Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1921-01-19
VULCANLZEVG STORY
TOLD BY GOODYEAR
Wonderful Process of Treating Rubber Discovered by
Acknowledgment on Hot
StOUe

Charles Goodycar's fame rests on his
discovery of the process of the vulcan
izotion of rubber. Upon this process
rcsts the whole rubber industry of to-
day.
The annals of invcntien contain few
, more romantic chapters than those re-
latinc TO him. Convinced that rubber
vas one of the most useful substances
in thc world he undertook the task of
finding a way to make it serviceable.
After years Of effort he learned that sui
nhur was valuable in its treatment but
only half solved the problem. During
nil his experiments he had never
dreamed of applying heat, because even
n slight degree Of heat turned the sub
stance into sticky, shapelcss mass.
Then by accident he found that high
degree of heat was the. very thing
needed. After making this discovery it
took him five years more to work out a
process that was satisfactory.
A Quiet, Siclily Man
lie was quiet, sickly, religious man.
During the period of his cY erimcnts he
and his family were in diA want, and
only the kindness of pitying-and, at
times cornful-friends and neighbors
kent them from starvation. Goodyear
refused to be swerved from his objective
and wrcstlcd with his problem until he
had WON complete success.
When Charles Goodyear began his ex :
pcriments, rubber as known to. civiliza-
tion was the crude rubber of today. The
possibilities it possessed were realized
to degree, and fortunes were spent in
the attempt to manufacture durable
goods from 1t. But these goods were
so affected by temperature changes that
they were usually a total! loss to the
manufacturers. In cold weather they
became stiff and brittle, and in summer
shape, and decomposition caused them
to give off an offensive odor.
Having discovered the proper method
Of treatment. instead of resting on his
laurcls, he set to work to put his dis
cOvery to practical use. In speaking Of
this phase of his work, his son. Will
liam II. Goodyear, who il curator of
fine arts at the Brooklyn Museum, said
few years ago:
Never Manufactured for Gain
at is matter of record that, with
rare exceptions. all the extensive up
plcations of rubber (and there are over
200 of thcm) were devised, launched
and financed by him up to tie point
where any other business man or manu-
facturcr could do the rest. and ut that
point he invariably began to develop II
new application. He never was manu-
facturer in the strict sense, or beyond
the early days, when. manufacture was
the only means of earning money for
experiments. He was never manu-
facturcr for gain, and never belonged
to any of the So called companies in
MI of which his name was simply a
trademark. Nor has any member of the
family since his death ever been In the
india rubber business. in. spite of the
wide diffusion of the name as trade
mark. a
1T lay within his power at any time
after 1874 to identify himself with some
one of the great industries which he
succrSSvcly launched and to share by
this activity more largely in the cnOr-
nous profits which these industries pro-
dncrd under protection of the patent
laws. His greatest glory is not that he
discovered vulcaniZation, but that hay
ing discovered it, he scorncd the wealth
which the discovery created. except in
81 far as it helped him in the nobler task
of continuing to create new indus
tries. y
The story of his discovery of the So.
cret that solved his problem is told
nowhere in more interesting fashion