188 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



[January 1. 1915. 



and the unreliable naming of grades. It would be possible 

 to fill pages with protests, and just ones. A sample from one 

 of the large and alert manufacturers will suffice. 



"The ridiculousness of the present method of grading this 

 rubber is a thing that I cannot understand. Of a five-ton 



delivery of so-called First Latex from to this company 



there were seven distinct varieties, all the way from the 

 finest thin pale crepe up to heavj amber gristly .sheet y. inch 

 thick. Apparently all this is decided by some wise man in 

 the warehouse in Loudon, who decides that this or that grade 

 is or is not this or some other grade. All of which, in this 

 enlightened age of scientific management and laboratories, 

 strikes me as being a little more than particularly 'asinine.' " 



Another point that is emphasized is the lack of nerve in 

 some of the best looking rubber, said to be due to too much 

 milling. Rubber manufacturers all know that the best crude 

 rubber loses its nerve it massed too much. It is therefore 

 presumed that too much milling in the plantation factory will 

 bring about the same result. 



RUBBER SHOE VARNISH. 



■ Veteran Rubber Shoe Mil! Superintendent. 

 ""THE first recipe for rubber shoe varnish came into my pos- 

 * session fifty years ago. It was called the "Isaac Williams 

 Varnish." It read: Boil oil till it becomes thick as molasses, add 

 14 ounces of sulphur t.. one gallon of oil and one and one half 

 gallons of camphene. Here is another recipe from my book of 

 that date: I wo gallons oil, one pound sulphur, one ounce sugar 

 lead and benzine. 



From the same book came the following recipes for preparing 

 coal tar : One gallon coal tar, 4 pounds sulphur, 4 pounds rosin ; 

 melt and mix. Another is: No. 1—10 gallons tar. 40 pounds 

 sulphur; mix. No. 2—100 pounds rosin, melt and add IS gallons 

 benzine To No. 1 add 4 r 4 gallons of No. 2. 



Forty years ago some one showed me a small sample of what 

 was said to be Russian varnish, and said if I could make varnish 

 like it ray fortune was made. A few years ago I was shown 

 by a man who had worked in the Russian factory the way he 

 said it was made; and while it differs in the compound, the 

 varnish does not vary much from American varnish. Their way 

 of vulcanizing, in which the shoe is taken from the heater in a 

 tacky state, and allowed to dry one week before packing, is the 

 secret. 



A man named Story went from this country some 50 years 

 ago and had much to do with starting the Liverpool Rubber 

 Liverpool. England, the North British Rubber Co., Edin- 

 burgh, and the Russian-American Co., Petrograd. Charles 

 Hotchkiss was also with the Hutchinson Etablissement in 

 France at the same time, and they probably used the same 

 formulas in every factory. 



For many years Charles Ensign, who came to the Goodyear 

 Metallic Rubber Shoe Co. about 1859, and was superintendent 

 until the fall of 1881, was the recognized authority on making 

 varnish. Whether he improved the recipe that came to him I 

 cannot say. but his formula was used by most American firms 

 a few years ago. The following oils are used: Calcutta, Baltic, 

 blown oil, Craig and Rose thick oil. and common linseed oil. 

 The boiling varies from S hours to 300 or more. I 



made varnish 4 years without boiling the oil. This takes longer 

 but makes a more elastic varnish. The compounds used do not 

 vary much from oil. sulphur and rosin, but I have found the 

 following all used: Lime, shellac, gilsouite, sugar of lead, 

 litharge, white lead and small quantities of commercial varnish. 



Putting the compound into the kettle so that it comes in con- 

 tact with the bottom is wrong; the proper way is to suspend it 

 3 or 4 inches from the bottom. When thinning use one gallon 

 turpentine f.rst. before putting in naphtha. This improves the 

 varnish. 



One way of making varnish is to keep out 3 gallons of oil. 

 using only 7 gallons, and when the varnish rises toward the 

 top of the kettle, add the 3 gallons of oil, which will cause it to 

 settle. Then take from fire. Another way is to use a steam 

 jacket kettle, putting in oil and compounds, and covering with 

 turpentine. Still another is to take lime and rosin, melt and 

 mix, cool and make into line powder, after which add sulphur. 

 The oil is made thick for this varnish. Another method calls 

 for the use of blown oil. The rule is. the thicker the oil the 

 les^ sulphur. 



Different factories run different heats, from 5 to 11 hours, 

 and varnish is made to suit. In many places a dryer is used, 

 made by a well known varnish firm. In fact many use this 

 varnish and dryer entirely. Most heaters are run to suit varnish 

 rather than stock, and until heaters are constructed on right 

 lines shoes in different parts of the heater will vary. The sur- 

 i if upper stock has much to do with the appearance of 

 varnish. If surface is hard it will crack and crawl. For some 

 years I made up stock with billiard and thread scrap instead 

 of new Para, and the varnish seemed to have a firmer hold and 

 to be less liable to crack. 



For several years I made it a point to have samples of upper 

 and soling of different grades of the day's running varnished 

 and put in two sections of the heater every night. Next morn- 

 ing I tried the tensile strength, noted the adhesion of varnish, 

 etc. also had small diM's of same stock made under pressure. 

 The specific gravity of these discs was taken every day and 

 record kept, and once a week specific "ra\it\ was taken of all 

 stock used in shoes. All stocks were run by weight, not by gage. 



Many heaters are run as to time by taking out shoes and 

 testing them when it is thought they are about vulcanized. This 

 reminds me of a heater man 40 years ago. When the steam dry- 

 heater was put in place of the pot heater, this man ran it on 

 same lines, taking strips of each kind of stock that was in the 

 heater, which he hung inside about a foot from the small door. 

 Vfter the heat had been running some time he would take them 

 out and test with thumb nail until he thought they were prop- 

 erly vulcanized; and while in charge of the heater he never used 

 a thermometer as his sight was failing and he could not see it. 



OPPORTUNITIES FOR MOTOR VEHICLES IN RUSSIA. 



Practically all the automobiles, motor trucks and motorcycles in 

 Kn-sia having been requisitioned for military purposes. Consul 

 F. Willoughby Smith, of Batum. calls attention to this fact, add- 

 ing that the country will be obliged to readjust its centers of dis- 

 tribution and channels of trade, while seeking new sources from 

 which to draw supplies. As soon as the danger of further requisi- 

 tions has passed, there will necessarily be a great demand for all 

 descriptions of motor vehicles, which are largely used in the oil 

 fields and mines, as well as on farms and in manufacturing enter- 

 prises. 



TIRES IN NETHERLAND EAST INDIES. 



The principal automobile tires represented in Java at the close 

 of 1913 included: American tires made by the Goodrich Tire 

 Co.; British tires, made by the Dunlop Tire Co.; Michelin tires. 

 made in France; the German Continental tire and the Prowodriik 

 tire, made in Russia. East Java is the location of the Goodrich 

 agency in that market. In 1913 the total imports into Dutch East 

 India included tires for automobiles to the value of $590,000 and 

 for bicycles to the value of $180,250; the American tires rep- 

 resenting $8,000 and $720 



AMERICAN RUBBER SHOES IN SYRIA. 



An American consul is authority for the statement that some 

 years ago a considerable quantity of American rubber shoes was 

 sold in Damascus, but the dealers ruined the trade by only 

 bringing in the cheaper grades. All the rubber shoes worn in 

 thai section have in consequence been brought of late from 

 Russia. 



