684 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



(September 



ing a large party of the members visited the works of the North 

 British Rubber Co. and were shown over a considerable portion 

 of this hive of industrj'. including the new chemical laboratories, 

 where the special apparatus for testing balloon fabrics for 

 permeability to hydrogen was an interesting feature. The new 

 buildings for the solid tire department are nearly linished, the 

 machinery having been delivered. The party was under the ef- 

 ficient leadership of Mr. Porritt, chief chemist, and Mr. LutT, as- 

 sistant. 



J'KTKOL RESTRICTIONS AND THE TIRE DEMAND. 

 The large and increasing demand of the service for petrol has 

 resulted in civil consumers being limited to certain quantities, 

 which has naturally had the effect of reducing motor traffic, 

 especially long distance pleasure motoring. A resultant effect 

 must be a reduction of business for the tire manufacture, though 

 to what extent it is difficult to say. At this stage, at any rate, 

 it is difficult to find anyone who cares to make a prediction. 

 Already, however, in the West End of London, the discarded 

 victoria and other horse-drawn vehicles have reappeared, and I 

 have been told in the country that horse carriages would be 

 brought out again generally, if there were not a shortage of 

 horses. The push cycle is also being seen in increased numbers, 

 so we may expect a run on carriage, cab and cycle tires this au- 

 tumn. A wealthy owner of a Ford car with Goodrich tires 

 told me that he had now got level with the owners of heavy 

 expensive cars who used to chaff him, as he could cover a much 

 larger mileage on his allowance of petrol than they could, and 

 nowadays this is the main thing that counts. 



COMING TO ENGLAND. 

 Hugh Fraser Macmillan, who recently left Ceylon on a well- 

 earned leave of absence, completed last June. 21 years in the 

 Ceylon Government service. 



During that time he filled the post of curator of the Royal 

 Botanic Gardens, Peradeniya, and has acted periodically as super- 

 intendent of the Hakgala Gardens during the absence of William 

 Nock, now retired. 

 With t h e reor- 

 ganization of the 

 Peradeniya staff 

 under the scheme 

 for an Agricultural 

 D e p a r t m ent for- 

 mulated by R. N. 

 Lyne, the Director 

 of Agriculture, Mr. 

 Macmillan was ap- 

 pointed superintend- 

 ent of Botanic Gar- 

 dens in Ceylon with 

 a curator to assist 

 him at Peradeniya. 

 During his 21 

 years' service in the 

 East Mr. Macmillan 

 has made a thorough 

 study of the flora of 

 the Eastern tropics, 

 in which he was 

 aided bj- his knowl- 

 edge of the vernacular languages acquired soon after his arrival 

 in the Island ; and as the fruits of his experience he has pro- 

 duced his "Handbook of Tropical Gardening and Planting," which 

 has become a standard work of reference. 



A photographer of no mean order, Mr. Macmillan's studies of 

 plant life are in great request both -for local and foreign pub- 

 lications. 



In addition to his regular duties Mr. Macmillan is lecturer 



on Economic Products at the School of Tropical Agriculture. 

 He is the author of an excellent illustrated guide to the 

 Peradeniya Gardens, and has written numerous bulletins for the 

 Department of Agriculture, papers for the Agricultural Society 

 and articles for the "Tropical Agriculturist." 



The Peradeniya Gardens of to-day owe much of their beauty 

 and attraction to his trained and artistic eye which has also 

 brought him into prominence at the agricultural shows. He 

 was Secretary of the All Ceylon Exhibition of 1912 and in 

 recognition of his services in this capacity he was presented 

 with a special gold medal. He has a host of friends who will 

 welcome him on his arrival in England. 



INVENTOR OF MURAC INSOLVENT. 



A meeting of the creditors of Morland MichoU Dessau, in- 

 ventor of "Murac," was held last month at the offices of the 

 official receiver for the Brentford district. Mr. Dessau at this 

 hearing stated that he is an American subject and came to this 

 country in 1893 with a free capital of about £5,000. In 1906 he 

 invented a process for the manufacture of "Murac," to improve 

 low-grade rubber. This invention was assigned to the Murac 

 Syndicate, Limited, which was succeeded by the British Murac 

 Syndicate, Limited, the inventor receiving shares in the company 

 and being appointed technical adviser at a salary of £700 a 

 year, and commissions which amounted to £200 a year. He also 

 invented a machine for washing rubber on which he received 

 one-half the profits, but the business and patents were after- 

 wards sold to the Crude Rubber Washing Co., Limited. The 

 business of this latter company was not successful and the in- 

 ventor found himself indebted to the London Venture Corpora- 

 tion which had promoted the Crude Rubber Washing company. 

 .■\lthoiigh since then he has invented a rubber-capped wooden 

 block intended for use in paving highways, an expanding joint 

 for guttering highways, and a rubber skate, the exploiting of 

 these has been unsuccessful on account of the present war con- 

 ditions. For the last year he has been employed as a buyer for 

 the Associated Rubber Manufacturers. He has lost on the 

 Stock Exchange and in the raw rubber market, to an estimated 

 amount of £30,000, but it was not until this action was taken by 

 his creditors that he discovered himself insolvent. The official 

 receiver postponed the meeting, intimating that a proposal of 

 composition for the benefit of his creditors should be made, 

 which must not be less than Sj. on the pound. 

 RECLAIMED RUBBER 



I have found a trade circular over thirty years old in my rubber 

 archives, which emanates from Loewenthal & Morgenstein of 

 Mew York and is headed "Rubber Shoddy for galoshes, clothing, 

 hose buffers, insulated wire, and all other kinds of rubber work. 

 Works: Cresskill Rubber Works, Cresskill, N. J." The circular 

 explains that the shoddy is made of old rubber boots and shoes 

 by a mechanical process by which they are finely pulverized and 

 the fibre and other deleterious matter removed, leaving a fine 

 vulcanized rubber powder. Two grades of this powder were 

 made, and it was offered to the rubber trade in this state, with 

 instructions for devulcanization. The process is summarized as 

 follows : 



"The powder is put into iron pans about 2 feet deep which are 

 placed in a steam vulcan pan with live steam and covered to 

 prevent condensation of water on the rubber. The heat is kept 

 at 300 F. for 25 hours, after which the rubber is ground on 

 mixing rolls until it will produce even sheets, which occupies 

 twenty to thirty minutes, the rolls being kept at the temperature 

 required for working low grade crude rubber." It is stated that 

 "some manufacturers use 50 per cent of this shoddy for galoshes 

 and from 10 to 75 per cent for belting, packing and mats, but 

 practical experiments are advised in order to determine the quan- 

 tity which is suitable." 



In addition to selling the original shoddy powder to manufac- 

 turers the Cresskill Rubber Works also devulcanized it them- 



