THE ' TNDIA RUBBER WORLD 



[NOVEUBER 1. 1914. 



SOME INTERESTING LETTERS FROM OUR 

 READERS. 



' I ■< i the Editor ol The India Rubber World — Dear Sir: 

 * I would appreciate ar opportunity of replying to your 



criticism appearing in the last issue of The India Rubber 

 World, under the title "Mr. Cowen and the Marks process." 

 I In- criticism is directed at remarks I made recently in Eng- 

 land, in referring to the Alkali Process for reclaiming waste 

 rubber. \i> one activel} engaged in the rubber industry, at 

 the present time, appreciate- an\ more than I do the value 

 to the industry of your vast and extended experience and 

 the many acquaintances you have enjoyed with its most 

 prominent men. There is no doubt but thai we may list Mr. 

 Robert Cowen as one of the foremost of these and one who 

 did a great deal for the development of the rubber industry. 

 1 quite agree with you that Mr. Cowen was not a chemist, 

 but he was indeed an expert machinist and an inventor. How- 

 ever, might we not say the same of Edison i>r of Goodyear' 

 The former's inventions cover a wide range of the sciences, 

 including chemistry, yet he could hardly be considered a 

 chemist. The same is true of Goodyear, whose early training 

 in the hardware business may have been of some assistance 

 to him from a mechanical point of view, but had he known 

 that aqua fortis contained sulphur lie would no doubt have 

 been able to take quicker advantage of the phenomena he 

 observed in his experiments and detect the real relation ex- 

 isting between his tests and those of the unscientific lley- 



u 1. who had been using powdered sulphur. It is not at 



all uncommon to find that inventors seldom derive direct 

 benefit or have a knowledge of the state of the science ex- 

 isting at their time. Mr. Cowen made up for this lack, in 

 part, by employing young college graduates to work out his 

 many ideas. Arthur H. Marks was one of these. 



Mil statements I made, however, were not based upon 

 hearsay. You must be aware that several patent suits have 

 been brought to uphold the validity of the Marks patent, and 

 -■in' "I these, I believe, are still pending. Without any 

 desire, at the present, to go into the merits of these various 

 cases, 1 would call to your attention letters which have been 

 introduced in evidence and I think you will agree they sus- 

 tain my statements 



In a letter fnmi .Mr. Cowen as Technical Manager of the 

 I'.,. -ton Woven Nose & Rubber Co. to Mr. Raymond B. 

 Price, under dale of October 25. 190(1. he says: 



"Since he went away from us I understand that he has 

 taken out a patent for devulcanizing rubber by the use of 

 high pressure and caustic soda. You well know that during 

 the time tint lie was with us he was carrying out experiments 

 of this nature Of course it is well known to everyone who 

 connected with our company at that time that he was 

 ely a workman in the laboratory carrying on this work 

 under your direction — which work was directed mainly from 

 suggestions received from myself as your superior officer at 

 that time" 



The word "he" refers to Mr. Arthur Marks, and the italics 

 are mine. 



I.atei Mi Raymond i'. Price, in writing to Mr. I: iberl 

 Cowen as Inimical Manager of tin- Boston Woven Nose & 

 Rubber Co., under date of September lie 1901, says: 



"Your own letter files will -how that the idea of carrying 

 on the process ,,n a larger scale was followed right up to the 

 nine oi thi i impany's failure." (1898) i Marks patent 

 granted 1899 



The process referred to is the Alkali Process, and tin 

 "company" is the Boston Woven Hose & Rubber Co. 



The following is an extract from a letter by Mr. Robert 

 eri as Technical Manager of the Boston Woven I lose & 

 Rubber Co to Mr Raymond 1!. Price, under date of Decem- 

 ber 14, 1S99: 



"Caustic soda is a solvent of sulphur, as has long been 

 known, and is used extensively for a great many years. In 

 fact, the National Rubber Co. used caustic soda for devul- 

 canizing a great many years ago. 



"Now I am anxious to develop this process and if there is 

 anything that you can tell me that has been done in the past 

 which belongs to the company, 1 shall be grateful to you for 

 same, as it will save me from doing over what has already 

 been done." 



Another extract of interest in this discussion is the follow- 

 ing, taken from a letter of Mr. Raymond li. Price to Mr. 

 Robert Cowen, dated December 23, 1899. "Arthur" refers to 

 Mr. Marks: 



"As h,r the soda process. Arthur has no more right to a 

 p. io lit on that than has Ship Sweet, who first tried soda in the 

 laboratory, or you, whose general ideas were carried out, or 

 myself." 



1 n view of the facts disclosed by the above letters is it 

 conceivable that Mr. Cowen was, as you say, "wholly in 

 favor of the acid process for reclaiming," or that were Mr. 

 Cowen alive "he would, in his frank way, give Mr. Marks 

 full credit for his process?" Yours respectfully, 



L. J. I'i.i 'mb, Chief Chemist, 



October 19, 1914. U. S. Rubber Reclaiming Co., Inc. 



| 'I he statement that Mr. Cowen did not claim the alkali process 

 seems to be disproved by Mr. Plumb's very interesting com- 

 munication. It is well to remember, however, that Mr. Cowen — 

 and this is not meant to be derogatory — was an enthusiastic 

 claimer and an honest one. He, for example, claimed to have 

 started The India Rubber World. Possibly he did suggest a 

 rubber trade publication to the writer. At all events the claim 

 did no harm. He and others who generally stated that they, 

 through suggestion, were its real founders, were never con- 

 tradicted. The Editor.] 



' I '( ) the Editor of The India Rubber World — Dear Sir: 

 ■*■ The very interesting paper on "The Influence of Nitrogen 

 ( ompounds on Rubber" which appeared in the September issue, 

 lias. I find, attracted considerable attention. The interest which 

 has recently been shown in this subject prompts me to direct 

 attention to several materials well known to chemists, but sel- 

 dom if ever used by the smaller rubber-goods manufacturer who 

 does not employ the services of an advisory chemist. There are 

 several nitrogen compounds which come into consideration for 

 rubber mixings because of their market price (about 10c. per 

 pound in July, 1M4i Among these may be mentioned casein. 

 Mm from tanneries and packing houses, fish glue and blood 

 albumen. Several of these were recommended by me for use 

 eithei alone or in combination, as early as the year 1910. At 

 that time, however, rubber-goods manufacturers were loth to 

 listen to such a "theory." in spite of the fact that German manu- 

 facturers wen then actually making use of it. A younger 

 chemist with some experience in rubber, assured me that "all 

 such fancy additions to the compound have a bad effect on the 

 rubber goods." 



Other nitrogenous materials which might prove of value are 

 powdered wool, which contains both nitrogen and sulphur; and 

 powdered silk, which contains nitrogen. These materials in 

 powdered form are both articles of commerce. One of the 

 difficulties which might interfere with the use of such substances 

 is their fibrous character and their moisture content. When 

 precipitated gelatin is used in rubber compounds it should be 

 previous!) mixed with glycerin or other softener 



Tetramino carbazol is an interesting aromatic amine obtained 

 fmni coal tar, and possibly this will prove of value as an accele- 

 ratirg agent in rubber mixings 



Frederic Dannerth. 



The Rubber Trade Laboratory. Newark, N. J. 



Replete with information for rubber manufacturers. — Mr 

 Pearson's "Crude Rubber and Compounding Ingredients." 



