292 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



[February 1, 1917. 



and cables is greater than ever before. In fact, the demand is 

 so large that, despite the large capacity of domestic factories, 

 which have more than doubled their output, almost a million 

 dollars' worth of electric cables were imported into Norway 

 alone during the year 1916. 



RUBBER FACTORIES. 



Scandinavian rubber factories are now up to date in every 

 sense, and very large> though, of course, we make no attempt to 

 compare them with the gigantic rubber factories of America. 

 Our plants have grown immensely both in capacity and in ef- 

 ficiency during the past two years, and when peace is reestab- 

 lished, foreign manufacturers, who now complain of the diffi- 

 culties in the way of international trade, will hardly find their 

 Scandinavian business better than it is under present conditions. 

 Their tire business, however, will probably be an exception to 

 this rule, for the automobile tires, both solids and pneumatics, 

 that are now being produced in Scandinavia leave much to be 

 desired and must be greatly improved if they are to compete 

 successfully with good foreign products. In other lines, how- 

 ever, our manufacturers will not have to fear foreign competi- 

 tion, for they have learned to satisfy practically all of our re- 

 quirements, even under the difficult conditions now prevailing. 

 With ample supplies of raw materials they will probably be able 

 even to enter the export field themselves. 



HE.^DS TRAINED ABROAD. 



Most of the managers, chemists, superintendents, and also many 

 of the salesmen employed by Scandinavian rubber factories are 

 men who have gained most valuable experience in schools, fac- 

 tories and business in America, England, Germany and France. 

 Since the outbreak of the war, numbers of Scandinavians, who 

 held responsible positions in various foreign countries, have 

 returned to their native lands and are applying the most ap- 

 proved modern methods in our rubber and cable factories. 

 BRITISH RESTRICTIONS. 



Besides curtailing the development of our rubber industry, 

 the British restrictions on rubber shipments, coupled with the 

 shortage of ocean tonnage, have seriously interfered with the 

 automobile business which is so closely related to the rubber 

 industry. 



Only a few cars are produced in Scandinavia; practically all 

 are imported and, since the war, there has been an increasing 

 demand which is supplied chiefly by American companies. 

 American cars arrive here without tires and, before a set of tires 

 can be obtained for one of them, an old set must be turned in, 

 which means that some other car must be put out of commission, 

 or a number of cars deprived of their spare tubes and casings. 

 All tires imported here must pass through London, and the 

 strictest kind of supervision is exercised by both British and 

 Scandinavian authorities to prevent tires or, in fact, rubber in 

 anv form, from reaching Germany. 



The attitude of the people towards these vexations varies from 

 one country to another, according to interests involved. In 

 Sweden, where German refugees are far more numerous than 

 in Norway or Denmark, and where the bulk of the trade is with 

 Germans and Germany, the feeling created is hostile to the Brit- 

 ish action. It is argued that the export embargoes all Scandi- 

 navian governments have placed on all goods containing rubber 

 should be sufficient guaranty for England, and that, consequently, 

 the British restrictions are not justified. 



In Norway and in Denmark, the opinions, as well as the in- 

 terests of the people, lead them to feel that what is best for 

 England is, in the long run, best for them. Despite all the 

 Scandinavian export embargoes, considerable rubber has been 

 smuggled into Germany at very big profit, and it was in order 

 to check this that Great Britain, in accord with the several 

 Scandinavian countries, developed the system which is now an 

 obstacle to the sale of American cars in Scandinavia, and by 

 which no one can buy a new tire without turning in an old one. 



A contemplated visit in the near future to all the rubber fac- 

 tories in Scandinavia will soon result in a series of letters de- 

 voted to the various plants in Norway, Sweden and Denmark. 



THE LYONS SAMPLE FAIH. 



The Sample Fair, which occurs annually in Lyons, France, will 

 be held from March 1 to March IS. Last year this fair, which 

 is the successor of the heretofore great Leipzig Fair (now closed 

 to the work! because of the war), had 1,342 different exhibitors, 

 representing manufacturers of the following countries : France, 

 Italy, Great Britain, Canada, Russia, Spain, Portugal and the 

 Orient, and a very large attendance of wholesale buyers from 

 all over the world. 



At that fair not an American manufacturer made an exhibit. 

 Business to the amount of $10,000,000 was transacted, and over 

 $8,000,000 more was offered, but refused because of the inability 

 of manufacturers to make deliveries. An American committee, 

 headed by George B. Van Cleve, of New York, organized by 

 Mr. Piexotto, president of the American Chamber of Commerce 

 in Paris, and comprising presidents of the chambers of com- 

 merce of the principal cities in this country, is endeavoring to 

 have American manufactures well represented at the coming fair, 

 which will be visited by wholesale buyers from Europe, the Orient 

 and South America. It is estimated that their orders will aggre- 

 gate $40,000,000 to $50,000,000. 



CORK RIVALS RUBBER FOR WATERPROOFING IN FRANCE. 



The French government recently placed orders for hospital 

 sheetings and similar articles manufactured by a new method 

 of proofing materials with cork, which is said also to give satis- 

 faction for ^featherweight garments. It is waterproof, a non- 

 conductor of heat and unbreakable. A special machine pro- 

 duces very thin veneer of an even thickness from black cork. 

 The veneer is placed in chemical baths in order to remove the 

 resinous parts, which render cork a more or less brittle substance. 

 After this treatment the cork veneer becomes quite flexible, 

 and compares favorabi}' in this respect with thin leather. In 

 fact the sheets can be folded and bent witliout breaking. 



By combining the cork sheets with any suitable cloth, prefera- 

 bly a thin and strong cloth of good color, an excellent water- 

 proof material is obtained. An adhesive preparation is used to 

 cement the cork to the cloth; or, if a stronger garment is de- 

 sired, the cork sheets are placed between two layers of cloth. 



Fabric prepared in this manner is said to have a de<:ided ad- 

 vantage over ordinary waterproof materials, because it is porous, 

 permitting ventilation where the ordinary waterproofing prevents 

 it. Of course the cork is very light, and an aviator's coat made 

 of this combination is said to be the lightest on the market. 



THE RUBBER TRADE IN JAPAN. 



By a Special Correspondent. 

 IMPORTS OF CRUDE RUBBER. 



THE Japanese importation of crude rubber during the last 

 year was estimated to be 3,903,552 pounds [$1,715,796.50], 

 and showed 1,595,771 pounds [$642,479.50] increase over that of 

 the previous year. 



This increase is the result of the great demand for rubber 

 goods, and the new factories organized to meet this demand, 

 among them Futaba, Minatogawa and Ishiyakawa have their 

 plants near Osaka. In Tokio eight new factories were estab- 

 lished, and other old companies enlarged their capacities to help 

 fill the shortage caused by the war. 



As the number of manufacturers increases, the price of the 

 manufactured goods goes down. For instance, a few years ago 

 a pair of bicycle tires cost from $2.50 to $3, but now the price 

 is only about 90 cents a pair. 



Factories in Tokio or Osaka received orders for 60,000 pairs of 



