Evening star., 1917-10-07
Mobizmg the Rubber industry for the ARMY and Navy

rubber on his kitchen stove, some OF
the gum fell out upon a hot iron. In
stead of melting, the stun hardened
like leather, and he discovered that
great heat would make rubber hard. He
took the rubber outside and nailed 1t
it would stand the cold. There was
a frost that night, but the next morn
ing the piece of rubber was as elastic
as ever. and it had none of the brittle
ness of the cold rubber he had pre-
viously made. He then went on until
be treated and the amount of heat
needed for vulcanization. He took out
his first patent in 1874, and upon that
patent has grown the great rubber
industry of today. Various improve
ments have been added to make yul-
canized rubber soft, and We have 1t in
various shapes.
I wish / could take you over one OF
these big rubber factories and show you
the many 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 1t 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
women. 1 went through one Of the larg-
est, 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, l saw hundreds OF
spindles moving around like those Of a
great cotton mill. They were making in
,1ota vufr
graphic use and for various kinds OF cleo
trfcal 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
laying the submarine mines. The crews
OF our submarines have rubber boots. mats
and oversuits. and they have escape he'll
NETS which contain a great deal OF rub
ber.
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 the 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 equip
ment, including tools that are largely
made of rubber. We have already six
base hospitals in France and these have
in the neighborhood 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 rubber
tired wheeibarrows for carrying the pa
tients, All of these supplies will be enor-
mously increased when our great Army
has gone to the Held.
In going through the factory described.
started at the basement, where there
were acres Of rooms fllled with rubber as
it comes from the plantations. and fol-
lowed the rubber hams and crepe rub
ber through their many processes into
goods Of one kind or another. The first
process Is softening the rubber and crush
ing the Jumps 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
hack and forth between the rollers. knead-
ed and worked over and over and mixed
ia finished 1t Is in rubber sheets about a
quarter of an inch thick, and 1t may be
white, black or red. according to the
coloring matter that Is mixed with it.
The necessary sulphur is then added for
vulcanization and it is treated with other
ingredients, according to the kind of prod
In the making Of tires, a mixture of
cloth or cord is used to build up the
fabric, each factory having its own
methods of manipulation and construction.
The cotton employed must be of the very
hest and of the longest staple, and thou
sands Of bales are consumed in this way
every year We import a great deal Of
egyptian cotton for the purpose. and
there is one company here which has its
own plantation in Arizona and is raising
cotton there The amount planted this
year was more than 10000 acres. An
other company has a cotton mill of its
own. 1t wants to experiment and will
take the cotton from its own fields into its
own mill and make its own tire fabric.
not far from Providence. r. 1. It already
employees 1900 hands
FRANK G. CARPENTER