December 1, 1918,] 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



131 



the American Federation of Labor and the British Seamen's 

 Union are prepared to support the proposal. 



BRITISH vs. UNITED STATES SHIPPING. 



Although there is no immediate prospect of a resumption of 

 normal shipping activity great interest is being manifested in 

 the coming competition for control of the world's carrying 

 trade, an interest which has been considerably heightened by 

 the sudden termination of the fighting. Great Britain and the 

 United States are regarded as the chief competitors, but Great 

 Britain has the advantage in the amount of tonnage owned, the 

 trained men and experience, and the fact that she will be able 

 to resume much of her pre-war shipping before the United 

 States will be in a position to enter the field on a large scale. 



American initiative will offset these disadvantages to a con- 

 siderable degree, but the great handicap lies in bringing back 

 our great armies overseas. The burden of feeding Europe, will, 

 of course, fall heavily on both the British and American mer- 

 chant marines, but the task of transporting returning troops and 

 of supplying those that remain abroad is greater in the case of 

 the United States. The expectation is that the transatlantic 

 liners under the British flag may be called upon to perform the 

 dual service of transporting food to England and bringing 

 American troops home. But in the main, it is agreed that the 

 .American army will be brought over in American bottoms, many 

 cargo vessels being converted for this purpose. 



Chairman Hurley of the Shipping Board says : "Only a limited 

 portion of the shipping which can be constructed by us in 1919 

 will be available for use in ordinary commercial channels." In 

 contrast to this is the statement by the agent here of a British 

 company operating a New York-South American service: "We 

 are looking forward to the gradual return of our tonnage and 

 we hope it will be soon." 



Another point of the greatest importance is that Great Britain 

 has definitely announced a policy of "hands oflf" as soon as con- 

 ditions will permit, while the United States has so far not indi- 

 cated its intentions further than that the Emergency Fleet Cor- 

 poration will carry its shipbuilding, program to completion. 

 Bonar Law, Chancellor of the British Exchequer, has declared 

 that the British government does not contemplate nationalization 

 of shipping after the war and some government ships have 

 already been offered for sale to private interests. 



The British shipowner, it is felt, can look forward with greater 

 confidence to the future. He will be first in the field and may 

 easily gain a long lead.' The United States must plan very 

 carefully if this is to be prevented. Certainly, the day when 

 restrictions on British shipping are removed, the bars must be 

 let down by America also. 



CONVENTION OF AMERICAN MANUFACTURERS' 

 EXPORT ASSOCIATION. 



•T^HE ninth annual convention of the American Manufacturers' 

 *■ Export Association was held at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel, 

 New York City, on October 30 and 31. hundreds of delegates tak- 

 ing part in the proceedings. Among the members of the board of 

 directors are the following: F. A. Seiberling, the Goodyear Tire 

 & Rubber Co. ; F. A. Taylor, S. S. White Dental Manufacturing 

 Co.; E. M. Herr, Westinghouse Electric & Manufacturing Co. 

 Rubber companies were to the fore at the convention. D. L. 

 Brown, export advertising department, the Goodyear Tire & 

 Rubber Co., Akron, Ohio, spoke on foreign advertising; Frank H. 

 Taylor, president, S. S. White Dental Manufacturing Co., Phil- 

 adelphia, dealt with the subject of the new type of foreign rep- 

 resentative ; J. F. Foyler, W. R. Grace & Co., New York City, read 

 a paper on the export merchant; C. J. Warren, export manager, 

 H. W. Johns-Manville Co.. New York City, presided at the ses- 

 sion at which sales organization abroad was discussed ; F. B. 

 Whitney, of the committee on commercial treaties and trade 



marks, reviewed the history and present position of the treaty 

 situation in a comprehensive manner ; and M. A. Oudin, foreign 

 manager. General Electric Co., Schenectady, New York, outlined 

 what is needed in the development of foreign trade service. 



THE GOVERNMENT'S PNEUMATIC TIRE TESTS. 

 Commencing December 1, the Government will purchase 

 pneumatic tires on a specification basis. Space not being avail- 

 able for the work at the rubber laboratory of the Bureau of 

 Standards, Washington, D. C, part of the laboratory at the 

 University of Akron, Akron, Ohio, will be used for the chemical 

 analyses necessary on specification work for all tires manufac- 

 tured in the Akron district and west of Akron. The remainder 

 will go to the Bureau of Standards, Washington, D. C. The 

 necessary physical tests on the tires will be made by inspectors 

 at the various plants and will be checked by results obtained in 

 the physical rubber laboratory of the Bureau in Washington. The 

 .Akron branch will be in charge of S. W. Epstein, while Arnold 

 H. Smith will direct the work at Washington. A photograph 

 and personal sketch of Mr. Smith appeared in The India Rub- 

 ber World May 1, 1918. 



BARBECUE TEST ON SOLID TIRES. 



The so-called barbecue test was devised to measure the ad- 

 hesion between the tread rubber, and the hard-rubber layer of a 

 solid truck tire. It formerly was required by the specifications 

 for solid tires to be furnished to the United States Government. 

 The details of the test are given below although recently it has 



The Barbecue Test on a Solid Tire, 

 been discontinued by authority in government inspection. The 

 equipment consists of a strong bench upon which is mounted a 

 heavy vise. At the end of the bench opposite the vise is mounted 

 a fi^-ton triplex chain-block. A 2,500-pound Chatillon dynamom- 

 eter is used to register the pull. The tire is prepared for test 

 by cutting the rubber back along the top of the tire channel far 

 enough to permit a secure rope tie. The dynamometer is inter- 

 posed in the line of pull between tire and chain-block, as shown 

 in the illustration, and registers the strain required to separate 

 tlie soft rubber from the hard. 



BRAIDED CABLES FOR THE TROPICS. 



British cable manufacturers who make cables with white, red 

 and black braiding state that the first is chiefly for export to 

 the tropics. It seems that for some reason, which has hitherto 

 found no satisfactory explanation, rubber with white, or even 

 black braiding, is less liable to deterioration in tropical climates 

 than with red. Thus in India, practically no red braided cables 

 «re used. 



