July 1, 1915.] 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



567 



The Rubber Trade in Germany. 



By Our Regular Correspondent. 



THE occupation of conducting a trade publication in a coun- SIL1 m i. in GERMANY. 



try engaged in war and shut off from mosl of its supplies An article entitled "Secrecy," which recently appeared in a 



of materials, is not altogether an easy one. The habit trade paper here, reminds commercial travelers in all lines, in- 



acquired through long years of giving news as il is compels a eluding nil. her goods, that in many of the small places they 



presentation of facts as thej actually exist, and at the same time visit thej take the place ol newspapers, and that, like newspapers, 



the desire to present the situation in as encouraging a light as they should he silent ■«< subjects oi vital importance to the 



possible makes it an editorial dut) to he cheerful and optimistic. safety of the •fatherland." Severe prison .. 



rhesi two opposing forces are liable to result in contradictions. imposed in several cases on talkative traveling salesmen who 



For instance, in a leading rubber journal here we read in have carried too much news from one place to another. The 



one number that the rubber sporting goods industry has been publication referred to believi that under presenl conditions 



almost obliterated b\ the war, that no new g Is are offered commercial travelers in Germany should confine their conversa- 



and that the old goods some of them quite shopworn- are tion strictly to business, and only make such mention of war and 



priced at such a high figure that purchasers are few. In the war conditions as may be absolutely necessary. 



next number we find the statement that large quantities of foot- , , r HER 



halls, tennis balls, hockey balls and other sporting goods an Leather has become so scarce and its price so high thai Gel 



being used by the German troops in order to keep the soldiers man manu f acturers us j ng t hj s material in connection with their 



in good physical conditio,, rubber goods _ ami otherwise „ ave beet] ob i iged tu turn thc ir ac _ 



On one page we read that substitutes lor rubber are being tivities to Other lines, Leather straps and belts can no longer be 

 successfully used in the manufacture of a great many articles, produced f or other „ lan m jlj tary pur p ses, and substitutes have- 

 so that the shortage in the supply of crude rubber is not being tn be res0 rted (ll 

 seriously felt. On another page we are told that the dealers \KTIFKl\l RUBBER WD HEALTH 



are exceedingly apprehensive as to the effect on the consuming .. , , . ., , , 



.,.,.", . . , , ,, , (.crman school children having come to use erasers made ex- 



pubhc of the goods now being made from rubber substitutes. . . . , . ... 



* , . ,. , , . , , . , , . clustvely of rubber substitutes, the authorities ordered an in- 



1 hey tear that the shortcomings of these articles ot substitute . . _ . .. , , ,,.,,, 



...„,, . , , , • , , , quiry as to what effect these erasers might have on the children s 



origin will be charged bv the general consumer against the whole , ,., t, , ■ 



,, . , ,,'...,, , . , health, these substitute erasers contain vegetable oils, glass and 



rubber industry and that it in the future these same articles are . , . , . , , , , , . , ,. , 



.,, , mineral powders, and it was thought that through inhaling the 



again made ot genuine rubber they will have to overcome a very , , , •,,.,,,,• „ 



dust of the erasers, or possibly through swallowing small 



general prejudice. ., , -, , , , , . . , ' „ . , , , 



pieces, the children s health might surfer. As a result of the m- 



PR1CE OF BENZOL \NI> NAPHTHA SOLVENTS quiry it is stated that rubber substitute erasers are no more in- 

 jurious to health than real rubber erasers, which also contain 



When Germany was cut off from all sources of supply of many of the same ingredients, 

 crude oil, speculators attempted to get control of this market, 



, ', .. , ., n , ENCOURAGING THE GROWING OF HEMP, 

 and raised prices to such a figure that the German manufac- 

 turers were caused a good deal of anxiety. An order of the Hem P is used considerably in the manufacture of hose and 

 Imperial Government has established maximum prices for sol- " tller rubber g° ods - and » therefore is of interest to learn how 

 vents as follows' war ' s affecting ''"' supplj of this important textile. Cier- 



p er joq p er many has produced but small quantities of hemp and befori 



Kilograms Pound uar received most of her supply from Russia and Italy. Russian 



Pure toluol 45 marks $00486 exports to this country naturally ceased with the outbreak of hos- 



Xaiihtha solvent 1 43 marks 00465 tilities and Italy soon placed an embargo on her exports of hemp. 



Naphtha solvent II 33 marks 0.0357 Germany was thus thrown entirely on her own resources and she 



Xylol 43 marks 0463 nas Decn doing all in her power to encourage her farmers to 



These prices are f. o. b. factory, and do not include shipping develop this line of agriculture. \ "Hemp Committee" was 



costs. There will be no interference with existing contracts, forme<1 bv the German Hemp Manufacturers' Syndicate, and it 



either private or governmental, as long as the prices in these has been decided to guarantee a good market to hem,, producers. 



contracts do not exceed the maximum prices fixed by the Im- The " Hem P Committee" states thai ... bast 90 per cent, of the 



rial order German hemp lor the coming season will net the producer from 



600 to 800 marks to the hectare— or from $58 to $77 to the acre. 



THE RUBBER HOSE BUSINESS. The Hemp Association furnishes seed free of charge. 



The maximum figure in the sales of rubber hose is generally EMBARGO. 



reached in this country during the month of May. This year the German rubber manufacturers are complaining, as much as 



figure was very low as compared with previous seasons. Winter they dare, of the manner in which the Government is enforcing 



continued late. April was an exceptionally damp month, and its embargo on exports of rubber goods. A recent ruling makes 



finally, interest in the fate of the country has distracted attention it a crime to export even tin small hand rollers used for glazing 



from the lawns; so very little garden hose was sold. There Jibuti ■graphs, although these contain only a few ounces of rubber. 



were absolutely no exports in this line. 



The Semperit Austrian-American Rubber Works, Vienna, 



GERMANY FOR THE GERMAN'S. Austria, are reported to have contribute'! one million crowns 



"Deutsche Arbeit" (German Handicraft! is the name of a new ($203,000) to the latest Austrian war loan. 



German association, the object of which is to encourage German 



commerce and industry and fight everything of foreign origin. During 1913 the imports into Bulgaria of crude rubber and 



This association announces that Germans should use nothing but gutta percha and rubber manufactures amounted in value to 



German goods, made from German materials by German work- $159,418. as compared with a value of $JS6,991 for the same 



men. class of imports in ] ( '!_> 



