June 1, 1916.] 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



501 



The India Rubber Trade in Great Britain. 



By Our Regiular Correspondent. 



iMPORTFD RUBBER TIRES. 



IN the April issue of The Indi.\ Rubber World it is stated that 

 the British duty on rubber tires is 33^ per cent ad valorem; 

 it should be noted, however, that although this duty was 

 proposed it was subsequently abandoned. There is a general 

 feeling among manufacturers and among workmen engaged in 

 tire making works that a heavy import duty should be levied 

 or even total prohibition ordered. No tires, of course, are com- 

 ing from enemy countries, and the only imports which really 

 count are those from the United States. Business is still being 

 done in well-known French makes and this introduces complica- 

 tions, which those who are clamoring for legislation on the mat- 

 ter do not perhaps sufficiently take into account. It is not un- 

 natural that the very great increase in the business done with 

 America should be somewhat resented by home manufacturers 

 who, owing to being engaged at present on special government 

 work, are handicapped in competing with those American firms 

 who are continually extending their activities in Great Britain. 

 From the tone of the most recent parliamentary Board of Trade 

 reply to a query on the subject, I think it is not at all improb- 

 able that the present American imports will be affected in the 

 near future, not by the imposition of a heavy duty, but by an 

 extension of the restricted imports order, to include motor and 

 cycle tires. It must not be overlooked, however, by those ad- 

 vocates for protection, who are now so prominent in numerous 

 branches of trade, that not all the imported tires are used for 

 pleasure motoring, and that it might prove to our disadvantage 

 at the present time, with the increasing labor shortage and other 

 trials, to have to depend practically entirely on the home output. 

 THE PROOFING BRANXH. 

 Beyond the work on existing government contracts there is 

 no great activity in the trade, home trade being decidedly slow, 

 as is also new foreign business. Large government orders for 

 certain goods which have been on the tapis for some time, have 

 not yet matured, owing, it is said, to differences of opinion as 

 to the quality and price which, in the case of straightforward 

 manufacturers, always synchronize. A discussion as to what 

 constitutes a weatherproof or a waterproof, which has been go- 

 ing on in some trade papers, is not without importance, and 

 although I am not aware of any legal decision on the point, I 

 may say that it is the opinion of leading men in the rubber trade, 

 that a waterproof garment means one proofed with rubber, while 

 a showerproof or weatherproof indicates cloth which has been 

 chemically treated so as to repel rain, but has no impermeable 

 layer of rubber. If the term "mackintosh" was universally used 

 for a rubberized garment — to use an Americanism not favored 

 in this country — it would simplify matters ; but outside of one 

 large firm, there is no very general disposition among manu- 

 facturers to limit themselves to this term. It is contended that 

 "weatherproof" applies to both rubbered and non-rubbered goods, 

 • while showerproof does not, but in the present unsettled state of 

 definition, purchasers had better ask for rubber or non-rubber 

 goods and see that they get what they want. 



THE G.ARMENT WORKERS' STRIKE. 

 The strike of members of the United Garment Workers So- 

 ciety still continues at the works of the Premier Waterproof and 

 Rubber Co., Limited, Manchester, the firm having declined to 

 offer more than 10 per cent advance in wages. The advance of 

 40 per cent and more demanded has been conceded by other 

 local manufacturers. Advances, it may be said, have been 

 pretty continuous at various works since the war began, a good 

 deal depending on the exact class of work, and thus it happened 



m more than one case that when the secretary of the Workers' 

 Society put his demand before a firm, it was discovered that 

 the firm was already paying practically the whole advance re- 

 quested and was naturally disinclined to quarrel over the trifle 

 that remained to be either granted or refused. The strike at 

 the particular works mentioned has, it should be stated, by no 

 means paralyzed the business, because only the makers-up, and 

 not the proofers, are affected; and, further, there has been no 

 strike among the hands employed on government work, as these 

 come under the supervision of the Ministry of Munitions, which 

 has the emergency power of proceeding severely against ab- 

 sentees from work. Other branches of the work's business also 

 continue in full swing. This increase in garment workers' wages 

 must fall eventually upon the purchasers of waterproofs, though 

 the question of a rise in price is complicated, because the present 

 agitation is confined to the Lancashire district, and does not 

 include the Scottish and London districts. 



DIS.\BLED SOLDIERS EMPLOYED. 

 H. L. Rothband, of J. Mandleberg & Co., Limited, has been 

 prominent in a scheme for finding regular employment for dis- 

 abled soldiers, several of whom are now employed in thesfe 

 works. Although the firm, of course, is well known as rubber 

 proofers, it has always done a large business in rain and shower- 

 proof goods. One of the latest developments at the works is 

 the dyeing and rainproofing of worsted dress serges by the 

 "Silco" process whereby the goods, it is claimed, will not shrink, 

 cockle nor spot. 



AMERICAN RUBBER BOOTS PREFERRED. 

 Officers who have experienced the discomforts of waterlogged 

 trenches during the past winter, speak highly of the rubber thigh 

 boots known as "Bullseye" made by the Hood Rubber Co. These 

 are retailed to them at 35 shillings a pair. They have very thick 

 soles, and are rather clumsy, but they are said not to slip and 

 for this reason are preferred to others of British make of more 

 presentable appearance but having thinner soles. 

 RECLAIMED RUBBER. 

 An article on "Regenerated Rubbers," which appeared re- 

 cently in the "Gummi Zeitung," is especially interesting at the 

 moment, as evidence that a country considered preeminent in 

 chemical knowledge has not yet learned the way to treat waste 

 rubber to the best advantage. Her source of supply from Great 

 Britain and America having been cut off, she has had to fall 

 back upon Continental products, made in either Germany or 

 Austria, and perhaps the Scandinavian countries. Analyses and 

 comparative prices of various Continental regenerated rubbers, 

 or reclaims as we call them in England, are given by the au- 

 thor to show how far away the price is from indicating actual 

 value. The writer goes on to say that it is amply evident that 

 the market is sorely in need of adjustment. He has little to 

 say in favor of Continental makes of reclaimed rubber. It is a 

 well-known fact that in pre-war times considerable quantities 

 were imported into Germany from Great Britain and .America. 

 It was thought that the loss of this business would be severely 

 felt, but both countries have found that it has been quite made 

 up by new home business. This transference of trade from for- 

 eign to home account is a considerable help to the reclaimer, 

 through the saving of freights and credits. It seems hardly 

 possible that the article was written by a practical man, other- 

 wise the products of this country would have been bracketed 

 with those of the United States, as our manufacturers here can 

 and do produce reclaimed rubbers in no way inferior to the best 



