USING WASTE RUBBER.

Northern Advocate, 15 August 1919, Page 4

USING WASTE RUBBER.

UNIQUE VENTURE AHEAD

'IIICOEST THING UVER OFFERED

NEW ZEALAND."

A meeting presided over by the Mayor of Christchureh J>t, Thaoker, M.P.). was held in 'he Chamber ' oi" Commerce to meet Mr John Baxter, representing the New Zealand Rubber Products, Ltd., and Mr William Stocks, the inventor of a secret formula by which rubber goods of all descriptions., and of (he highest quality can be made at prices which are strikingly below the ruling , cost' of production. The "f.yti lton Times" reports: —There was a representative gathering of business mm.

iDr. Thacker said that She gatheringhad been called to consider what was claimed .to open the way to a new local industry. If the projeeiwas as good as it was claimed to be by Mr Baxter and Mr Stocks, the inventor, j who was a New Zealan 'er, it would be pretty good. There vvere millions of pounds' worth of rubber material thrown aiway in the way of discarded j'tyres and other article?. , The proposal was'to take all the waste products, using not only the rubber of I old tyres, but also the fabric..;- . -...... BLENDING WASTE AND NEW By blending the wastes rubber with good rubber from the rubber tree the company made dough from which I were made tubes, retreads for tyres, and other high-class articles such as I sole leather substitutes, sheets of . water-.propf. building material, linoleums, and other things': To-his mmd the project was intensely interesting, I and it appeared to him u> be genuine, for Mr Baxter had shown him the share list which included tihe names of Dr. Pairman, Dr. Simpson, Dr. Banks, Messrs Priestriall Eihsor and Hanger, the last-uamcM of whom claimed to have the strength'of ■ the mtotor garages behind him. The business appealed to him because it would provide a light, cJean industry suitable for I'eturned Po'.Mers, 1 and he was glad to find ""hat then; were guarantees that no tluns coiild Tnake their way into the company. l (Applause.) Mr Stocks, who .vas heartily applauded, exhibited first pure crude rubber, which he said eof'd be bought at not more than 2s a pound, in proof of which the company had contracts for fifty tons at Is fd a pound. CHEAP

With one pound oc r'.'hber and 2lb of the shredded waste product at 6d a pound he produced ?-b of dough (which was 90 per cent, pure rubber) at a cost of Is a pouid. This dough was pure rubber and of better quality than any tube or tyre in use today. This material c. aid be used as dental gum, which was selling today at lGs a pound. The product w,as put through the .nill while it was hot, producing she> t rubber of the very highest qua'ity. Dental goods could be made for which they could get 28s a pounrl..¥r exhibited a tyre retreaded wiijU his rubber product, which showed little sign of wear after seven months' running:.

Alternatively, Mr Stocks said, foe could employ the ordinary fabi'ie or fibre which was found in disused tyres. With this material, costing Id a pound, he mixed 90 per cent, of rubber product, making boot soles at 7d a lb, and doubling , the " world's supply of sole leather, which could not be bought at less th.'.n 4s 6d. The same material answered for linoleum at 3s a square yard an eighth of an inch thick, Roofing tiles could be prepared as hard as steel, and machinery belting , and portmanteau leather. The "leather" could be embossed to any design arid the linoleum could »arry any pattern. "Can vass". for motor tyres could be turned out at 3s a yard double width. Frictioned, it would cost sa. To-day it was 10s a yard. Moroccos-for railway carriage upholstery, furniture coverings and so on, could be turned out as well as rubbered gabardines, poplins apd so on. A £500 ■GffAy&KN'GE. The material was also suitable for car hoods. Mr Stocks snid that discarded covers could be obtained for £8 a ton. Fifty tous were available at once, and one firm h?d offered fifteen, tons a month of the shredded material. The supply could not possibly run out in ten years, Mr Stocks also showed a tyre- 80 x 3| which would be produced at;-a cost of 27s as against the market price of £7 2s Gd. Mr Baxter said that for some weeks he had been explaining the proposal to Christchurch people, and it was really the biggest Miing , that had ever been offered to New-Zealand, as it would establish a series of-indus-tries, and preventing not only two millions of money from going out of the Dominion, but also two millions of waste. The principal objection that had been put forward was that sufficient crude rubber and waste unaterial would not be forthcoming. He had letters from rubber plantations assuring the fullest supply and the waster matter was i'.lhr.i table and inexhaustible. The next objection was that he could not possibly make a tyre for 30s, but in reply to that he was quite prepared to ti'row down a challenge to give £500 lo the Christchurch Hospital if he could not produce, in New Zealand, a tyre 30 x 3J for 30s, equal to the finest quality ever seen in the \yor}d.

of the cost, of production and ctn-ti-fying that sheet rubber could he produced at Is 2d and four-fifths of n penny per pound, solos for boots at 7d a lb. and linoleum at 2« 9d a yard. Statutory dec , ]:iraiions ivere also read from rubber experts formerly of the Dunlop and Barnei Gliiss Rubber mills certifying to the f .\et that they liad made rind mixed rubber according to the Stocks formula at the cost claimed. FACTORY IX EM II i.SLAND. After detailing ih«- sl«ps that had been taken to lluat tin , company in Wellington. Mr Baxte- announced that it was proposed to establish a factory in each island. Tie believed that they had on the table before them the basis of sever- ,1 , new industries. There was noihinr in the leather trade that they could not touch, and they could also enter the building trade with materia! that would take the place of tilee. corrugated iron, rubberoid material and so on, and it would not on'y b<t waterproof, 'but fireproof and unbreakable. It was the duty of New '-."ealanders to support the compain, because firstly Mr Stocks was a New /ealander by birth. New Zealand 'vas the first place in which an atten.pt had been made to float a company; Mr Baxter explained the reasons why during the. war the capital was not permitted to be raised in Australia, and why flotation in America was'undesirable. New' Zealand, he s.iid, was o small country' with great possibilities, and there was nobody in the community who would not benefit by Mr Stock's invention. They had absolutely the monopoly of the whofe of the leather and rubber trade. Within a. few days the company would be registered. The machinery desirad v\as available, and the company would be in working order" by "the end "oj: the year or early in the new year. ELIMINATION OF WASTE. Mr tH. J. Ranger said that one of the useful lessons of the war ivvas the necessity or production, ond;national economy could only be In-oug-ht about by the elimination of "wr.ste. There were hundreds of thoui-snds of old tyres wasted and the possibilities of saving them for utilisation in the country appealed to him greatly as a garage man, who was glud to get old tyres away. Those win object that the supply was limited did not realise the great development of motoring and the increased waste of solid tyres as 'well as pneumatics. Any industry that would eliminate waste was worthy of the deepest, consideration. He l'eckoned that the company was a good thing, aaid c<; thoroughly recommended it.

The Mayor said thai he was not present because he had ihe slightest interest in the company, and he regarded a bogus company promoter as one who snonld be put np against a. wall. (Hear, hear.) JUit he was satisfied iwith the genuineness of the documents he had se-n,, « ml he Jooked on the new industry as something to be welcomed.