LEATHER RUBBER

Timaru Herald, Volume XIIIC, Issue 13725, 15 October 1908, Page 3

LEATHER RUBBER

A discovery has been made of a process by •which leather rubber can be made of waste refuse, and promises to become a most important industry. The inventor is an Australian, and the factory which he has erected in, Melbourne was officially opened at the beginning of last month. The machinery was started by the Premier of Victoria (Sir Thomas Bent) and congratulatory speeches were made by the Minister of Education, the Minister of Agriculture, the president of the Chamber of Manufacturers, and the Agricultural Expert. The inventor has discovered a means of - regenerating worn rubber—the aim :of scientists for at least sixty years—and by mixing the regenerated rubber with pulverised scrap leather be can produce a wonderful number of commodities, each of the highest utility in itself. It can be used for almost all purposes for which leather or rubber £ largely used. The manufacture of linoleums alone should be a very large and profitable business, it being one for which leather rubber is specially suitable. It is durable, and has the advantage of being non-absorbent of water. The cost is so little that it can be sold much cheaper than the present linoleums. There ore flooring tilts, of which Mr Button has some very fine samples. These can be used for halls, vestibules, public offices, and such like. Belting can also be made with wire inserted between two layers of leather rubber, and it is claimed that a belt can be produced which is superior to the ordinary leather belting and costs very much less. Other purposes for which leather rubber is suitable are solo leather, soles for boots or shoes (which will stand either riveting or stitching, and of which there are about twenty different grades), motor car and vehicle tyres, insulating material for electric purposes, furniture coverings, portmanteaux, mats, and bookbinding, etc. In fact, it is suitable for so many different purposes that it is unnecessary to enumerate them all, and the inventor claims that it is not only much cheaper than, but j actually of superior quality to, the nrij ginal article. The days when, waste leather was either burnt or destroyed would now seem to be over. Old rubber, such as bicycle tyres, and .scraps of leather from boot factories can • now all be reclaimed by this new and cheap process in the manufacture- of leather rubber.