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THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



[February 1, 1915. 



The India Rubber Trade in Great Britain. 



By Our Regular Correspondent. 



AT no time since the embargo on rubber was instituted 

 have such sanguine views been held as to its early 



removal. Mincing Lane appears to be convinced that 

 the cancellation of the export proh : bition is only a matter of 

 days, or even hours, and plantation rubber has already risen 

 several pence per pound in anticipation. Incidentally, the 

 hard Para market has weakened. It may be that in the 

 existing optimism there is a trace of the wish being father 

 to the thought; but there is in reality a far more potent 



n. A few days ago it was unofficially reported that 

 President Wilson had ordained the certification of the exact 

 contents of American cargoes before they leave port. This 

 is the foundation upon which current hopes are based, for it 

 is contended that, if the report be true, the entire question at 

 issue between the two countries will be automatically solved. 

 Obviously such a course would do away vith the necessity 

 of searching ships at sea, for it may be assumed that if mani- 



are declared before sailing the shipping of contraband 

 must cease. It is thought that the British government sought 

 to use the rubber embargo as a lever in the negotiations 

 respecting commerce conditions between the two countries 

 and the view is that it has proved very effective. But, pend- 

 ing confirmation of the report referred to, the market must 

 be content to wait and hope. As has been stated before, 

 the prolongation of the embargo, indefinitely, would give rise 

 to some very serious problems in the plantation industry, not 

 the least of which is the possibility of trouble with the im- 

 ported Indian labor on the rubber estates. 



Meanwhile- it must In- confessed the importers have taken 

 the situation very philosophically, in which they are sup- 

 ported by the fact that hitherto the market has kept its end 

 up remarkably well in circumstances which might have been 

 calculated to knock the bottom out of it. In this the situa- 

 tion has been helped by the fact that owing to shortage of 

 labor at the docks the landing of rubber cargoes is proceed- 

 ing very slowly. Thus, although supplies at hand are un- 

 doubtedly large, the actual stocks on land do not indicate 

 anything abnormal. Another noteworthy point is that, 

 despite the embargo, there is no sign of diminished produc- 

 tion in the Orient. On the contrary, the crop returns for 

 last month show substantial increases all along the line. 



RUBBEB "ARMOR PLATE" FOR WARSHIPS. 



Not only has the war proved the best advertisement that 

 rubber has ever had, but it has been the means of bringing 

 to the fore several interesting inventions in which rubber 

 plays an important part. One of these consists of rubber 

 plates for the protection of battleships against the attack of 

 mine or torpedo. .Mr. Louis P. Bowler, the inventor, claims 

 that 4 to 6-inch rubber plates attached to a 1H inch armored 

 ship will withstand the explosive force of any torpedo or 

 mine in present use. He contends that heavy steel armor 

 plate is useless against the attack of the modern submarine 

 and points to the losses sustained in the present war as 

 proof of his argument. It is common knowledge, in regard 

 to explosives, he observes, that when a ponderous floating 

 mass, such as is presented by a huge battleship, offers solid 

 steel-faced resistance to the explosive shock of the torpedo, 

 something has to go. The hardened steel is a non-absorber 

 of concussion, and its only influence is that of repelling. The 

 effect of this same terrific force directed against a tough, 

 unbreakable, yielding and resilient body such as rubber or 

 gutta-percha is the exhaustion and absorption of the striking 



force or concussion. The inventor once witnessed the ex- 

 plosion of 1J/S hundredweights of dynamite on a 2-inch rub- 

 ber flooring, which resulted in everything being blown away 

 except the rubber, which had a scorched surface extending 

 over 4 feet with several holes caused by burning. The ten- 

 dency of dynamite is to strike downwards, the heat being 

 the most destructive agent where rubber is concerned; but 

 this effect would be considerably reduced in cases of explo- 

 sion in water. 



The idea, briefly outlined, having been brought before the 

 Rubber Growers' Association, that body has made a proposi- 

 tion to the Admiralty to supply, free of cost, the rubber 

 necessary for covering a trawler mine-sweeper. The expense 

 of covering a battleship with rubber plates would, of course, 

 be very great, for it is asserted that the cost of covering a 

 120-foot mine sweeper would be from £12,000 to £15,000. 

 Nevertheless the cost would not be disproportionate if the 

 device were effective in saving battleship crews, not to men- 

 tion battleships themselves. 



ACTIVITIES OF THE RUBBER GROWERS' ASSOCIATION. 



It will be recollected that some months ago the Rubber 

 Growers' Association made representations to the government 

 with a view to supplying the British troops operating in wet 

 trenches with rubber boots. Although their efforts in this 

 direction have not yet been crowned with success, the asso- 

 ciation has been asked to equip the Royal Flying Corps with 

 rubber boots and is now preparing to comply with the re- 

 quest. Besides the 1,000 hot-water bottles supplied by the 

 association to the British Red Cross Society, large numbers 

 of similar bottles, provided out of the Hospital Flooring Fund, 

 have been distributed among some 45 hospitals throughout 

 the country. 



TIRE NOTES. 



The failure of the Marshall Jacket Tyre Syndicate, Limited, 

 with assets only sufficient to pay the debenture holders ten 

 shillings on the pound, adds another to the somewdiat lengthy list 

 of tire flotations which have greviously disappointed investors in 

 them. The idea of a jacket which is to bear the rough work of 

 the road and keep the real tire in good condition has many sup- 

 porters, and another company has recently been formed to supply 

 motorists with old covers to be wired on to protect their new 

 tires. The Wood-Milne Co., Limited, is now quite busy with 

 a new band tire, hut this does not contain the steel wool which 

 has been a component part of the tires they have been exploiting 

 for some years. The idea of incorporating steel wool in the 

 rubber comes from America and is the property of a company 

 there. The sole British rights were obtained from the inventor 

 by Mr. Roberts of the Wood-Milne Co., Limited, on the basis of 

 a certain payment for each tire made. 



It is interesting to note that a number of the tire repairers 

 have been enlisted by the War Office, through the agency of 

 Harvey Frost & Co., of London, and certified by them. The 

 principal work of the men is in connection with the Mechanical 

 Transport Department of the Army Service Corps, though some 

 are engaged with other corps ; the pay is 4s. or 5s. per day, all 

 found. It is now announced that men who hold the H. F. mech- 

 anics vulcanizing certificate and are also competent drivers are 

 required for enlistment in the military wing of the Royal Flying 

 Corps. 



A new British registration which calls for notice is the Fire- 

 stone Tyre & Rubber Co., Limited, which has a capital of £10,000 

 in £20 shares, the first directors being H. Hughes, Marshall 



