THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



specific gravity tables 1.00 very exactly '" pounds instead of 

 ounces, as we can do, for example, with the decimal system of 

 grams and kilograms. For the long and diametrical measure- 

 ments we have also the advantage in fixing easily if necessary 

 1-tenth of a millimeter or one-250ih part of an inch. Also in 

 writing, how much shorter it is to write 70 mm. than 

 2=15/32 inches. 



I feel sure, that anyone having used the two systems of 

 weights and measurements, will ask himself, how it is possible 

 that this French decimal system of weights and measurements 

 has not yet been accepted universally as standard weights and 

 measurements. 



Why can chemists of the whole world have the same formulas 

 for definite quantities, volumes, compositions, while engineers 

 and business men worry themselves with inches, feet, yards and 

 ounces, pounds, quarters and hundredweights instead of adopt- 

 ing the decimal system, based, as its name implies, on the 

 figure 10. 



There are, I am sure, many who must feel the same and I 

 quite understand "Effero," author of a series of articles on 

 molds for hard-rubber insulators in the "India Rubber Journal," 

 who simply states: "All dimensions are in millimeters." Is 

 there no remedy possible in the near future? 



A QUESTION CONCERNING WASH SALES. 

 To THE Editor of The India Rubber World: 



DEAR SIR— May we ask you a? a special favor for informa- 

 tion as to a custom in the crude rubber business. 



We purchased from an importer ten tons of rubber, to be 

 shipped five tons in January and five tons in March, 1919. We 

 later decided to sell this quantity and resold it to the same im- 

 porter at a profit, and they sent us what you call a "wash sale." 



It was our impression that without exception the custom of 

 the trade on a "wash sale" is that at the date of the wash sale 

 an invoice is rendered for the difference, and this difference is 

 payable net 10 days from date of invoice, as specified in the wash 

 sale. This rubber was an originally contracted shipment from 

 the Far East, five tons each January and March. 



The importer now takes the position that he will make his 

 first wash sale or pay us the difference in about two months 

 from January, 1919, contending it will take approximately that 

 time for rubber to come from the Far East and he will make 

 another "wash sale" two months from March. 



We will very much appreciate any information you will let us 

 have as to the custom of the trade in such matters. 



Yours very truly, E.\stern M.anuf.^cturer. 



AN IMPORTER'S OPINION. 



The importer is quite within his rights. The sale was made 

 for January shipment and March shipment. It requires at the 

 least three months to receive the rubber via the coast, and it 

 often takes much longer. It requires at least 60 days to get the 

 rubber from the Far East via the canal. The importer has evi- 

 dentlv given the manufacturer the benefit of the quicker trip, 

 when he could easily have claimed that it would come via the 

 Pacific, and which in all probability will. 



A resale is the same as making a sale ; therefore the time when 

 the rubber would be billed would be the starting point when the 

 account would begin to run for the ten days term of credit. If 

 the rubber was shipped on January 31 it could not be ready for 

 delivery (taking 60 days as a basis) until early April, and the 

 same time would be true of the March shipment. Thus you will 

 see that the importer is treating his friend very fairly. 



A "wash" sale is the same, to all intent and purpose, as a regu- 

 lar sale, and the terms would be the same. The importer has 

 got to make an actual delivery to someone, and what he will do 

 is to make a delivery to another buyer and settle with your cor- 

 respondent as if he had made the sale for the account of the 

 manufacturer. 



By figuring this "wash" en the basis of two months the im- 

 porter is going to lose interest, and his loss of interest will be 

 30 to 60 days' interest, which in all fairness he could save by 

 not paying the manufacturer until he had waited 10 days from 

 date of the actual delivery. Importer. 



NEW TRADE PUBLICATIONS. 



MECHANICAL SUPERINTENDENTS WILL APPRECIATE THE SELECTO" 

 meter, a handy device, in the form of a circular slide-rule 

 for determining the correct size of Francke flexible couplings 

 for any given drive. It is supplied on request to the trade by 

 Smith-Scrrell Co., Inc., 90 West street. New York City. 

 * * * 



The Firestone Tire & Rubber Co., Akron, Ohio, has sent 

 out a handsome catalog of its rubber footwear, which is unique 

 in its illustrations. In addition to showing the various models 

 in the usual half-tone style, many of these models have com- 

 bined with them a phantom background of some process used 

 in the manufacture, these being grayed, or subdued, so as to 

 embellish, rather than detract from the excellent cuts showing 

 the footwear samples. The book is pocket size, long and narrow, 

 and shows a large variety of goods made by the latest, newest 

 concern to engage in the manufacture of rubber footwear. A 

 fine portrait of President Firestone and a graphic view of the 

 big Akron plant are also included among the illustrations. 



The Cutler-Hammer Manufacturinc. Co.. Milwaukee, 

 Wisconsin, is distributing a handsome Spanish edition of its 

 1919 catalog of C-H wiring devices for the Central and South 

 .\merican trade. It illustrates and describes most of the de- 

 vices shown in the 1919 English catalog, notably feed-through, ' 

 pendant, and surface snap switches. The Spanish catalog com- 

 prises 24 pages, 8 by IOV2 inches, and is bound in a striking 

 orange-buff cover. It is uniform in style and arrangement 

 with the 64-page English edition. 

 * * ♦ 



"Vocational Education for Foreign Trade and Shipping," 

 Bulletin No. 24, issued by the Federal Board for Vocational Edu- 

 cation, Washington, D. C, suggests courses of study on the 

 practical aspects of the fundamentals of overseas com- 

 merce to be completed within a comparatively short time. It was 

 written by Dr. R. S. MacElwee, Federal agent for commercial 

 education on the above-named board, and a member of the 

 faculty of Columbia University, New York City. This bulletin 

 appeals particularly to business people employed during the dav 

 high-school seniors to be trained for junior clerks in the export 

 business, engineers whose technical training must be supplement- 

 ed by training in the essentials of the routine of foreign com- 

 merce, and colleges on a part-time or regular schedule. Business 

 men are especially urged to investigate the courses for the benefit 

 of their employees. 



Replete WITH information for rubber manufacturers — Mr. 

 Pearson's "Crude Rubber and Compounding Ingredients." 



CALENDARS AND SOUVENIRS. 



Tyson Bros., Woodbridge, New Jersey, manufacturers of 

 chemicals, rubber substitutes, etc., are sending to the trade an 

 art calendar reproducing C. D. Williams's painting. "The Angel 

 of the Battlefields." The central figure is of a woman in white, 

 representing the composite of women in all walks of life who 

 have helped in winning the war. Around are grouped soldiers 

 of each of the Allied countries, with a United States soldier 

 and sailor, all paying her tribute. The color scheme is blue 

 and white. 



E. I. duPont de Nemours & Co., Wilmington, Delaware, have 

 issued a large panel calendar advertising their different products, 

 including chemicals. The calendar itself is printed in clear 

 dark-blue figures of good size on white paper. 



The Somerset Rubber Reclaiming Co., New Brunswicy, New 

 Jersey, is sending the trade an attractive brass desk combina- 

 tion including in one piece compartments for pins, stamps, etc., 

 with a hinged cover on the outside of which the company's 

 name is embossed, while inside is a 1919 calendar. Part of the 

 base is a pen-tray, and the whole makes a happy combination 

 and useful souvenir. 



