

THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



I September 1, 1915. 



which are now using lithopone to a much greater ex- 

 tern than formerly. A 1 of American zinc oxide is 

 used in Great Britain. With regard to the quality of this 

 compared with the Vicille Montague I ir.uuls, the rubber works are 

 unanii ious th.it it i- nut so gi od, owing to the presence of small 

 other metallic oxides. On the other hand an 

 eminent zinc expert who is familiar with the works in New Jer- 

 sey tells me that the zinc Oxide produce. 1 there is quite as pure 

 as the best Vicille Montague. One is therefore forced to the 

 conclusion that some if not all of the rubber manufacturers in 

 Europe are getting a second grade product, while the very best 

 is either retained for American consumption or goes to a 

 favored few. t >r again it may lie purely a matter of price and 

 th.it tin highest quality cm bi obtained by all who will pay for 

 it. Quite recently a new zinc oxide works lias been started not 

 SO very far from London. The process adopted is that of the 

 Vicille Montagm company, viz.. burning the metallic zinc, and I 

 am not surprised to bear that the works are extremely busy with 

 orders from those who require the very highest quality. 



British barytes producers, stirred up by officers of the Geo- 

 logical survey and officials of the Board of Trade, are activeh 

 engaged in tilling the void caused by the cessation of German 

 supplies. We have the raw product in abundance, but largelj 

 owing to lack of technical skill in grinding and finishing, and to 

 abseil i i special freight terms, the German product had ob- 

 tained a good hold in this country, both as regards quality and 

 price British rubber works are now using the home product, 

 but the;, are paying a considerably higher price than they used 

 to paj for tin- German. It remains to be seen what will happen 

 after the war, hut it would certainly seem that having the raw- 

 in. iterial at band we ought to have no difficulty in bringing our 

 production of the properly finished product up to the mark. 



RUBBER TIRES INCREASE EFFICIENCY. 



That rubber tires increase the efficiency of steam trucks, is a 

 statement made by the president and general manager of per- 

 haps the largest hauling and trucking concern in England, which 

 uses an immense fleet of steam-propelled trucks. Some of these 

 are equipped with steel and wooden plug tires, and some with 

 solid rubber tires, and they laid that the latter make their steam- 

 er-, tar more efficient. 



TRADE NOTES. 



The Peerless Seamless Rubber Co., Limited, has been reg- 

 istered in London, with a capital of £2,000, with offices at 

 Richmond, Surrey. 

 Imports of wires and cables — rubber and other insulations — 

 into the United Kingdom, from all countries, in June last, 

 amounted to $21,398; while exports of similar goods for the 

 inth were valued at $348,480. 

 i i uncil of The Rubber Growers' Association, of London, 

 at a meeting held July 26, appointed a special committee to fur- 

 ther consider the questions oi dealings in rubber with men of 

 hostile origin and shipments of rubber to neutral countries 



1 he general manager of the Dunlop Rubber Co., Limited, of 

 r.irmingliam, England — the Hon. Mr. Muirhead — has recently 

 been making a tour of Ceylon in the inter t oi the company. 

 The British Insulated & Helsby Cables. Limited, of Helsby, 

 iid. has recently erected a building set apart for female 

 operatives Light machines for the main works have been in- 

 stalled there and girls are being trained systematically as opera- 

 tors, due to shortage of male labor, owing to enlistments. The 

 any is busy manufacturing power feed cable and has trans- 

 >me orders to the United States. 

 Russian Government advises that certificates of origin 

 : i quire 1 for importations into the Empire of 

 I gutta percha 



BRITISH IMPORTS OF GUTTA PERCHA. 



The following table shows a comparison between British 

 imports of crude gutta percha during the years 1913 and 1914. 



, 1913. , r 1914. ^ 



From Pounds. Value. Pounds. Value. 



Straits Settlements 5. 115.600 $2,687,929 1,670,100 $836,565 



963,300 64S.-TS 795,000 517,30," 



British West Indies 71,000 47,426 77,000 47,852 



Other British 142,400 44,193 84,600 21,933 



B 6,292,300 $3,423,026 2,626,700 $1,423,717 



Venezuela 2,372,400 $1,547,211 974,600 $569,531 



i Hitch Guiana 930,000 774,960 239,100 184 94' 



1 nited States 469,500 276.573 638,100 371640 



Germany 4"4,200 285.975 303,600 188,528 



Foreign 565,600 3o2, 549 456,000 



'1 foreign 4,831,700 $3,247,268 2,611,400 $1,595,891 



Grand total 11,124,000 $6,670,294 5,238,100 $3,019,608 



The great proportion of the gutta percha shown in the 

 abov« table as imported from the Straits Settlements came 

 originally from the Dutch East Indies, having come to the 

 Strait- Settlements for re-shipment. 



FRENCH IMPORTS AND EXPORTS OF CRUDE RUBBER AND RUBBER 



GOODS. 



The following table shows the weight in pounds, together 

 with tlie value in dollars, of the imports of crude rubber and 

 rubber goods into France, and also the exports, during the calen- 

 dar year 1914 and the first four months of 1915. 



IMPORTS. 



EXPORTS. 



Pounds. Value. 



25,448,280 $15,716,762 



Pounds. Val 



14,276,460 $8,817 



205 



DESCRIPTION. 



Crude rubber 2 



Non-vulcanized pure rubber 



sheet 



Vulcanized rubber thread 



Elastic fabrics 



Rubberized fabrics in pieces.. 



I loss shields 



Suspenders, garters, belts, etc. 



Rubberized garments 



Rubber footwear 



Tire casings, inner tubes, solid 



rubber tires, etc., for cycles. 



automobiles and motor trucks 1,756,480 2,696.596 10,081.940 14.2S4.123 



-Four Months 1915 



170.280 



240.460 



154,220 



86,020 



. 7,940 



9,240 



52,580 



1,,: J 



261,515 



270,586 



90,517 



68.531 



24,318 



101,518 



101,518 



1 S.4SIJ 



i ; (,.n 



64,680 



1,320 



ii 7.040 

 100,760 



524 

 67 



21S. 

 60 



965 



2S.1 

 023 



Description. Pounds. 



i i n.|,. rubber 7,335,900 



Non-vulcanized rubber sheet. 



Vulcanized rubber thread 



Elastic fabrics 



Rubberized fabric fin pieces I . . 



I tress shields 



Suspenders, licit-, gat lers, eti 



t lard fabrics 



Rubberized garments 



Rubber footwear 



Solid and pneumatic tires 



3,370 

 72,820 

 35,200 



22(1 



1. 1 00 



22.54(1 



29,700 



1,354,100" 



Valu 

 4, 

 35,898 



61.760 



41.302 



579 



2,895 



8,878 



Pounds 

 1,164,680 



Value. 



$719,311 



165,880 



2,4211 



4.S40 

 O2.O40 



11.22(1 



272.130 

 0! 



1,667 



< > ,7 5 ; 



J . s .-,,.-; 1 1 



iota! 9.096,270 S5.965.630 3,229,600 $3,696,529 



('Does nut include 1,078.000 pounds of rubber footwear imported by the 

 government for army purposes.) 



THREE PIRELLI ER0THE33 AT THE FRONT. 



A personal letter received a few days ago from A. Pirelli, of 

 Pirelli & Co.. Milan. Italy, by a Xew York friend, states that 

 his three brothers are at the front with the Italian troops while 

 he has been commanded by the military authorities to oversee 

 certain operations for the government now being carried on at 

 his works. He writes as follows 



"1 am commanded at the works, where we are working day 

 and night for the supplies to the army and navy — several of our 

 departments having also been militarized — but my three brothers 

 have all joined the colors, my brother Piero, who is also one of 

 the managing partners of our firm, being attached to the staff 

 of the Commander-in-Chief, and my two young brothers being 

 both in a cavalry regiment, but one of them is now going to enter 

 the Aviation Corps." 



Rubber plantations in Selangor, Federated Malay States, show 

 a material increase over last year. The total area under rubber 

 amounts to 245.503 acres. 



