Evening star., 1942-05-13
By THOMAS r. HENRY.

The synthetic rubber confusion is
becoming worse and worse. in the
mind of the public.
Apparently, amateur chemists all
over the United States are burning
midnight electricity over their test
tubes In an effort to obtain some
mixture that looks and acts ike
rubber.
Even high school boys who re-
eeived chemical sets for Christmas,
prodded by proud parents, are writ
ing the Government that they have
solved the rubber problem.
What they do not realize would
be investors in secret formulas take
NOTICES that about the last thing
the Government needs Is new way
to make synthetic rubber.
One of the big rubber companies,
according to the latest bulletin Of
the Arthur D. Little Co. of Boston,
has actually tested, in one way or
another, more than 5000 such pro-
posals. This merely means that
there are almost infinite ways of
juggling the essential formulas and
getting something that looks and
acts somewhat like rubber.
Also there are thousands Of plas-
tics. If hydrochloric acid is poured
on almost any one Of them the re-
suit is likely to be a gummy, sticky
mass which looks little like crude
rubber.
From all the suggestions received
by the National Inventors Council,
the war agency set up to handle
suggestions which might help win
the war, not more than Is have been
new and mot" they report.
They get at least a letter day
about obtaining rubber from some
hitherto unused-and usually prac-
tically unusable-vegetable product
A good deal of confusion has de-
veloped among Government agen-
cies themselves.
Wealth of Agencies.
There are so many such agencies
sometimes working at cross pur-
poses. Here are a few of them ano
it probably would be possible to fine
six or eight more If one looked long
enough in the labyrinth of war of.
fees in Washington:
The National Inventors Council
The Office of Scientific Research
and Development.
The rubber section of the Bureau
of Standards, Commerce Depart.
ment, and Agriculture Department
The chemical section of the Tariff
Commission.
The rubber section of the Census
Bureau.
The rubber section of the Offic
Of Price Administration.
The rubber section of the Recon
struction Finance Corp.
The Office of the Petroleum Co
ordinator.
Sometimes inventors go from on
to another, suspecting the words c
some of the foremost rubber au
thorities in the world. They ma
already have made the rounds G
rubber, petroleum and alcohol com
panies without getting hearing
the usual result if they have faile
to take out patents on their proc
esSes.
Producer Viewpoint Explained.
As the vice president of one
the worlds largest producers of a
ingredient of most synthetic rut
bers said the other day:
"Our men are instructed to abse
lutly refuse to listen to any ne
idea which is not patented. TT
chances are we know the essentia
of it already. II it Is any good v
may use it some time. Then we WI
be sued for stealing a poor, friene
less mans ideas. If man doesn
think his idea is worth patent a
torney's fee, it is not worth bothe'
ing us with"
The Government, by and larg
win have nothing to do with ar
secret process.
The Bureau of Standards, which
the final authority on the accep
ance of most materials, is especial
rigid on this point. They absolute
will not test any rubber for whit
the formula is not revealed in con