-American Chamber of Commerce of Moscow announc- 

 ing that the Pacific port of Nikolaievsk, at the mouth of the Amur 

 River, Siberia, will be opened for navigation June 14. American 

 exporters wishing to avoid the congestion and delays in sending 

 freight by way of Vladivostok should direct shipments to Niko- 

 laievsk. Goods received there will be transported up the Amur 

 River to Stretyinsk, where connection is made with the railroad 

 svstem. 



Owing to the shortage of rubber in Germany, it is stated, on 

 the authority of the managing director of a large rubber com- 

 pany who returned recently from Berlin to Stockholm, that 

 nearly all the taxicabs in Berlin have steel tires, and that steel 

 tires are also in use on cars at the front. 



RUBBER IMPORTS INTO AUSTRALIA. 



The British Trade Commissioner for .Australia has prepared 

 interesting tables illustrating the share of the United Kingdom, 

 the United States and British Dominions and possessions in the 

 importation of "competitive merchandise" into the Common- 

 wealth of Australia during the year ended June 30, 1916. 



I'ndcr the heading "India Rubber, and manufactures of," out 

 of total imports from all countries amounting to i481,811 [$2,344,- 

 733] Great Britain's share was i214,929 [$1,045,925], the United 

 States ranked second with £118,669 [$577,503], while the share 

 nf tin- British Dumininns and possessions was i36,703 [$178,615]. 



