462 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



[May 1. 1915. 



I IBITUARY. 

 In the person of Mr. VV. A. Oddy, of Rochdale, there has 

 recentl) died a man well known to the rubber trade in- -the 

 Manchester district. Mr. Oddy, who was 71 years of 



time connected with the textile industry, about' 



30 years ago went into the waste rubber business, in which he 



rapidly gained wealth. This was in tin good old days when 



rubber, like cinders, was to be had more ..i lev, for the 



of carting, and when the close competition of todaj was 



existent. His firm is now known as Oddj & Whitwo.rth. 



He was in close connection with the late Mr. Chomas Rowley, 



and had been for some time head of the firm of Grimshaw iV 



Co., rubber chemical manufacturers, with which Mr. Rowlej 



lie was also a director of (1. \\ Laughton & 



Limited, rubber manufacturers, Clayton, Manchester. 



lOO MI"c II ANALYSIS. 



The letters which have recently appeared in The India Rub- 

 kVi kin under this heading meet with general approval among 

 our manufacturers, who, as a rule, hold the opinion that they 

 understand how to fill the customers' requirements to the best 

 advantage without the auxiliary aid of precise specifications. 

 Further, they have a profound suspicion of the correctness of 

 the figure-, obtained by the purchaser's chemist, litis suspicion 

 will he enhanced rather than allayed by what has recently ap- 

 peared in The India Rubber World regarding discrepancies in 

 analyses. These results, it is understood, were all the work 

 of chemists specially versed in rubber analysis. In Great Britain. 

 however, the rubber manufacturer knows that his products are 

 in many r;iM-- tested by men who have only a cursory acquaint- 

 ance with rubber analysis, and this- has naturally led to a good 

 deal of dissatisfaction. 



1 could give numerous instances, but will only mention one.- 

 Where goods were rejected because they contained plaster of 

 Paris, which the manufacturer knew he had not used. The 

 explanation of the discrepancy was that the chemist had taken 

 the mineral matter by direct ignition. This resulted in the 

 formation of some sulphate of lime or plaster of Paris by the 

 combination of the lime of the whiting with the free sulphur. 

 Outside government contracts there is comparatively little rub- 

 ber manufacturing in Great Britain to strict specification, cer- 

 tainly not as much as appears to be the case in America and 

 Germany. A year or two ago reclaimers took to selling their 

 products on analysis, a course which apparently was forced upon 

 them. Of late, however, the practice has been dropped. Analysis 

 strikes at the root .it what the rubber manufacturer holds most 

 dear — secrecj — and as long as he does not advertise his own 

 figures he can always assert that those obtained by the pur- 

 chaser are wrong if they are not flattering enough. 



SPALDING VS. GAMAGE. 



The case of Spalding vs. Gamage, which was mentioned in 

 The India Rubber Worlp for September, 1913, has been defi- 

 nitely disposed of before the House of Lords in London. 



This interesting case may be briefly stated as follows: The 

 London branch of the well-known American sporting goods 

 firm. Spalding Brothers, discarded some 500 rubber footballs 

 of a model known as the "Orb," selling them to a waste rubber 

 dealer at something like 4i/. each. The waste rubber dealer in 

 turn sold these balls to the large London sporting goods firm 

 of F. W. Gamage, Limited, at about lj. 2i/. a piece. In the 

 meanwhile Spalding Brothers brought out a new football, which 

 they advertised as the "New Improved Sewn Orb"' — price Ws. 

 6d. At the same time the Gamages advertised the old "< Irbs" 

 which they had purchased from the waste rubber dealer, for 

 sal at 2s. I0d., stating that the usual price of this ball was 10.?. 

 6d., and giving a description of it which was substantially the 

 same as that which Spalding Brothers gave to their "New Im- 

 proved Sewn Orb." This occurred in 1910. An injunction was 



I'd and tin question of damages • is being determined 

 when the Court of \|i|...iK reversed the judgment. 



The decision of the House cf Lord-., which is the supreme 

 court of appeal oi the British Empire, restores the first order by 

 allowing thi appeal with costs. In passing judgment Lord 

 Parker -aid that the advertisements of A. \\ Limited. 



were calculated to deceive. 



BRITISH TIRE STANDARDS. 



The Tire Committee of the British Societj - : Motor Manu- 

 facturers & Traders proposes to reduce it> pneumatic tire rim 

 standards to a total of 10, and its tire standards to the 11 dif- 

 ferent sizes here given. The proposed tire sizes are 



Millimeter- Equivalent in inches. 



700 x 80 27.5 x 3.14 



700 x 85 27.: x 3.34 



710 x SO 27.9 x 3.54 



Too x 90 29.9 x 3.54 



sin x 90 31.9 x 3.54 



815 x 105 32 1 x 4.13 



820 x 120 32.3 x 4 72 



880 x 120 34.6 x 4 72 



s 5 x 135 S5.2 \ 5.31 



835 x 135 36.8 x 5.31 



915 x 175 36.0 x 6.88 



These are practically the standards long recognized all over 



continental Europe and at present effective throughout the Old 



World. The assumption is that these figures represent the exact 



measurements of the tires and not, as i- at i n -cut the case in 



Europe, fictitious measurements which vary from one make of 



tires to another. It is noticeable that no provision is made in 



these standards for those large tires so extensively used on heavy 



machines in Great Britain and Belgium. This announcement is 



of great importance to American manufacturers of both tires 



and automobiles, for no American made cars are turned out to 



conform with these standards. 



RUBBER SHIPMENTS RATHER SLOW. 



Much irritation is felt in the British rubber trade on account 

 of the delay in the issue of export licenses. Tons of rubber 

 goods are held up at ports of shipment owing, it is said, to con- 

 gestion in handling applications for export licenses. Chambers of 

 Commerce have taken the matter up with the government, whose 

 explanation is that the export licensing department is a new or- 

 ganization and must be allowed time to get into smooth work- 

 ing order. 



Birmingham is endeavoring to create some sort of an organ- 

 ization to bring to that city the great business formerly handled 

 at the Leipzig Fair. 



AN ENGLISH VIEW OF A DUTCH SITUATION. 



A recent number of our English contemporary, the "India 

 Rubber Journal." contains the following interesting paragraph: 



"Since the Dutch Government has forbidden the export of 

 tires, short motor trips into Germany have become quite popular. 

 Many cars which cross the frontier with a set of new tires re- 

 turn with them utterly worn out, after a small mileage only: 

 yet this does not deter the ardent motorist, for the trip is so en- 

 ticing that another journey is undertaken almost immediately. 

 with a fresh set of new tires. Where there's a wheel there's i 

 way." 



Burberrys, Limited, of Haymarket. London, who beside 

 manufacturing weatherproof clothing for all occasions, including 

 aviators' outfits and service equipment, also make tents of proofed 

 material, have presented to the British Red Cross a motor soup- 

 kitchen, built to approved specifications and completely fitted. 



Should lie on every rubber man's desk — Crude Rubber and 

 Compounding Ingredients: Rubber Country of the Amazon; 

 Rubber Trade Directory of the World. 



