January 1. 1915.) 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



183 



England taking about one-fourth, France nearly as much, the 

 remainder being shipped all over the world. Another addition 

 to the list of rubber manufactures, which took place about thirty 

 years ago, was the making ol toys, in which German manu 



Spreader Room for Balloon Fabric, 



facturers also became very proficient, a sufficient proof of which 

 has been the prevalence of German-ma. le rubber toys in the 

 American market during the last half dozen years. 



The development of German manufacturing can be seen at a 

 glance from the following brief table, which shows the number 

 of factories at different periods during the last fifty years and 

 the number of employes connected with these factories. 



These figures embrace all lines of rubber manufacture where 



crude rubber is washed, mixed and prepared in the factory in 



which tin goods are finished. Tire repair shops are not included : 



Number of Persons 



Factories. Employed. 



1,788 



5,635 



7,666 



13,114 



31.909 



40.000 



Another gage of the growth of the 

 rubber industry in Germany is found 

 in the notable increase in the im- 

 ports of crude rubber into that coun- 

 try. In 1889 they amounted to 4,000 

 tons; ten years later nearly 14,000 

 tons ; in 1909, a little over 27.000 tons, 

 and in 1913 about 29,000 tons. To be 

 sure, not all of this rubber was re- 

 tained by the German manufacturers, 

 from one-quarter to one-third of it 

 rieing exported in this crude condi- 

 tion, the exports in 1889 equaling 700 

 tons; in 1899, over 5.000 tons; in 

 1S09, 9.000 tons, and in 1913. 10.000 

 tons. This left for German consump- 

 tion at the three periods, 1889, 1899 

 and 1509. something over 3,000, 8,000 

 and 18,000 tons, respectively, while in 

 1913 the rubber used by German 

 manufacturers was 19.000 tons. Perhaps the most interesting 

 statistical phase of the German rubber industry lies in the in- 

 crease in exports of its manufactured goods. German rubber 

 goods exports in 1889 were valued at about $5,800,000; in 1899 

 at $13,000,000; in 1909 at $14,000,000, and in 1913 at $32,000,000. 



The Germans have been particularly successful in the dis- 

 covery and use of rubber substitutes. They have also led the 

 world in their long continued and systematic search for syn- 



thetic rubber. It will undoubtedly be remembered that Dr. 

 Duisberg, Director General of the Farbenfabriken, of Elberfeld, 

 read a mosl interesting paper on synthetic rubber at the Inter- 

 national i ongress of Applied Chemistry, held in New York in 

 Seprember, 1912. He displayed at that time a set of tires made 

 of thi-- artificial product, another set having been made and pre- 

 sented to the Kaiser. Dr. Duisberg and his co-laborers, Drs. 

 Fritz llofmann and Carl Harries, are celebrated among chemists 

 for the work they have been doing for a number of years past 

 on the absorbing problem of synthetic rubber. 



In a general way it may be said that during the last few de- 

 cades rubber manufacture in Germany has been a highly pro- 

 gressive and successful department of German industry. It re- 

 ceived thai untitle, painstaking, systematic attention that 



Germans have devoted to every industrial and commercial 

 branch. (Jnlike American or British, German manufacturers have 

 received a great amount of the most valuable help from the 

 universities and technical schools. In other words, the govern- 

 ment helped in every way possible. 



Of the otill companies, large and small, engaged in various 

 kinds of rubber manufacture, there were at the beginning of this 

 year about 10 important companies making tires, nearly the 

 same number engaged in the production of rubber footwear, at 

 least 20 large companies making cables — and probably 15 im- 

 portant manufacturers of rubber machinery, among them the 

 famous house of Krupp. There are quite a number of rubber 

 manufacturing companies in Germany that have been established 

 over 50 years, and a long list which have been in business over 

 a third of a century ; and some of these companies are of a 

 magnitude that would compare favorably with the large rub- 

 ber manufacturing corporations of the United States. For in- 

 stance, there is the Continental India Rubber & Gutta Percha 

 Co., Hannover, which normally employs 7,000 workmen; the 



Making Gas Bags for War Balloons. 



Vereir 



_.einigte Harburg-Wien Gummiwarenfabriken, the Vienna 

 factory employing 4,500 people, and the Harburg 2,500 work- 

 men. The total capitalization of the German rubber industry at 

 the beginning of this year was $25,000,000. and it might be 

 safely said that this capitalization was conservative. The in- 

 dustry undoubtedly had a working capital of twice that sum, 

 while its annual output of finished goods was from three to four 

 times its capitalization. 



