\i ci ST 1. 1915.) 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



611 



Annual Meeting, American Society for Testing Materials. 



Till annual meeting of the American Societj for restii 

 terials was held at Atlantic City from June 22 to 2o, with 

 a registered attendance of over 500 engineers and chem- 

 ists representing the industries of rubber, metals, cera 

 coaltar, paints, fuels, lubricants and textiles. One of the note- 

 worthj features of this meeting was the increasing interest 

 shown in the so called organic industries and the materials pro- 

 duced wholly or in part from organic products. \t the lirst 

 meetings of the society, held fifteen years ago, little or no mention 

 was made of such subjects as coaltai products, rubber, lubricants 

 and textiles, while at the meeting just closed fullj one-third of the 

 delegates were directly interested in a discussion of these ti 



eithi r as ] i >r as consumers. 



Among the rubber interests represented in the society are 

 Gutta Percha & Rubber, Limited, and the Duulop Tire & RuB- 



bei Co., Limited, both of Toronto, Canada; The B. I-'. G Inch 



Co., the Manhattan Rubber Manufacturing Co., the Hodgman 

 Rubber Co., and the Goodyear Tire iV Rubber Co. 



The Following rubber chemists are also members of the so- 

 cietj : J. M. Bierer, of the Boston Woven Hose el- Rubber Co.; 

 Roscoe M Gage of the Fisk Rubber Co., and Frederic Dan- 

 nerth. consulting chemist, who represents the rubber goods 

 manufacturing interests in a general way. 



Among the consumers of rubber goods represented in the 

 society are a number of the leading railroads of the country. 

 including the Pennsylvania; New York Cent-ral ; Delaware. 

 Lackawanna & Western; New York. New Haven & Hartford; 

 Northern Pacific; Union Pacific; Chicago. Burlington & Quincy; 

 the Reading and \tchison. 



Unfottunatelj for the manufacturers of mechanical rubber 

 goods, they have a very small representation in the sub-commit- 

 tees in charge of preparing specifications. As there are at pres- 

 ent only a few manufacturers enrolled as members of the so- 

 ciety, the framing of specifications is done largely by the con- 

 sumers, the railway interests. 



Committee D-ll on Standard Specifications for Rubber Prod- 

 ucts (E. A. Barrier, chairman) prepared for the society a speci- 

 fication for Cotton Rubber-lined Fire Hose (described below), 

 and another for Rubber Covered Wire. A specification for 

 rubber belting for power transmission is being prepared by the 

 Sub-committee on Belting and a specification for Air-Brake 

 Hose is being prepared by another sub-committee in conjunction 

 with the committee of the Master Car Builders' Association. 



At the meeting just held in Atlantic City, two new sub-com- 

 mittees of the Rubber Committee were organized, one on Stand- 

 ard Methods of Testing and another on Standard Definitions 

 and Nomenclature of Crude Rubber Varieties, of which Fred- 

 eric Dannerth is chairman. The chairman of the other sub- 

 committees are as follows: Air Hose, E. B. Tilt of the Cana- 

 dian Pacific Railroad: Belting, W. E. Campbell, chief chemist 

 of Gutta Percha & Rubber, Limited, Toronto ; Cold Water Hose, 

 E. V Barrier of the Factory Mutual Laboratories ; Insulated 

 Wire, C. D. Young of the Pennsylvania Railroad; Packing. 

 E. S. Land of the United. States Bureau of Construction and 

 Repair ; Steam Hose. J. B. Young of the Reading Railroad. 



At the general meeting of the society a resolution was offered 

 to the following effect : "No specification shall contain any dis- 

 crimination between two or more materials unless such specifi- 

 cation contains a method of distinguishing these materials." 



In explanation of this resolution it was stated that the use 

 of such terms as Para Rubber, Plantation Rubber, Hevea Rub- 

 ber and the like was undesirable, as it was impossible to tell the 

 source of a rubber after it had been made up into a finished 

 product. It was contended that it was more important that the 



product should complj with certain physical or chemical tests. 

 In view of this it would be thrusting too much responsibility on 

 the manufacturer to compel him to put a certain botanical variety 



of rubber in his -JoodS. 



Another matter of special interest for rubber goods mam 

 turers was the organization of a Committee on Textile Fabrics, 

 with W. D. Hartshorne, of Methuen, Massachusetts, as chair- 

 man, and D. E. Doutj oi the New 5fork ( onditioning Laboratory, 



as secretary. The sub-committee on automobile tire fabrics has 

 alreadj devised a method for listing this material, and a sub- 

 committee on duck for belting and hose has been appointed. In 



view of thi fact that then an at this date no officially n 



nized methods for testing textile cotton fabrics, rubber goods 

 manufacturers will look forward with a great deal of interest 

 to the work of these sub-committees. The work will consist, first, 

 in devising standard methods of testing, and second, in preparing 

 standard specifications for duck for tires, hose and betting. 



TESTING RUBBER IN RUBBER-LINED HOSE. 



PROPOSED standard methods of test for rubber in rubber- 

 *■ lined hose recommended by Committee D-ll of the American 

 Society for Testing Materials, have been referred to the society 

 for adoption by letter ballot. 



They specify the usual precautions regarding sampling and 

 preparation of reagents for analysis, and give in detail the 

 methods for acetone extraction, free sulphur, alcoholic-potash 

 extract, total sulphur and ash. Rubber is determined by differ- 

 ence between 100 and the sum of the total sulphur and ash ex- 

 pressed as percentages figured on the total compound. In case 

 the alcoholic-potash extract is over 2 per cent, of the rubber as 

 first calculated, this excess is also subtracted from the rubber. 

 The organic-acetone extract is obtained by taking the difference 

 between the total acetone extract and the free sulphur. The 

 organic-acetone extract, free sulphur, total sulphur and alcoholic- 

 potash extract are figured on the amount of rubber, found as 

 above. 



For physical testing 3 test pieces are cut. transversely of the 



hose, and tested |_ 



between 65 and 

 90 degrees Fah- 

 renheit. The 

 test pieces are 

 cut by die of 

 shape and di- 

 mensions shown 



in Fig. 1. Test pieces must be buffed to remove adhering cement 

 coating before the test, using for this purpose a power grinder. 



Tensile strength tests are to be made on apparatus conforming 

 in general design to the "Schopper" machine. The grips must 

 tighten automatically and exert a uniform pressure the full width 

 of the test piece proportionate to the applied tension, jaws to 

 separate at rate of 20 inches per minute. A spring micrometer 

 gage, accurate to within 0.001 inch and having a circular foot 

 0.4-inch in diameter must be used for measuring. Elongation is 

 to be measured on 2-inch marks placed on sample before test, 

 the marks to be followed under test with a rule reading by 1/16 

 inches. Set is to be determined on an unstretched piece. Marks 

 2 inches apart are held stretched to a specified distance for 10 

 minutes, then released, and the set measured after rest of 10 

 minutes. Tensile tests are repeated if break occurs outside the 

 gage marks on test piece. 



Hydraulic pressure test of hose for bursting or proof is 

 specified as follows : 



