AN AMERICAN INVENTION.

Taranaki Herald, Volume LX, Issue 143767, 16 April 1912, Page 3

AN AMERICAN INVENTION.

Attempts to produce a cheap and efficient, substitute for rubber have been so numerous that few people will be ready to credit the claim of an American inventor that ho has succeeded where others have failed. His claim, however, does not lack substantial hacking. The inventor is Mr. John B. Hall, a wealthy resident of Pliiladelphia. The article which he has produced was tested last December by a committee of eminent American scientists and engineers, but tho identity of the inventor was not disclosed. The favourable verdict of the committee was announced a few weeks ago, and newspaper reporters soon unearthed tho modest Philadelphian. The raw material from which his substitute for rubber has been produced comprises cotton stalks, maize stalks, and other fibrous matter, many thousands of tons of which are wasted every year. The inventor declares that his substitute can be made of a quality superior to that of hard rubber, and that the process of manufacture is considerably less, costly than the production of rubber is Ho also can produce porcelain, cork, and horn from the waste materials with which ho has been experimenting. The nature of the scientists’ verdict upon the invention is indicated by the comments of Mr. G. R. Henderson, one of the most prominent mechanical engineers in America. “I consider the invention a wonderful one,” he said. “It is destined to become a new world material, with illimitable commercial possibilities. It promises to be of inestimable value not only to the electrical industry but also in many other industries of our modern civilisation.” It is stated that a New York financier has offered to organise a company with a capital of £10,000,000 for the manufacture of the substitute, hut Mr. Hall does not desire to make money out of his invention. He has said that he proposes “to dispose of the process where it will do the most good for the greatest number of persons,” and it is thought that he intends to benefit the southern States by providing a use for their waste cotton stalks. His philanthropy certainly furnishes a strong argument in favour of the genuineness of his claim.