August 1, 1916.] 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



625 



100, must be packed in tight metal containers or in wooden boxes, 

 complying with specification No. 17.* 



The British railway regulations do not put reclaimed rubber 

 on the special list of dangerous goods, though it is stated that 

 india rubber and india rubber substitute, shredded or finely di- 

 vided, must be packed in approved tarpaulin bags or in air-tight 

 and damp-proof casks or cases. 



The difficulties put in the way of carrying reclaimed rubber 

 by some of our shipping firms have arisen from existence of the 

 American railway rules, as nothing seems to be known in rail- 

 way and shipping circles in Britain about any latent dangers 

 attaching to reclaimed rubber. I don't say that the American 

 rules are needlessly stringent, or that there is no cause for alter- 

 ations to be made in Britain, I merely wish to draw attention 

 to the difference in existing regulations. As reclaimed rubbers 

 are by no means of uniform composition, and are prepared in 

 different ways, it would seem that as regards liability to spon- 

 taneous combustion they should be sub-classified and not all 

 lumped together under one general heading. 



EXPORT PERMITS AND RUBBER PRICES. 



A Far Eastern contemporary has published an extract from a 

 letter from a leading firm in London in which the recent fall 

 in crude rubber prices in the London market was attributed to 

 the great difficulty in obtaining permits to export. 



It seems that a certain individual or firm put in an applica- 

 tion for permits to export large quantities of crude rubber to 

 America, and succeeded in obtaining them, whereas at the time 

 they were not in possession of any rubber or orders for rub- 

 ber. It appears that after having obtained these permits they 

 placed themselves in communication with various large American 

 buying houses, soliciting orders, pointing out that possessing 

 these permits, they were able to make more prompt shipments 

 than other concerns could effect after receiving orders. Other 

 buyers for the American market learning of this, promptly 

 brought the matter to the notice of the authorities with the re- 

 sult that a number of additional restrictions and further difficul- 

 ties soon attended the obtaining of permits involving very con- 

 siderable delays. The writer of this letter says that it would 

 appear that the authorities had gone from one extremity to the 

 other and that representations had been made to the authorities, 

 which it was hoped would result in an improvement in this 

 matter. 



THE RUBBER TRADE IN HOLLAND DURING 1915. 



f JMTED STATES CONSUL FRANK W. MAHIN, 

 '-^ Amsterdam, Holland, reports that the rubber market in 

 Amsterdam would have been at a complete standstill in 1915, 

 had it not been for the efforts of the Netherlands Overseas 

 Trust to induce the Entente Allies to permit the shipment of 

 rubber into the Netherlands, for the use of the domestic 

 industry, which required larger quantities than before the 

 outbreak of t'he war, and which is steadily expanding. 



The monthly public auctions at which Dutch East Indies 

 rubber was formerly sold at Amsterdam have been discon- 

 tinued since -August. 1914, when the Batavia rubber market 

 practically took their place. The exports of rubber from 

 Amsterdam to the United States decreased from $534,805 in 

 1914 to $98,960 in 1915. 



No reliable data are available regarding the actual stock 

 of crude rubber on hand at .\msterdam at the beginning of 

 1915, nor is there any information that can be furnished 

 regarding imports and prices obtained. Brokers state that 



prices were higher than at the London market and were 

 irregular. It is said that the highest price during the year 

 for prime Hevca rubber, which was the quality most in de- 

 mand, was about $1.04 per half kilogram (1.1 pounds), and 

 the lowest about 70 cents. 



•While our correspondent is 

 for scrap and reclaimed rubber 

 rubber is shipped except in si 

 powdered form. 





ailroad regula 



THE RUBBER TRADE IN GERMANY. 

 By Our Regular Correspondent. 

 /CONDITIONS do not improve, but our enemies must not for 

 ^^ a moment imagine that our position is hopeless. Our 

 great naval victory that was a serious blow to Britain's sea 

 power, should open their eyes. 



Official statistics, reports by chambers of commerce and other 

 commercial and industrial organizations, as well as many trade 

 manufacturing and local publications having ceased to circulate, 

 all information concerning trade, commerce and general condi- 

 tions in the different parts of the Empire is fragmentary and you 

 must, therefore, pardon the desultory information and the un- 

 connected style of the letters I may be fortunate enough to get 

 through to you. 



R.\W M.\TERI.\LS. 



Our rubljer industry continues to suffer from the lack of raw 

 materials, especially crude rubber, but it manages nevertheless 

 lo meet practically all demands by using compounds of reclaimed 

 and synthetic rubber with small proportions of crude rubber. 



Other compounding ingredients are not lacking, but their prices 

 are very high. 



Ducks and other fabrics used in the rubber industry are also 

 very expensive and their use greatly restricted by governmental 

 decrees. 



Chemicals used in reclaiming are scarce and very costly, and 

 their use is strictly regulated and supervised. 



SYNTHETIC RUIiDER .\ SUCCESS. 

 The manufacture of synthetic rubber has been placed on a 

 basis that is commercial under the existing conditions. Many 

 experts go so far as to predict that, before the end of the war, 

 we will have made such progress that we will be able to produce 

 this material, when peace is reestablished, in competition with 

 the natural product and at such prices as to displace crude rub- 

 ber partially, if not entirely. They predict for the rubber planta- 

 tion, as well as for the wild rubber industry, the same fate 

 as that which befell the indigo industry, not many years ago, 

 when synthetic indigo was first brought out by Germans and in 

 a short time completely destroyed the trade in the natural East 

 Indian product. Of course this may seem very optimistic to 

 you, but it cannot be denied that wonders have been accomplished 

 by our chemists and by those who have helped them in making 

 their discoveries industrially practicable. 



TIRES. 



Our armies continue to use rubber tires in ever increasing 

 quantities and these are all being made of compounds contain- 

 ing synthetic, reclaimed and crude rubber, the latter in much re- 

 stricted proportions. 



Much has been done since the outbreak of the war, and es- 

 pecially in the last six months, to facilitate the use of steel-tired 

 motor road vehicles in private enterprise. New speed limits have 

 been fixed for these steel-tired vehicles ; motor trucks and trailers, 

 not weighing more than five and a half metric tons, empty, are 

 now allowed to travel at as high as 15 kilometers (9.32 miles) per ' 

 hour in open country and 8 kilometers (4.97 miles) per hour in 

 towns. Only one trailer may be hauled by a steel-tired motor 

 truck, and the speed in that case must not exceed 12 kilometers 

 (7.46 miles) and 8 kilometers (4.97 miles) per hour in country 

 and town districts, respectively. 



These rules permit the extension of the private use of motor 

 trucks that had been practically stopped by the restrictions in 



