July 1, 1917.] 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



575 



patriotic organizations and funds, and to combine all the ma- 

 chinery of family maintenance with an eye to the psychological 

 effect upon the soldier at the front. The plan of the United 

 States when finally adopted will certainly not fall short of that 

 of either England or Canada in generosity. 



SENATE REMOVES ALL RUBBER DUTIES AND 

 TAXES. 



AS revised by the Senate Finance Committee, following a 

 hearing granted to the Legislative Committee of The Rub- 

 ber Association of America on May 5, the proposed 10 per cent 

 ad valorem tax has been struck out of the War Revenue Bill 

 now before Congress, and the Senate bill, as it now stands, 

 provides for no duty on crude rubber nor tax on tires or other 

 rubber manufactures. Instead, a tax will be imposed on auto- 

 mobile owners, the amount to be determined by the price of the 

 car and the number of years it has been in service. It is the 

 general belief tiiat these provisions will be concurred in by 

 the House and. enacted into the final law. 



At the hearing representative rubber men expressed their 

 willingness to be taxed, but united in opposing the House pro- 

 posal of double taxation on tires and a ten per cent duty on 

 crude rubber, in addition to the general tax on corporations. 



F. A. Seiberling, president of the Goodyear Tire & Rubber 

 Co., Akron, Ohio, stated that the rubber industry is very glad 

 to be taxed its full share and, he thought, a little more. He 

 pointed out, however, the injustice of singling out tires, repre- 

 senting $250,000,000 out of a $600,000,000 annual business, for 

 double taxation ; made it clear that tires can no longer be re- 

 garded as a luxury, and advocated a S per cent war tax on all 

 rubber manufactures as being more equitable and raising more 

 revenue than a 10 per cent ad valorem import duty on crude 

 rubber. The latter provision, he stated, would curtail importa- 

 tion and greatly increase the difficulties in the way of replenish- 

 ing the present depleted American stocks, all of which have to 

 be brought from the other side of the world, notwithstanding 

 the submarine menace and the shortage of ships. 



H. Stuart Hotchkiss, chairman of the Rubber Committee of 

 the Council of National Defense, emphasized the seriousness of 

 the present crude rubber situation in the United States, pointing 

 out that whereas in normal times there is three months' supply 

 of rubber at the mills, at present there is only 30 days' supply, 

 with 17 days' supply in transit and 29 days' supply permitted at 

 ports of origin. He also voiced the fear that an import tax 

 in the circumstances might tend to curtail importations at a 

 time when they are absolutely essential as a matter of national 

 insurance. 



Former Congressman Martin W. Littleton, of New York City, 

 spoke for tlie retention of the original tariff free list, and sug- 

 gested various amendments to raise the desired revenue without 

 resorting to the crude rubber import duty, among them a 5 

 per cent tax on all rubber manufactures as well as tires. 



GUTTA PERCHA USED IN OHDNANCE MAKING. 



That rul)ber occupies a prominent position in the list of ma- 

 terials indispensable in modern warfare is a well-known fact. 

 While the peculiar properties of gutta percha have made it a 

 valuable material in the manufacture of various war supplies, 

 it is now found useful in the manufacture of ordnance. 



Gutta percha is used for the purpose of making a critical 

 examination of any desired surface of the interior of the bore 

 of rifle cannons. In order to do this, a block of wood is pre- 

 pared so that one side approximately fits the bore at the part 

 to be examined. This surface of the block is then coated with 

 gutta percha and heated so that when it is inserted in the bore 

 and forced against the part to be examined, it make; a negative 



reproduction of the surface of the bore. The block of wood is 

 allowed to remain until the gutta percha is cooled, when it is 

 removed and usually photographed for the purpose of detecting 

 defects in the gun. 



AMERICAN "BLIMPS" A SUCCESS. 



N.-VVY officials, enthusiastic over the successful builders' trial 

 of the first 16 non-rigid dirigible balloons ordered three 

 months ago. sa5' that tlie dirigible program is now assured of 

 completion much sooner than had been expected. The contract 

 called for delivery within four months, but the builders are turn- 

 iiv.j the first ship over for active (kity within less than 90 days 

 of the date of the contract, and henceforth one or more will 

 be delivered every week. 



The trip of 16 hours from Chicago to Akron covered more 

 than 400 miles. It was made under direction of the builders, 

 the Goodyear Tire it Rubber Co., Akron, Ohio, and did not 

 constitute an official test, but was so successful that navy offi- 



BlIMP MANUF.\CTURtD BV THE CONNECTICUT AlRCR.VFT Co. 



cials are confident a valuable type similar to the "Blimp" of the 

 British navy had been produced which will make the required 

 forty miles an hour at official trials. 



The ship was designed by Naval Constructor J. C. Hunsaker, 

 of the Bureau of Construction and Repair, and the unofficial 

 test is regarded as having proved conclusively that the weight 

 problem has been solved. 



Of the 16 dirigibles contracted for by the government the 

 Goodyear company is constructing nine and the others are being 

 built by The B. F. Goodrich Co., Akron, Ohio, the Curtiss Air- 

 craft Co., Flammondsport, New York, and the Connecticut Air- 

 craft Co., New Haven, Connecticut. 



The American "Blimps" will form a part of the coast patrol 

 as lookouts to watch for the approach of enemy vessels. Crews 

 are being trained at the naval aviation station at Pensacola, 

 where the first dirigible, DN-1, an older type craft, suitable only 

 for training purposes, is in daily operation. 



The new airships have greater speed and greater weight- 

 carrying capacity, and are expected to be an effective element 

 of the coast defenses, particularly in the detection of submarines, 

 in which service the British "Blimps" have repeatedly proven 

 their value. 



The Navy Department expects that the entire 16 will be in 

 service by the middle of .August, and that they will be distributed 

 to operate in pairs along the .\tlantic coast, working from special 

 bases ashore and supplementing the operations of submarine 

 chasers, reserve destroyers and other naval craft now on guard 

 duty. 



DAMP PROOF UNIFORMS. 



Because of the dampness of the trenches, single texture fabric 

 is, now advocated for soldiers' uniforms. The suggestion is that 

 tlie garments be made in sucli manner as to render them moisture 

 proof, yet not air proof. 



