The Sully County watchman. (Clifton, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1894, 1888-10-27
A VAST INDUSTRY
Among the Rubber Workers.


large majority of readers Is an INDUSTRY,
perhaps but little known.
The substance known as rubber Is
made of the juice of tree which grows
in tropical countries. There are many
varieties of trees and shrubs yielding
and they are scattered
many countries contiguous to
equator. The properties Of this tree was
discovered about 800 years ago, and the
tree was first named by Torquemada,
during the Spanish conquests of Ameri-
can provinces. The elastic properties
were discovered by seeing the Indians
play with ball made from the JUICE of
tree that had greater bounding proper
ties than those inflated affairs used by
the children in Spain" The Spanish
adventures also discovered that their
oloaks could be made water proof by
spreading the juice over them and allow.
ing it to dry in the sun, which is praoti-
caily the same process that Is practicnd
today in our factories.
No attention was, however, paid to
these discoveries ut the time ia Europe,
and it was not until the nineteenth cen.
tury that rubber came to be used in any
great quantities. An insurnountable
obstacle to it's general use was the ten
dency of rubber to adhere when two
parts were brought inte contact after the
substance had beeen made up into arti-
cles for use. Various com positions were
used to overcome this defect, but nothing
seemed to meet tn. requirements of the
case until Mr.. Goodyear, Connecticut
manufacturer, after years of experiment,
accidentally discovered that sulphur mix
ed with the rubber and vapcrized By
heat would cause it TO vulcanize without
impairing its quality, and revolution
in the manufacture OF rubber was the
i'm mediate result. From that time, 1s4S-
40, to the present time gigantic strides
have been made in this industry, and to-
day $40, 100000 is invested in the business
- making rubber boots and shoes alone,
employing $4,000 workmen, and turning
out product worth S35,0O0,000 annually.
This Industry ia confined almost on
tirely to the States of Massachusetts,
Rhode Island, nnecticut aud New Jer-
sey. One small concern is located on
Long Island, N. Y; one at Harlem, N. Y,
and one ia Wil!iamsport, Penn. Both in
England aud Canada factories have beeH
established, but they are not included in
the above estimate. / will briefly de
scribe .he various processes through
which this material passes from the tree
to the completed shoe.
The native Indians in South America
cut incisions in the tree ~ deep as the
second layer of the bark, and collect the
juice in earthen cups, fastened to the tree
with plastic clay. tree will yield enough
in three days 10 make three pounds of
rubber. When sufficient or the Juice has
been collected stick tipped with clay ID
dipped in the Juice and held over the
white vapor arising from q fire of oily
palm nuts, the Are being confined in an
earthen pot with u narrow neca. The
process of alternately dipping and dry
ing is continued until ball is formed On
the end of the stick, when it il cut open
and removed, and becomes the rubber
"biscuit" of conn cree. Rubber pre-.
pared in this way is the finest that cen be
obtained. The form ard character OF
rubber varies very much, the coarse be.
ing called "niggerhead." Some comes
in fiat cakes, some in nuts, the latter from
the Bepguela and Gaboon county in AT
rica, and some in large chunks packed in
bamboo baskets from Assam, SuInatra
and Borneo.
Rubber is valuable in proportion to ite
purity. Some contains as high as thirty.
five per cent os water, clpy and sticks
The price varies from forty. five cents te
80 cents per pound. The price has, in
years of scarcity, advanced TO $1.lo per
pound for good gum.
On its arrival at the factory. the pieces
are cut into and soaked in boiling water
until quite soft. Then it is cut in slices
and passed back and forth through cor
rugated rolls, upon which water is kept
running, until the rubber is entirely hon
eycombed and every particle of clay or
other impurity is washed ont. Il is then
dried ard takep to the mixing mills, where
& proper proportion of whiting, lamp.
black, litharge and sulphur is added to
the mass, and the whole is ground to the
consistency of putty, and comes out in
the shape of huge Cigar.
The composition is then taken to the
calenders, machine with heavy rollers
capable of exerting pressure of many
tons. The rolls are capable of being
heated and some are engraved with such
designs as may be demanded by the
trade. These calenders are adapted to
the various kinds of work required by the
different parts aud kinds OF boots and
shoes. The cloth used for lining the
shoes is coated with rubber; some cloth
needed for joining parts is practically y
charged with the composition to make il
adhesive on both sides, and the vamps,
soles, etc., are run in continuous sheets
between the engraved rolls, which
impress the design permanently upon the
rubber. A continuous apron leads the
rubber up to the emitting room. There il
is cut into lengths and removed on
frames covered with cotton cloth. 1t is
allowed to stand a day or two, ana is then
cut into the thousand and one parts nee.
essay to the proper shaping OF the great
varieties of boots and shoes.
A portion of the ont cloth parts are
then taken to the quarter room, where
small girls put the vamps, counters and
lining In shape for the shoemaker to IAN
die. This work, together with the other
warts, is then taken to the makers, and
by liberal ase of cement, the knife, rol-
lei ano hammer, the parts are joined on
to the last or tree, and the shoe or boot
perfected and practically completed. 1t
is then vanished, if necessary, and
placed in ovens capable of holding many
thousand pairs, and subjected to about
265 degrees Fahrenheit for some seven
hnura Ry thia nrncaaa fha hp =