December 1, 1916. 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



165 



The India Rubber Trade In Great Britain. 



By Our Regular Correspondent. 



THE calling of men to the colors proceeds apace with more 

 disastrous effects upon small businesses than upon large 

 ones. Few firms have had to close down entirely for this 

 cause, but one instance has come to my personal knowledge. 

 This is the interesting crude rubber washing business that was car- 

 ried on by the late Mr. Eyre at Holywell, North Wales. Since 

 Mr. Eyre's death the business known as the Meadow Mills, 

 Limited, has been carried on by his son, but the recent calling 

 of many of the hands and of William Eyre himself to the colors 

 has necessitated the temporary stoppage of the works, which 

 are interesting from the fact of the motive power for the rubber 

 washing machines being derived from a water-wheel. The com- 

 pany has an office at 4 South Bridgwater street, Liverpool. Pos- 

 sibly there are other cases of closing down in the rubber trade, 

 but as a rule dilution of labor has enabled the management to 

 keep going, even if on a smaller scale than customary. 



AMERICAN CHEWING GUM IN ENGLAND. 

 There is no getting away from the war, and a minor point of 

 some interest which has resulted from its incidence is the 

 popularization of American chewing gum in Great Britain, where 

 its use was formerly" practically unknown. It is said that about 

 40 years ago the chewing of pure erasing rubber was not un- 

 known in certain circles, a working day being required by the 

 operator to reduce the material to a pulp. I understand that the 

 present-day American product, as used by Canadian soldiers, is a 

 much superior article to erasing rubber, so it is quite probable 

 that the chewing habit will become popular here. 



PETROL AND SUE.STITUTES. 

 The petrol restrictions, as was anticipated, have had a consid- 

 erable eft'ect on the tire industry; an effect which would have 

 been more pronounced if they had come into force earlier in 

 the summer. With regard to the use of substitutes, several of 

 which have made their appearance on the market, some appeal 

 cases are pending, arising out of conviction of charabanc owners 

 in courts of summary jurisdiction. 



CRUDE RUr.BER. 

 There is nothing new in the raw rubber situation, except in 

 the magnitude of the stock on hand, which some say is in part 

 already the property of the enemy, to be utilized when the long 

 deferred peace comes. A topic which has occasioned a good deal 

 of wonder and talk is the enormous expansion of the American 

 imports of rubber, which have risen from 57,253 tons in 1913-14 

 to 117,441 tons in 1915-16. Progress like this ought to reassure 

 those pessimists who foretell a glut of rubber a few years hence. 



VULCANIZATION WITHOUT SULPHUR. 

 Our contemporary, the "India Rubber Journal," has recentlv 

 given an important translation of Ostromyslenski's papers in 

 Russian on the subject of vulcanization. The researches de- 

 tailed in these papers deal with (1) the hot vulcanization of 

 rubber by nitro compounds without sulphur and (2) the hot 

 vulcanization of rubber by means of peroxides or "per-acids" in 

 absence of sulphur. I shall not reproduce any part of these 

 papers here, as they were reprinted in The India Rubber World 

 for November, but merely wish to call attention to what are un- 

 doubtedly discoveries in rubber chemistry and which may have a 

 profound influence upon rubber technology. I say "may" rather 

 than "will." because, as we all know, the best and in most cases 

 the only reliable test of a novelty in rubber manufacturing pro- 

 cedure is that of longevity. In the past we have been taught to 

 avoid the use of bodies such as peroxides in rubber and there 

 will be many who will prefer to wait and see what the rubber 

 looks like after a year or two before allowing themselves to 

 wax enthusiastic over the new discoveries. 



So far I have not found any enthusiasm on the subject among 

 the purveyors of sulphur specially, prepared for the rubber trade, 

 but they console themselves with the fact that the much talked 

 of use of amido compounds in vulcanization has not brought 

 about any appreciable diminution in the volume of their business. 



An interesting point for the future is how the rubber vulcan- 

 ized without sulphur will behave under the various reclaiming 

 processes. It is quite possible that superior reclaims will be 

 obtained by some modification of the chemical reaction involved. 

 Another point to be considered is that sulphur is frequently used 

 as a filler to add bulk to the rubber in addition to effecting 

 vulcanization. In this case it does not usually rank as mineral. 

 In order, then, to keep the specific gravity the same, a substitu- 

 tion of some other mineral matter for the sulphur would have 

 to take place, as the new vulcanizers are used in such small 

 quantity. 



ESTIMATING THE SULPHUR IN RUBBER. 



Another paper by J. B. Tuttle and A. Isaacs on the estimation 

 of total sulphur in rubber, and emanating from the Bureau of 

 Standards, Washington, U. S. A., is full of interest and seems 

 to emphasize the opinion I came to years ago. that it is diffi- 

 cult to lay down any method that is equally accurate with all 

 rubber goods, from toy balloons to perambulator tires. A method 

 that may give excellent results with rubber of one composition 

 may prove faulty in the case of quite another composition. A 

 point that must not be lost sight of is that time is often of 

 greater importance than extreme accuracy. In a great many 

 industries analytical methods of quite sufficient accuracy are in 

 daily use, because results are wanted and it is impossible to wait 

 a week for them. Many methods which are properly indis- 

 pensable in the research laboratory where time is of no object 

 are frequently put before the worthy chemist, who finds it im- 

 possible to employ them. Of course, if the new vulcanization 

 without sulphur comes to anything, the correct estimation of 

 this element loses its present importance. 



SCOTTISH BUSINESS NOTES. 



The North British Rubber Co., Limited, Edinburgh, has issued 

 an attractive illustrated booklet comprising a price list for sand 

 shoes and tennis shoes for 1917. With regard to these it is a 

 condition of sale that in the event of a notification of an ad- 

 vance in price during 1917 no sales shall be made by customers 

 below such advanced prices, even though the goods may have 

 been delivered by them prior to the date of such advance. A 

 novelty in the list is the khaki-colored canvas shoe which it is 

 stated is much in demand in military circles, presumably such 

 circles as are still in training at home. 



The special grooved soling, which was brought out by the 

 company, is intended to get over the trouble of breakage at the 

 base of the groove. The grooves do not run directly across the 

 sole, but are at a slight angle, which quite overcomes the diffi- 

 culty previously experienced. The Clyde Rubber Works, Lim- 

 ited, which a few years ago removed from Glasgow to more com- 

 modious premises at Renfrew, a few miles away, reports very 

 good business in mechanical rubbers, especially for railway re- 

 quirements, in which the company specializes. Mr. Sharp and 

 his son are the moving spirits in the management of the works. 



RUBBER SPONGES. 

 Like food and all sorts of other commodities, the natural 

 sponge has risen in price owing to the war. This has led to 

 an increased demand for the rubber sponge, a demand which is 

 being satisfied to a large extent by importations from America. 

 As one now rarely sees in the shop windows the mystic Russian 

 characters adorning labels on sponges, it looks as if the well- 



