Evening capital news. (Boise, Idaho) 1901-1927, 1917-10-07


processes through which the crude rubber
goes before it comes out in rubber gloves
automobile tires, diving suits and in the
thousand other shapes in which it is used
by the consumer. The establishments are
enormous. They have hundreds of acres
of floor space and there are three each OF
which employs in the neighborhood of fit
teen thousand men and women. | went
through one OF the largest touching only
the high spots. The time spent was several
hours and my trip was a Sabbath DAYS
journey, or as far as from Bethlehem to
Jerusalem. In one room, covering an acre.
| saw hundreds OF spindles moving around
like those OF a great cotton mill Thew
were making insulated wire for telephone
and Geographic use and for various kinds
OF electrical machines. In other places
they were making rubber gloves to be used
by electricians while handling live wires.
and in others insulators for wireless outfits,
and rubber packing for the periscopes OF
the submarines. The very torpedoes that
are shot by the submarines have rubber
arrangements which control their depth in
the water, and rubber is also used in lawn"
the submarine mines. The crews OF our
submarines have rubber boots, hats and
oversuits, and they have escape helmets
which contain great deal OF rubber
In one part OF the factory they were
making rubber Sheets which will be sent
out as a part of the Red Cross supplies and
rubber operating aprons to be used BY lie
doctors The government is now asking
for something like thirty thousand doctors
to go to France, and each of these must
have an extensive rubber equipment. in
Guiding tools that are largely made OF rub
Der. We have already SIX base hospitals
III France and these have in the neighbor-
hood OF ten thousand beds. The patients
in them need hot-water bags, ice bags and
rubber pillows and mattresses. The nurses
use rubber gloves and the attendants have
rubbef-tired WheelbarrowS for carving
the patients. All of these supplies will be
enormously increased when our great army
has gone to the field
In going through the factory described,
| started at the basement, where there were
acres of rooms filled with rubber as it
comes from the plantations, and followed
the rubber hams and crepe rubber through
their many processes into goods of one
kind or another The first process is soft
ening the rubber and crushing the humps
between great corrugated rollers of steel
The softening is done in watts of hot water
Then comes the crushing, which brings the
rubber out in great sheets. 1t is next
washed by streams Of running water until
all the dirt and grit are removed and then
rolled out into thin, porous sheets. 1t IS
moved back and forth between the rollers
kneaded and worked over and over and
mixed with binding material, SO that when
it is finished it is in rubber sheets about
quarter of an inch thick, and il NAV be
white black or red, according to the color
ing matter that is mixed with it. The ne
cessary sulphur is then added for vulcaniz-
alton and it is treated with other inered.
tents, according 10 the kind of product de-
sired
In the making of tires. mixture of
cloth or cord is used to build up the fabric,