THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



161 



THE INDIA RUBBER PUBLISHING GO. 



No. 25 West 45th Street. New York. 



Telsphone— Bryant 2576. 



CABLE ADDRESS: IRWORLD. NEW YORK. 



HENRY C. PEARSON, EdUor 



Vol. 53 



JANUARY I. 1916 



No. 4 



SrnscRiPTlONS: S3. 00 per year, $1.75 for six months, postpaid, for the 

 ITnited States and dependencies and Mexico. To the Dominion 

 of Canada and all other countries, $3.50 (or equivalent funds) 

 per year, postpaid. 



.\nvERTlsiSG: Rates will be made known on application. 



Re.vittaxces: Should always be made by bank draft or Postoffice or 

 Express money order on New York, payable to The India Rubber 

 PuBLiSHrsc Company. Remittances for foreign subscriptions should 

 be sent by International Postal Order, payable as above. 



DlsroNTlNU.\NCEs: Yearly orders for subscriptions and advertising are 

 regarded as permanent, and after the first twelve months they will 

 be discontinued only at the request of the subscriber or advertiser. 

 Bills are rendered promptly at the beginning of each period, and 

 thereby our patrons have due notice of continuance. 



CORYRIGIIT. 19! 6. BY THE INDIA RUBBER PUBLISHING CO. 

 Kntered at the New Y'ork postoffice as mail matter of the second class. 



TABLE OF CONTENTS ON LAST PAGE OF READING. 



THE SEASON'S GREETINGS. 



T() our friends at home: A happy and prosperous 

 Xew Year. 

 To our friends at the European war front, of what- 

 ever nation: May this year, begun in battle and blood, 

 attended by suflferings untold and calamities inconceiv- 

 able, end in peace. May a greater freedom, a broader 

 humanity and a lasting concord be the world's inheritance 

 through succeeding years. 



DOING WITHOUT DYES. 



Tl II-; wonderful adaptability of the rubber trade to un- 

 usual conditions has often been remarked. Fresh 

 emphasis is laid upon it at the present time in the substi- 

 tution of colors, as black for white, in such products as 

 motor tires, for example. 



That is not difficult and is in the line of accejitcd prac- 

 tice. That such substitution should be carried into the 

 field of colored fabrics is, however, novel and opens up a 

 wide and profitable field. Such a problem was success- 

 fuUv met bv a rubber company making carriage cloth. 



Their product, normally, should be pebbled black rub- 

 ber on one side and black uncoated fabric on the other, 

 an effect that the customer desired. As no black cloth 

 was to be had, the manufacturer used white, spreading 

 the pebbled side, as usual, and skim-coating the other 

 with a dull black rubber. The result was even more 

 satisfactory than the usual type and bids fair to become 

 the usual thing. If dye shortages and embargoes per- 

 sist it is possible that similar substitutions will occur in 

 many lines where colored fabrics are used. The possibil- 

 ity of the colored rubber surface, and perhaps a revival 

 of the cemented, flocked surface, is not at all remote. 



HIGHER PRICES, AND WHEN? 



THE fact that rubber has already reached the dollar 

 figure, combined with the higher co^t of fabrics 

 and compounding ingredients, certainly point toward 

 higher prices in finished goods. The smaller manu- 

 facturers are apparently most anxious for the change, 

 for as a class they^ are burdened with a heavier over- 

 head, and owing to more limited capital cannot antici- 

 pate their requirements in rubber and materials as 

 far in advance as do the larger interests. 



That there is a feeling of unrest is evidenced by 

 the opinions expressed in the trade. Many mamifac- 

 turers do not hesitate to state that, at present prices, 

 they are not seeking orders with their accustomed 

 diligence. Orders for future deliveries at current 

 prices, it is said, are not desirable, and one case may 

 be cited where an order from a distributor amounting 

 to $10,000, for 1916 delivery on the basis of recent 

 prices, was turned down. The tendency of the 

 market may also be observed from the fact that cer- 

 tain manufacturers have reduced discounts to deal- 

 ers and a few have slightly advanced prices. 



It is interesting to note that with the present keen 

 competition, all manufacturers are compelled to ob- 

 serve uniform trading practices to guard the interests 

 of their customers. There seems to be a consensus 

 of opinion that should some of the prtiminent manu- 

 facturers advance prices, the examjjle thus set would 

 be universally followed. If any held out, their lower 

 prices would attract orders that wtmld soon exhaust 

 their stocks and they would then 1)0 unable to take 

 care of their regular trade, which would be forced 

 into other channels and alienated. On the other 

 hand, it has been suggested as not impossible that 

 large concerns with plentiful supplies purchased 

 when prices were below those now current, may hold 

 oflF for three or four months. While it may bo said 

 that manufacturers' representatives and dealers are 

 looking for an advance sooner or later, realizing that 

 present costs will demand some action, there appears 

 to be a wide difference of opinion as to the probable 

 date of such change, however, in some quarters the guess 



i- hazardc 



It it will come oarlv in Janu; 



