August 1. 1917.] 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



659 



Interesting Letters from Our Readers. 



MANUFACTURERS SOUGHT FOR WEBBED GLOVE. 



To THE Editor of the India Rubber World: 



r~\E.\,R SIR — Enclosed you will find photograph of the very 



'--^ first webbed glove that I made. The webs are solid piece 



witli the rest of 

 the glove. I 

 made it on a 

 plaster p a r i s 

 mold of my 

 own design. 



I would like 

 to find someone 

 to take up man- 

 ufacturing on a 

 large scale, as I 

 already have 

 large orders 

 from the big- 

 gest dry goods 

 h o uses in the 

 country to liring 

 them in to put 

 on sale. Or I 

 would make lib- 

 eral arrange- 

 ments to manu- 

 facturers on a 

 royalty basis 

 for the whole 

 United States. 



My patent is one of the best and my mold is registered also. 



I have the whole market of the world before me. 



.\. K. Zawodzski. 



2405 E. Allegheny avenue, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. July 22, 



1917. 



RUBBER CARGOES AND THE SUBMARINE. 



To THE Editor of The India Rubber World: 

 r\EAR SIR — Brazilian rubber and other cargoes destined to 

 '-^ the United States now enjoy the protection of an Ameri- 

 can squadron which arrived in Rio de Janeiro early in June to 

 relieve the British and French patrol of the western hemisphere 

 and was accorded a hearty welcome by the Brazilian Govern- 

 ment, the Chamber of Deputies cabling a message of congratu- 

 lations to the Congress of the United States. This act, together 

 with the seizure of 46 interned German ships following revoca- 

 tion of neutrality by Brazil, seems to foreshadow her active co- 

 operation with the United States in the war. 



Already the American navy is making itself felt in the sub- 

 marine zone where U-boat work is materially weakening. The 

 arrival of our destroyer flotilla and of allied cruisers released 

 from American waters has provided more ships, while progress 

 in the prosecution of the anti-submarine campaign and more 

 vigorous offensive measures have greatly reduced the list of 

 sinkings for several weeks past. Naval experts believe the im- 

 provement is cumulative, and that another "black week" will 

 not occur. Gun crews of merchant ships are also doing good 

 service in beating off attacks, and have bagged one or more 

 U-boats, while the steamship "Mongolia," which fired the first 

 gun and made the first hit for America in the war, has again 

 come into the limelight, having exchanged four shots with a 

 German submarine that fired a torpedo at her on her last pass- 

 age to London. Neither the liner nor the submarine was hit. 



Shortage of ships and consequent high cargo rates have 



materially increased the cost of production of rubber goods, but 

 have by no means become the serious matter that they might. 

 With the government shipbuilding program well under way, no 

 serious interruption of the crude rubber supply seems likely, 

 but should unrestricted submarine warfare really threaten the 

 American rubber industry leading men in the business may well 

 jointly turn to Simon Lake for relief. It was he who invented 

 the submarine and he, if anybody, who can defeat it. The world 

 no longer laughs at Simon Lake, for he has made good all his 

 statements and all his prophecies have come true. His state- 

 ment that the German submarine can be beaten at its own game 

 of invisibility by submersible cargo boats appeals to every think- 

 ing man as a last resort that cannot fail, but Lake goes a step 

 farther and points out certain advantages held by this type of 

 ship in peace times, thus indicating that the construction of such 

 vessels may properly be regarded as better than an emergency 

 investment. The "Deutschland" proved that subsea commerce 

 is absolutely practicable, but whereas she carried only about 5(X) 

 tons of merchandise, the huge undersea cargo boats Lake stands 

 ready to build according to his latest standardized plans are of 

 5,000, 7,500 and 10,000 tons dead weight carrying capacity, de- 

 signed not for speed but for safety in operation and utilizing 

 almost any kind of propelling power most readily obtainable. 

 Germany is reported to have been planning a fleet of such ."^ub- 

 mersible merchantmen when the United States entered the w'ar 

 and our ports were closed to German ships. Now the oppor- 

 tunity is ours or that of our allies. Narrowing the matter down 

 to crude rubber imports, England could perhaps profit more by 

 such ships than America, because at present most of our rubber 

 reaches us direct from the Far East and absolutely un- 

 molested. On the other hand, Germany figures that she can 

 accomplish most by confining her attacks to the congested sea 

 lanes of the English channel where the maximum of ships may 

 be sunk with the minimum of effort and time. As a happy 

 sequel to the death and destruction wrought by the war sub- 

 marine it would be a satisfaction indeed to have this wonderful 

 invention rehabilitated for constructive service in peaceful mer- 

 chant shipping. Onlooker. 

 Boston, June 28, 1917. 



AIR SUPPLY DEVICE FOR RUBBER BOOTS. 



To THE Editor of The India Rubber World: 

 P\EAR SIR — I cannot see why rubber companies do not manu- 

 ■'-^ facture something in the way of a pneumatic insole to 

 keep the feet dry when wearing rubber boots. I made a pair 

 over 30 years ago and still have this first crude affair. The in- 

 sole was provided with a fiat rubber bulb at the heel. From the 

 back of this bulb a tube passed up 

 beside the ankle to the top of the 

 boot. From the front of the bulb 

 there was a flexible tube within the 

 insole to a point near the toe. The 

 operation of the sole was this : .A.s 

 the weight was thrown on the heel 

 (in the advance step), the heel 

 acted as an automatic valve and 

 closed the back tube, at the same 

 time forcing fresh air out of the 

 front tubing at the toe. As the per- 

 pendicular line of bearing was car- 

 ried forward, and the weight came 

 upon the ball of the foot, the front 

 tubing was closed. The pressure on 

 the bulb then being released, it at once took a fresh supply of 



