422 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



[May 1, 1915. 



must approve of such a law, and every consumer, regard- 

 less of his moral qualities, will profit by iis passage. 



Probablj every industry can show instances of this 

 kind in' theft — the stealing of reputation but in the re- 

 tail rubber trade this offense has been particularly 

 flagrant. To the general consumer there is no other 

 rubber name that carries so much weight, and therefore 

 is so valuable in retail merchandising, as the name Good- 

 year; and that is the reason that every unscrupulous fel- 

 low who can get hold of a stock of antique, damaged or 

 otherwise inferior raincoats, immediately takes a tempo- 

 rary lease of some empty store, fills his windows with 

 garments marked at prices to catch the unwary and 

 blazons the name Goodyear across the front of the build- 

 ing. The enactment of this law, too long delayed, will 

 effectually stop this dishonorable use of a very honorable 

 name. 



THE VALUE OF ADVICE DEPENDS UPON ITS 

 SOURCE. 



A N interesting item is floating around the newspaper 

 * * world which, with the caption, "Oil Your Rub- 

 bers," reads as follows: 



"Before wearing your rubbers rub them well with 

 vaseline, lard or sweet oil, letting it remain on for a day 

 or two. The greater part will be absorbed by the rubber 

 and the grease will prevent the rubber from breaking." 

 \ man with a sinister cast of mind might possibly sus- 

 pect that this paragraph emanated from the manufac- 

 turers, who, piqued at the shortage of snow during the 

 early part of the winter — when snow counts most — 

 hoped to gel a few million people to oil their overshoes 

 and thus help along the desirable work of consumption. 

 But the manufacturers can readily prove their innocence, 

 for, with conspicuous disinterestedness, they are con- 

 tinually warning the purchasers of rubbers against the 

 insidious touch of oil or grease. Practically all the litera- 

 ture distributed by the rubber footwear makers speaks of 

 tins very subject. Here is what the 1915 catalogs issued 

 by four different companies, taken at random, have to say 

 on the oil question: "Oil will ruin any rubber," says the 

 first. "Oil will destroy any rubber," reiterates the sec- 

 ond. The third amplifies the statement into "Oil or 

 grease will destroy any rubber"; while the fourth de- 

 clares "Grease of all kinds is injurious to rubber goods 

 and will eventually decompose the rubber." 



In view of these statements, which are certainly quite 

 lucid and intelligible, the advice to "oil your rubbers" 

 cannot be laid at the door of the manufacturer. He has 



done his full duty. And those who vaseline their sandals 

 and storm slippers, with unhappy results, will have to 

 thresh the matter out with the particular editor who was 

 the cause of their misfortune. 



THE GERMAN GOVERNMENT AND RUBBER. 



THE report that Germany offers to her chemists an 

 ample reward for the discovery of a practical sub- 

 stitute for the rubber truck tire is interesting. It in the 

 first place argues a definite shortage in both crude and 

 reclaimed rubber. It suggests also that the spring 

 wheels that have of late been adopted are not a success. 

 And last of all it points to the present failure of syn- 

 thetic rubber. What the Teutonic chemists may be able 

 to produce in the way of "factice" is as yet unknown. 

 Those who know rubber substances will be skeptical, but 

 necessity has mothered many impossible inventions. 



Even more remarkable is the offer of the German 

 Government of 100,000 marks for a process for reclaim- 

 ing rubber. The acid ami alkali processes are under- 

 stood and used by the large German rubber manu- 

 facturers. They have also a knowledge of the art of 

 "revivifying" waste rubber. In spite of this they have 

 of late years been large buyers of English, Russian and 

 American reclaimed rubber. Is it possible that this 

 means that, once the war is over, Germany plans to do 

 all of her own reclaiming? 



RUBBER'S CONTRIBUTION TO THE SCIENCE OF 

 BURGLARY. 



THE rain falls on the just and the unjust alike, and 

 many beneficent conceits of the human mind have 

 been put, unfortunately, to highly improper uses. For 

 instance, modern surgery owes much of its success to the 

 antiseptic conditions under which it may now be per- 

 formed, and these conditions are possible by reason of the 

 delicate rubber gloves which the surgeon may now wear. 

 But burglary as well as surgery is rather a deft industry 

 and to succeed must be conducted along the lines of 

 modern science. A few nights ago an office in the lower 

 part of New York City was broken into, the safe opened 

 and its contents — amounting to several hundred dollars — 

 carried away. But evidently the operators were hurried 

 in their work, for they left behind them various tools and 

 other insignia of their vocation. The detectives at once 

 began a minute examination for the damning finger prints, 

 but found themselves balked, as there were no finger 

 prints. The burglars evidently believed in germs — at 



