July 1, 1915.] 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



565 



The India Rubber Trade in Great Britain. 



By Our Regular Correspondent. 



AS was generally anticipated, the India Rubber Manufac- 

 turer- Association has agreed upon an advance of from 

 10 per rent, to IS per cent, ill tile selling price "I goods, 

 thus coming into line with the action previously taken by the 

 Silvertown company and the North British Rubber Co., Lim- 

 ited. ["his is due to a yarietj "i causes other than the actual 

 price (if raw rubber. Expenses all around are heavier and out- 

 side of government work there is no pronounced activity. That 

 there has been no particular rise in the value of the commodity 

 despite large government contracts is explained by the fact that 

 the amount of rubber being used is much the same as in normal 

 times. It must be remembered that though large orders for 

 ground sheets ami waterproof clothing have been in evidence, 

 the amount of rubber consumed is not large. Further, admiralty 

 orders, which call for a good deal of rubber, are also given out 

 quite frequently in peace times, ship building of late years having 

 been carried on continuously. There has. of course, been a large 

 demand for tires for the war, but this has been offset to some 

 extent by a decreased general demand. 



This reference to tires may be amplified by the remark that 

 a recent tour in Scotland showed me the extent to which the 

 American tire invasion is making itself felt. The present situa- 

 tion in the matter of European tire manufacture favors this com- 

 petition. I was informed that in country districts there was a 

 difficulty in getting supplies of certain well-known British tires, 

 and this has led to the sale of other tires not so well known but 

 not necessarily of less utility. One such tire which came specially 

 under my notice was the Burnett. This is made by the Burnett 

 Motor Tyre & Rubber Co., of Limpley Stoke, near Bradford-on- 

 Avon. This tire, which was. I understand, brought out by Mr. 

 Burnett when engaged at the Avon Rubber Co., Limited, has 

 until recently been made by other manufacturers for the com- 

 pany, but is now being made at the company's own works which 

 were started a few months ago. 



Leaving this topic, I may note that the energetic recruiting 

 which is going on tends naturally still further to deplete the 

 labor market and to add to manufacturers' difficulties in depart- 

 ments where women and girls cannot well be employed. 



The dignified rejoinder made by The India Rubber World 

 in the editorial columns of the May issue to the attack of the 

 "Gummi-Zeitung" has, it need hardly be said, been well re- 

 ceived by the British rubber trade. It was, of course, written 

 before the great sea catastrophe which at the moment is en- 

 gaging the close attention of American diplomacy and was strictly 

 in keeping with that neutrality which lor so many months has 

 characterized genuine American trade journalism. 



FORTHCOMING SCIENTIFIC MEETINGS. 



The British Association for the Advancement of Science is 

 to hold its annual meeting at Manchester in September. The 

 proceedings will be limited to business, the social functions which 

 are always a feature of these meetings having been abandoned. 

 It will be interesting to see whether the eminent chemists asso- 

 ciated with synthetic rubber have anything new to say. The 

 Society of Chemical Industry, which has many American mem- 

 bers, also holds its annual meeting in Manchester, in July, but 

 rubber does not so far appear in the list of subjects announced 

 for discussion. 



RECLAIMED RUBBER. 



The announcement that the German Government has offered 

 a prize of £5.000 for a successful method of regenerating old 

 rubber is interesting if only as admitting that no really successful 

 method is yet known, despite the various processes utilized in 

 preparing the brands of reclaimed rubber which are now so 



ly sold and used. If the ideal reclaimed rubber is obtained 

 result "i this offer, the price paid cannot be considered as 

 at all excessive High freights are at present a cause of con- 

 siderahle worry to those selling American reclaimed in Europe, 

 the charge being mure than six times that prevailing in normal 

 limes; and, of course, this adds materially to the selling price. 

 \ an offset to this, there is the fact that no scrap rubber is 

 coming to England from Germany, and reduced supplies are 

 being received from other countries; difficulties thus arising in 

 turning out stocks of identical composition as in the past. 



Willi regard to ocean transport, I hear that one of the im- 

 portant lines from America to England has refused to carry 

 reclaimed rubber, on the ground that it is liable to spontaneous 

 combustion. I don't know what the basis is for this statement, 

 as I have never heard of a case with regard to the ordinary 

 American product. I have only known of danger in connection 

 with freshly ground crumb rubber or the sort of reclaim which 

 is sometimes made at rubber works by heating crumb rubber 

 with rosin oil. Xo doubt one result of the war will be that 

 Germany will endeavor to supply her own requirements of re- 

 claimed rubber. At the outbreak of hostilities one of the very 

 largest German rubber works was buying large quantities of 

 alkali reclaimed from England. The firm in question had pre- 

 viously established a plant for reclaiming on the same lines as 

 the English company supplying it, but the venture was not 

 a success for some reason or other. 



A year or more ago I referred to the new reclaiming works 

 being erected by the Xylos Rubber Co., Limited, at Trafford 

 Park, Manchester. These works are now running full swing 

 though their completion was delayed beyond the time originally 

 anticipated. The capacity of the plant at present is about 20 

 tons of reclaimed rubber per week. The process employed is 

 the modification of the alkali process according to Kugler's patent, 

 and it is claimed for the product which is being marketed as 

 true reclaimed rubber, that it is a distinct improvement on 

 competitive brands and represents a new feature in reclaiming. 

 The works, which are constructed throughout of reinforced con- 

 crete, are electrically driven by 3-phase British Westinghouse 

 company motors, the electricity being derived from the municipal 

 supply. All the machinery installed is of the most modern de- 

 sign, the elimination of manual labor being a prominent feature. 



GENERAL NOTES. 



The Rubber Regenerating Co., Limited, of Manchester, has 

 presented to the British Red Cross, and is operating at its own 

 expense, a 20 horse-power "Sunbeam" ambulance motor car. 



A lire which occurred at the extensive rubber works of Charles 

 Macintosh & Co., Limited, Manchester, on May 21, adds an- 

 other to the list of similar outbreaks which have occurred in 

 works engaged on government contracts and all of which have 

 been due to the ignition of naphtha vapors. The fire did not 

 assume any very serious proportions and caused no delay in the 

 completion of government contracts. 



A company known as Grimston Tyres, Limited, has been 

 formed, with a capital of £6,000, to continue and expand the 

 business carried on for some < irs at St. Albans as the St. 

 Albans Rubber Co.. an agreement having been adopted with 

 Viscount Grimston, who was the moving spirit of the rubber 

 company. The first directors are the Viscount and his father, the 

 Earl of Verulam, who already holds directorships in numerous 

 companies. New machinery has been installed at the works, and 

 I understand that the intention is to embark upon the mechanical 

 trade generally. One of the new mixing rolls is stated to be 

 the largest in use in Great Britain. 



