Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1909-04-20
THE STORY OF RUBBER.
How a Most Useful Material Found Its
Nav Into the Commercial World.

Next to copper and iron, rubber Is
the most important material in the
electrical industry 1t is used exten-
sively as an insulating material, be.
ing one Of the best insulators In the
world. Nearly all the wires that carry
electrical current are protected with
rubber insulation. Rubber prevents
the electricity escaping through con-
tact of the wire with other conduc-
tors. It prevents accidents, fires, and
keeps the electrical apparatus from
burning out and destroying itself. Be-
sides being used for insulating wires
and cables at the plants Of the General
Electric company rubber is used In
the manufacture Of motors. switches
generators, and nearly all electrical
machines.
The story of rubber is the story OF
the conquest of the tropical jungles;
the fights against disease. poisonous
reptiles and insects, man-eating ami
mails, hunger and thirst and the dan
ger of being lost forever.
Civilization first heard Of rubber In
Herrera's account of the second voyage
Of Columbus in the year 1893. where he
speaks Of elastic balls made by the
natives from the gum Of tree.
The first authentic account of its
practical use was recorded in 1745 by
the leader Of a French governmental
expedition returning from South
America who reported that the ma
tives secured from the juice Of tree a
certain gum which was very elastic,
impervious to water and used in maxi
ing bottles, shoes and squirt guns.
Thirty years later 1t was introduced
to commerce when an Englishman
brought from Assam, India, soft
spongy substance which would erase
lead pencil marks and which after
wards became known as India rubber.
Many primitive uses were found for
this wonderful gum, but owing to its
susceptibility to changes Of tempera-
ture, which rendered 1t sticky and
more or less fluid, rubber did not come
into its own until early in the last
century. At that time 1t was discov-
cred, after a great deal of experiment,
that by mixing sulphur with crude
rubber and subjecting 1t to high de-
gree of heat, these former DEFICIENCIES
were eliminated and a material was
produced which was both tough and
elastic and would retain those prop
critics under varying temperatures.
This process Of curing was called vul-
canization and Is the basis Of rubber
making today.
So great has been the development
of rubber manufacture since that time
that its products now exceed a value
of five hundred million dollars annual
ly.
Contrary to the popular impression
rubber gum is not derived from the
sap. 1t Is secured from milky juice
or latex which Is found only in the
bark. The latex contains substance
known a caoutchouc (the active prin-
ciple of rubber), together with certain
albuminoids, resins, ETC., which upon
evaporating of moisture, coagulate
forming thick, spongy, substance.
The percentage of caoutchouc in pro-
portion to other ingredients contained
In the latex, determines the quality OF
the rubber.
The regions from which rubber gum
Is secured form an irregular belt In
the tropics and sub-tropics extending
around the earth, the quality produced
varying greatly according to the
species Of plant, the soil and the
climate. Great quantities are pro-
duced in Africa, Mexico. Ceylon and
the Malay Islands, but the most desir
able rubber for resilency and wear
resistance Is secured from a. tree
found in the Amazon river district
South America. This rubber Is known
as Para, the name being derived from
it's chief city Of export. 1t not only
contains 95 per cent Of caoutchouc,
but the methods used by the natives
in preparing 1t for market are so much
superior that 1t Is selected in prefer
ence to all others for manufacturing
purposes.-E News.