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THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



[July 1, 1919. 



operated by the Harbor Commission as a public utility. Traffic 

 Manager Matson of the commission says: 



With a high density compress located at this port, not only will 

 Southern California cotton for export to the Orient be brought 

 here, but also that which goes to Europe at present through Gal- 

 veston move this way. 



Local interests have tiled with the United Slates Railroad Ad- 

 ministration an application for a concentration rate so that Los 

 Angeles will be made a point of concentration for cotton ship- 

 ments. I have taken up with the Railroad administration the sub- 

 ject of adjusting export rates on cotton from the Texas cotton 

 belt. 



I am also in receipt of information from L. M. Fowler & Co., 

 that several hundred thousand bales of Texas cotton, in addition 

 to that of Southern CaHfornia and Arizona, already are in sight 

 for moving through this port the coming season, providing a 

 high density compress is installed in time. 



DUOPLEX CUSHION TIRE IN CALIFORNIA. 



The National .'Kuto Wheels Corp., Wausau, Wisconsin, will 

 begin, on September 1, the construction of another factory near 

 Los Angeles, California. The company manufactures wheels of 

 a new type that are claimed to be practicable and will do away 

 with pneumatic tires. 



The outer part of the wheel is a non-skid resilient cushion 

 tire mounted on a metal rim and guaranteed for 20,000 miles. 

 The rim fits over a rubber cushion, inserted between the felloe 

 and rim, and is guaranteed for the life of the car. It is con- 



Cross Section. 



vSVERSE Section. 



structed to give the utmost resiliency and absorb all shocks and 

 rebound. It| is protected on both sides by steel channels, and 

 is insurance against crystallization. 



The manufacturers claim 150 per cent saving in tire expense 

 during the life of the car. While the initial expense in equip- 

 ping a car with these wheels is greater than that of pneumatic 

 tires, it is declared that ultimately the economy of the device 

 will be demonstrated. 



EAGLE-PICHER BUYS INTEREST IN MIDLAND CHEMICAL. 



The Eagle-Picher Lead Co., Chicago, Illinois, has acquired an 

 interest in the Midland Chemical Co., of the same city, manu- 

 facturer of "Sterling" lithopone. The offices of the Midland 

 company will be removed to adjoin those of the Eagle-Picher 

 company in the Continental & Commercial National Bank Build- 

 ing. The new board of directors of the Midland company is as 

 follows: O. S. Richer, president; W. T. Sheffield, vice-presi- 

 dent and secretary; T. S. Brown, Jr., treasurer; A. W. Ayer, 

 superintendent; and H. G. Gopper. A sketch of Mr. Clopper 

 appeared in The Indi.\ Rubber World, June 1, 1919. 



The General Asbestos & Rubber Co., Charleston, South Caro- 

 lina, manufacturer of asbestos brake lining, steam packing, as- 

 bestos textiles, etc.. are installing a power plant, which is being 

 erected by Lockwood, Greene & Co., Atlanta, Georgia. 



RUBBER FROM SAGE BRUSH AND GREASEWOOD. 



Congressman John E. Raker of California has introduced a 

 bill in the House of Representatives for an appropriation of 

 $5,000 "for the investigation and study of methods and testing 

 sage brush and greasevvood, which may be used for producing 

 rubber, alcohol and acetic acid, including their utilization." This 

 bill is, in effect, the same as one introduced by Mr. Raker dur- 

 ing the 1913 session of Congress but which did not get beyond 

 the committee to which it was referred. The present bill has 

 been referred to the Committee on Agriculture, and ordered to 

 be printed, and is designated as Bill H. R. 1129. 



Mention might be made in this connection of the investigations 

 now in progress or recently completed, bearing on the subject 

 of producing rubber from plants growing in the Western and 

 Pacific States, which have been described at some length in 

 The India Rubber World. The work of Professors H. M. Hall 

 and Thomas H. Goodspeed is reported in the issue of June 1, 

 1918, naming plants containing from 2 to 10 per cent of rubber, 

 notably the Giant Rabbit Bush (Chrysothamnus) and the Dwarf 

 Rabbit Bush (Ericameria) . 



In the April 1, 1919, issue of The India Rubber World, 

 Professor Hall is reported as saying, after further investigation 

 of this subject, that the total amount of wild shrub in California 

 with a rubber content is "so great that it is safe to say that 

 there is enough rubber present to constitute an emergency supply 

 in case we ever get into a war in which our importation would 

 be curtailed, but the extraction of this would be an expensive 

 process, since the average content for the whole West is prob- 

 ably not more than Zyi per cent, and even in the best districts 

 it will not be more than 4 or 5 per cent on the average." 



This investigation has proved the existence of over 70 species 

 of rubber-producmg plants growing in California, and Professor 

 Jones, who is assisting Professor Hall, is extending his in- 

 vestigations over Utah, Nevada, Idaho, Wyoming and Colorado. 

 Professor Hall describes as the most interesting the Chrysotham- 

 nus nauseous, or "Common Green," which produces a rubber 

 said to be superior to that from the guayule plant of Mexico. 

 Ten or fifteen years ago endeavors were made to exploit com- 

 mercially the Picradenia fiorihunda ntilis, or "greasewood" of 

 Colorado, but the result was not encouraging. However, the 

 subject of a native rubber supply grown in the United States 

 is one worthy of still further investigation, and the result of 

 Mr. Raker's resolution will be watched with interest. 



CONNECTICUT NOTES. 



The Kelly-Springfield Tire Co., New York City, is repre- 

 sented in Connecticut by G. G. Winsor, who is general super- 

 visor of the depots at New Haven, Hartford, and Bridgeport. 

 A. C. Peoble has charge of the New Haven district and H. A. 

 Goodale of the trade in New Haven, with headquarters at 88 

 College street and a service station at 274 Crown street. In 

 Hartford, at 41-45 High street, C. C. Chaffee is in charge of 

 the district and W. H. Lacey of the city trade. In Bridgeport, 

 at 359 Fairfield avenue, George A. Davidson is in charge of the 

 district and R. L. Whittington of the city trade. 



The Hartford Rubber Works" Co., Hartford, Connecticut, a 

 subsidiary of the United States Rubber Co., has elected the fol- 

 lowing officers: C. B. Whittelsey, president; E. Hopkinson, vice- 

 president; J. P. Krogh, treasurer, and J. D. Carberry, secretary. 



The McMinn Tire Co., Inc., has been formed in Bridgeport, 

 Connecticut, by Stanley P. McMinn and Harold F. Blanchard, 

 formerly on the "Motor World," associated with George P. Mc- 

 Minn. until recently superintendent of the Detroit, Michigan, 

 plant of the Barrett Co. Headquarters are at 629 Fairfield ave- 

 nue, and the officers are: S. P. McMinn, president; H. F. Blanch- 

 ard, vice-president, and George McMinn, secretary-treasurer. 



