Leather Rubber.

Western Star, 13 October 1908, Page 1

Leather Rubber.

a ! new indention,. A discovery has been made of a process by ■which, leather rubber can b© made of waste refuse, and judging by lbs samples attovra, leather rubber promises to become a most important industry. The inventor is an Australian, and the Large fao [ tory which he has .erected in Miel■'bourne was officially opened at the ■ beginning of last month. The mai was started by the nuer* of Victoria (Sir Thomas Bent) and congratulatory \ Speeches '' weret made by the Minister of Education,, the Minister of Agriculture, the president of the Chamber of Commerce, and the Agricultural Expert. The invenitpr, in short, has discovered a mieans of regenerating worn rubber —■the aim ,of scientists for the last; sixty years—and by mixing the regenerated rubber with pulverised scrap leather , lie can produce a wonderful 1 number of commodities;, each of 1 the highest utility in itself. It can be used for almost all purposes for which leather or rubber is largely used. The manufacture of linoleums alone should be a very large and, profitable business, it being one for which leather rubber is specially suitaftyle, . It is durable and has the, advantage of being non-absorb-water. The cost is so little tha,t it can be .solid much cheaper than present linoleums. There are flooring tiles, of which Mr Hutton has some very fine samples. These can bo used for halls, vestibules, public offices, and such. like K Belting , can also be made with wire inserted between two layers of leather rubber, and it claimed that a bell can be produced whicti is superior to the ordinary leather belting and costs very much less. Other purposes for which leather (rubber is suitable are sole leather, soles for boots or shoes i which will stand rivets or stitching, and of which ihena are about twenty different grades),, motor car and vehicle tyres, insulating material for electrical purposes, - furniture coverings, portmanteaux, mala, end 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 mucJi cheaper than, but actually of superior quality to, the original article. The days when waste leather was either burnt or destroyed) would now seem to ;be over. Old rub. bar, 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.