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THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



[AvcL-sT 1, 1917. 



license" is being arranged for which will cover specific com- 

 modities shipped by specific firms to certain countries. 



In the case of shipments to Canada, exporters are advised 

 that steps have been taken to facilitate these shipments, and 

 they need not apply for a specific license. Shipments to 

 Canada may be forwarded as heretofore. 



TOURING BUREAU INDICATES STRATEGIC ROADS. 



SINCE the War Department has decided to purchase 70,000 

 trucks for the transportation of troops and supplies, mili- 

 tary officials are busily engaged in choosing the best available 

 routes between important points. The Goodrich National Tour- 

 ing Bureau which has carefully mapped, logged and guide- 

 posted every principal road in the United States, recently ofifered 

 the government complete access to its resources, and military 

 inspection tours of strategic routes are already being conducted. 

 Not long ago Captain O. R. Bird, U. S. N., with a sergeant, 

 a corporal and a driver, dashed from Salt Lake City, Utah, to 

 Los Angeles, California, in 34 hours and 14 minutes, proving 

 that the new Arrowhead trail is the shortest route. 



GERMAN GERMS IN PLASTERS. 



THE statement issued by the Department of Justice that court 

 and sticking plasters are being investigated for germs of 

 infectious diseases placed there by German agents will startle 

 some of the rubber manufacturers whose product is of the 

 plaster kind. A large business is also done in porous plasters 

 and corn plasters, the basis of the adhesive compound being 

 india rubber. This is often compounded with medicaments for 

 a variety of beneficent purposes. Instead of curative compounds 

 it would be quite possible to substitute poisons. Nor would 

 those w'-'O put powdered glass in Red Cross bandages hesitate 

 in such w 'ton devilishness were the opportunity to occur. So 

 watch their . ' .ps. 



SIAM DECLARES WAR. 



The kingdom of Siam, at the northern end of the Malay 

 Peninsula, which for the ten months ended .\pril 19 shipped 

 13,456 pounds of Para rubber- and 12.533 pounds of gutta percha 

 through the port of Singapore, has declared that a state of war 

 exists with Germany and Austria. Nine steamers, aggregating 

 109,000 tons, have been seized. .^11 Germans and Austrians 

 have been placed under arrest and their places of business 

 closed. The object of Siam's declaration is to "uphold the 

 sanctity of international rights against nations showing con- 

 tempt for the principles of humanity and respect for small 

 states." 



1. Install forms similar to the attaclied and keep for each car 

 loaded or unloaded a record of performance. 



2. Talk often with our employes about this patriotic oppor- 

 tunity. 



3. Report to me monthly for conference showing comparison 

 with previous month and with corresponding month a year ago 

 wlierc data are available. This comparison should show average 

 weight of carload and average pounds short of full carload in- 

 bound and out-bound, total credits, total debits, and total de- 

 murrage, names of consignors who have habitually underloaded, 

 names of consignees who order short carloads, 



4. Write for cooperation of consignors in fuller carloading 

 and consignees in ordering full carloads. 



Rubber companies should be willing to lend a hand in this 

 important movement. 



A TRUCK TIRE TEST. 



.\n important question at the present time is whether solid or 

 pneumatic tires are better for army trucks in the severe service 

 which is required of them under war conditions. A practical 

 test was recently made by the United States Tire Co., New 

 York City, which certainly shows that the pneumatic tires are 

 efficient and will stand service under the most difficult condi- 

 tions. A lJ/-ton Packard truck, heavily loaded, in fact, over- 

 loaded, equipped with 36 by 7-inch U. S. Nobby Tread pneu- 

 matic cord tires, was sent from Detroit, Michigan, to the Mexi- 

 can border at Mission, Texas, a distance of 2,037 miles, and 

 returning by a different route, completed the run of 4,288 miles. 

 The trip was in regions where good roads were unknown, fre- 

 quently plowing through 12 to 14 inches of soft clay, and in other 

 places roads of intermixed mud and sharp stones were en- 

 countered. The intense heat of the desert had no apparent 

 effect on the casings which resisted the cutting stresses of sharp 

 rocks and the impacts of rock-bottomed streams. The test was 

 made under the supervision of First Lieutenant J. W. O'Ma- 

 honey, formerly a United States motor truck transport expert, 

 who since he was mustered out of the Federal service has 

 continued his study of army transportation. The test seems to 

 prove that pneumatics have some advantages over solid tires 

 for trucks in heavy service. 



BREAKING THE FREIGHT CAR SHORTAGE. 



Realizing that any feasible means to relieve the present freight 

 situation will prove of benefit to the government as well as to 

 business in general, the Railway Business .Association of New 

 York is promoting a widespread campaign among the trade as- 

 sociations and leading business houses of the country to break 

 car shortage. Model forms are being distributed which are 

 now in successful use by several concerns and deserve wider 

 adoption. These include a blank for the shipper's weekly in- 

 bound loading and detention record, and a circular to the ship- 

 ping department to be signed by the president of the company 

 and setting forth the aims and means as follows : 



What we can do : 



(a) Get fuller carloading. The limit is 10 per cent above 

 stencilled weight capacity. 



(b) Increase excess of credits over debits. Don't use all your 

 free time ; load or unload earliest possible moment. 



How we can do it : 



RECREATION TENTS FOR OUR SOLDIERS. 



The Tucker Duck & Rubber Co.. Fort Smith, .\rkansas, has 

 received a contract from the international committee of the 

 Y. M. C. A. for $10,000 worth of tents, 40 by 80 feet, to be used 

 in recreation places to be established for the benefit of .American 

 troops. 



PRODUCTION OF ACETIC ACID IN CEYLON. 



In view of the large quantities of acetic acid needed in the 

 coagulation of latex, distillation experiments have been made 

 with coconut shells and vera or virai wood. The results from 

 the former were so satisfactory — the yield being 8 to 12 per cent 

 of pure acetic acid, besides creosote, useful for smoked rubber — 

 that many planters who grow both rubber and coconuts have 

 installed small stills for distilling coconut shells and now pro- 

 duce all the acetic acid they need. Vera wood, the product of 

 a shrub, yielded 4.14 per cent of pure acetic acid. The crude 

 liquor could be utilized in the manufacture of smoked sheet or 

 the darker rubbers ; by redistilling it. after the addition of fresh 

 charcoal, a pale yellow, clear solution of acetic acid was pro- 

 duced and could be employed for ordinary crepe rubber. The 

 erection of a small plant for the distillation of vera wood is 

 being considered. 



Th.\t Rubber Is in Certain Respects Stronger th.\n Steel Is 

 indicated by a unique test made at the Diamond tire factory. 

 A sand blast under enormous pressure was blown on a piece of 

 rubber and a piece of steel. The rubber actually outwore the 

 steel three to one. 



