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“rubbers ” and in this country generally as goloshes. This is a bunch 
of the rubber industry of which we have little to remind us in England, 
but in America, Russia, and Scandinavia, the wearing of rubber shoes 
in winter is practically universal. An American friend recently ex- 
pressed the matter to the writer as follows : — 
I reckon there are about four million inhabitants in New York, 
and about five thousand of them don't wear rubber, because somebody 
has told them that it is English and smart, so they prefer to go about 
with wet feet. 
In the hotels and restaurants in Russia the cloak rooms are fur- 
nished differently from those here, because in addition to a hook for 
the coat and a peg for the hat there is always to be found on the floor 
a little wooden box arrangement into which the Russian kicks off his 
goloshes. 
A good deal has appeared lately about the so-called American 
Rubber Trust, the full name of which is the United States Rubber 
Company. It will be news to most people to know that the “ rubber ” 
here does not stand for the commodity, but for the manufactured 
article “rubber,” otherwise “goloshes.” The varieties mostly used 
for this purpose are fine Para, Peruvian ball, and medium rubbers 
from Portuguese West Africa and the Congo. 
OTHER MANUFACTURES. 
Another very important item of consumption for which nothing 
but the very finest rubber can be used (that is, hard cure fine 
Para) is the so-called indiarubber thread, used in the weaving of all 
sorts of elastic fabrics. The German people as a whole still keep to 
their elasticsided boots, and are therefore very large consumers of 
this particular article. 
It is impossible in the scope of this article to deal with the hun- 
dred and one other minor uses for rubber, but the main point upon 
which they are nearly all alike is that they tend to the comfort of the 
human race, and have become practically indispensable. This is 
why, in spite of the enormous rise in the price of rubber, the con- 
sumption shows no signs of decreasing, but rather increases steadily. 
The extra cost of a motor tire manufactured from rubber costing 10s., 
as against one manufactured from rubber costing only 5s., is not, as 
one might think at first blush, ioo per cent., but only 30 per cent., 
because the manufacturer’s other expenses have not risen. The 
groundtost of his factory, his labour, his power, and the cost of his 
canvas and other articles have not risen. What is true of motor tires 
can be said of nearly all other rubber article. People have to pay in 
the end something from 5 per cent., to 35 per cent., extra for their 
rubber goods, but rather than give up their motor cars, or get their 
feet wet, or play golf with a solid ball, or, in the case of a large 
portion of the population, go to bed in the winter without a hot- 
water bottle, they pay the little extra amount that the retailer has to 
demand, and consumption goes on just the same. 
The Times “Financial and Commercial Supplement,” March 
11, 1910. 
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