The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1909-01-03

ReDubicA
Rubber is one OF the greatest essentials
OF modern Industrial life. With iron or
steel. with copper, anc with glass il may
be compared in the diversity Of its use;
Il has the advantage over these. and may
be compared in this latter respect 10
corn. wheat, and the necessary foods. in
that It is capable Of eternal reproduction
il mankind viii but apply 70 its eultiva-
ton his experience and scientific knowl-
edge.
There is scarcely a device Of daily COM
merce into which rubber does not enter
as a necessity. and yet in the annual
statistical publication OF the Department
Of Commerce and Labor the student VIII
look in vain for the word rubber" and
not until he examines the word or the
phrase india rubber" viii he be able
10 see how vast and important IS the
subject before him
The aboriginal native word describing
the substance first discovered by the
early Europeans vas cahuchu. probably
pronounced, but surely corrupted into
caoutchouc. This latter word has spread
into the languages Of Europe. In French
L IS The same word: In German the only
modification IS 10 substitute a for the
C, and IN Russian nearly the same change
likes place To be sure the Spaniard uses
frequently the word gonna. equivalent to
our gum, and this is made more specific
by adding the adjective eIastica. and the
Portuguese has the word bOrraCha. but
caucho IS commercially we'll understood
as might be supposed from the first as
ISOLATION with the source OF supply.
Rubber. or india rubber. however, IS IN.
cOubtedly the term which viii continue 10
he employed in English 10 distinguish the
indispensable product Of the tropics.
Caoutehouc Right Name.
CaouJchouc directly explains the de-
scent Of the gum and its adoption into
the arts. but india rubber embraces not
only this history, bat conceals one Of the
rOmaGces Of the industries. Travellers
and Il is said Columbus himself was one
OF them-noticed that the Indian inhabi-
tauts Of America, thought then 10 be aa
unknown portion Of the Indies. played
BAH with a curious substance grown in
the primitive forests and prepared ac-
cor6i-E 70 native ways. The substance
was also made into shoes. L formed a
protective coating for garments and from
IL We're made bottles which could be-
squeezed together so as 20 eject the
liquid contents.
This substance was called CaucrO in
some parts Of America and the garherers
We're caucheros- in other parts the gath
erers were called. because or the shane
OF their bottles and the uses to which the
Portuguese saw them put. seringueir0s.
syringe men From this origin the india
nF -
gum gonna elastic was merely curl
CsitE- IT was imported into Europe and
studied chemically with great interest
= was made into tubes and put @ prac-
teal use in the laboratory But in 1770
the English chemist Pries-Iey recon-
men1ed the use Of gum for affecting the
marks Cf the lead pencil Il rubbed out
these marks and was therefore q rubber. /
It became more widely known as expert
merit showed its value and IN 1913 Mac
lntosl discovered the method Of water
prcrtlE & TuelTS- and added another
word 10 the vocabulary
FrOr this date india rubber was more
and more an article Of commerce il
served many purposes. but II also baked
the inventors in many directions in which
they had hoped It might he aun.ied
Experiments were constantly being made /
even the Incorporation Of sulphur had
been tried. but i- was not until 1880 that
Nelson Goodyear. in the United States.
hit upon a practical method Of combin-
icS TG55e- with sulphur 50 as 20 retain
all Us go9d. unique properties. while
losing taOSe thar had made Il hitherto
unsuitable This process was called vuI-
Carization
It's Chemical Composition.
Eu55e- is definite chemical comb
nation Of carbon and hydrogen. EXPRESSED
by the formula g IFS. or co H1e III
is whitish solid. Opaque. scarcely re-
acted upon Dr. the ordinary solvents but
forming fluid or Ee.atinOus masses with
the others and coal-tar oils. II viii also
melt and burn. Physically. rubber viii
stretch and when tencion is released
IFS mass returns 20 the original position
and form.
Unfortunately. rubber in the pure state
has three awkward qualities. II loses
thlS distensihihty at certain degrees OF
heat and cold, IL sOfJens under heat and
has a great tendency 70 stick TO itself or
10 other masses Of Rubber with which II *
brought in contact Now. these three quaIi-
ties Of rubber as refined after entering
The market from the tropfcaI forests are
overcome when IL is mixed with suIpbur-i
that is. vUlcanized Il can then be nodded
into various shapes and still remain dis
teusi'sle- The degrees Of temperature be-
tween which Il retains these goo. Gu7li- |
ties are very much wider apart. so that
climatic changes are less felt by the
manufactured product, and consequently
rubber articles Of an infinitely more Va /
ried type can be turned out from the
factories YulcaHized rubber is therefore /
the substance really implied ordinarily by
the word alone
Il might be thought that rubber would
grow old after being once used in a |
manufactured article. So Il does but
almost like the metals. It has a new life
when restored 10 its earlier condition.
Reclaimed rubber does not sell for as
high price as fresh rubber lust I'm /
ported. but it has a substantial value. /
and no discarded bit Of rubber goods /
seems TOO old or worn ont for reclamation
an repeated use in the arts
Shoes Principal Source.
ID TO a short time ago old rubber shoes
seemed to be the only OF principal source
Of supply for reclaimed rubber. but to- |
day thanks TO modern ingenuity in de-
vising chemical processes by which sep
araJion is accomplished. rubber Is ex- /
tracted from belts. from hose or
from the scrap Of trade. devulcanized as 4
far as possible, and returned 10 the manu- |
facturer for further use. although in this T
state il is never so generally serviceabIe (
as fresh rubber The departments Of gov
eminent the railway companies. and
large users OF rubber make a business of
selling discarded articles. and rubber /
CATERERS OF the stuff vie with the
caucherOs in supplying the market with (
the results Of their labor
To one whose attention has not been
carefully directed % the matter the multi 4