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Strthelic Rubber
8 tho world on the evo
of another commercial
revolution duo to an
accidental chemical
discovery? 1b synthe
tic rubber going to
take Ub place upon
equal terms of com
petition with tho Juice
of the trees and plants which so long
have supplied the rubbor commerce?
Just at the present time English
and German chemists aro disputing
over their claims to precedence In
finding a way to create from certain
raw materials a chemical counterpart
of natural rubber. Tho world at large
Is not directly concerned In the deter
mination of this question of priority,
but It has a very deep Interest In the
commercial practicability of these dis
coveries. Two years ago Dr. P. B. Matthews
of England, then associated with
other distinguished chemists, among
them Prof. W. H. Perkln. Sir William
Ramsay and Prof. Fernbach, was seek
ing to perfect a cheap process for tho
manufacture of synthetic rubber and
by chance left some isoprene and
metallic sodium in contact for a
period of about two months, going off
In the meanwhile for his summer out
ing. Upon his return Or. MatthewB
was amazed to find that the iBopreno
tbad In the interval been converted
Into solid rubber. The long sought
key to tho riddle was thus uncovered
by an accident.
Isoprene la an oily, volatile hydro
carbon, it was obtained by distilla
tion from caoutchouc fifty years ago
by Williams, and the analysis of Iso
prene showed that it was chemically
Identical with the oil of turpentine.
fThe problem since that day has been
twofold; first, to derive isoprene from
abundant raw materials, and then to
effect Its conversion Into rubber
through tho medium of plentiful and
cheap reagents. In order to compete
.with nature's product It was neces
aary that artificial rubber should be
made In large quantities and at a
cost which would put It on a par at
least with the expense of gathering
nture's rubbor and delivering It at
phe factories.
Fermentation Is an action set up by
irarlous kinds of germs, and Prof.
Fernbach found the germ that would
Convert certain plentiful starchy mate
rials into fusel oil, and from this fusel
oil ho obtained cheap Isoprene. It
iwas this Isoprene which Dr. Matthows
learned by accident how to turn Into
rubber by means of sodium. Sir
William Ramsay and his associates
bellovo that rubber can be raado In
this way at a cost of about 24 cents
pound. From 25 to 28 cents a
pound Is what it costs now to collect
rubber In the far east and amid the
forests of the Amazon. The heaviest
after expense 1b Involved In trans
porting tho raw material to manufac
turing centers, and also In purifying
this rubber so that It shall bo fit to
go Into the finished products.
Tho rubber hunter mlxos tho juice
or latex of many trees, and the raw
tuft Is seldom uniform and Is fre
quently Oiled with foreign substances,
and even pebbles, the latter bidden
away In tht gum to Increase the
ftvelght. The cost of getting rid or
these things Is heavy, and this fact
must bo born i In mind In giving prop
tr value to I'.ny process for tho syn
thetic maklnf of rubber. It Is natural
to suppose (hat a chemical produc
gloa would bo subject to perfect con.
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trol and that the synthetic rubber fac
tory would be located whore It could
reach easily Its raw materials and Its
market for tho finished output
Climatic and geographical conditions
havo prescribed the zones In which
the rubber plant can be successfully
grown, even though Its cultivation be
subject to scientific methods and are
frco from tbo haphazard ways of the
rubber hunter.
In England the present discoveries
are hailed by Sir William Ramsay
and his fellows not so much as a prom
ise of commercial advantage but as
a professional achievement which
puts tho British chemist ahead of his
rivals acrosj tbo Cuannel. That the
Germans have good reason to bo satis
fied with their own accomplishments
in this very field Is undoubtedly true.
Tho Germans claim that they have
now a method for making rubber
synthetically which will soon be ready
to compete with the output of the
tropical forests.
Back In the '80'b Tllden, an English
man, gave long study to the problem
of making synthetic rubber, but aban
doned his work finally because he did
not believe tho attainment practicable.
The Individual was powerless to copo
with so gigantic a problem and his
resources were unequal to the task.
Capital was necessary as well as tho
united efforts of many men. In fact
In one factory alone In Germany there
were 300 college bredchemlstsconcen
tratlng upon the technical researches
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Involved In that single establishment.
Many factories in tho fatherland had
Joined In (his International effort to
find an artificial process by which
rubber could be built up syntheti
cally from raw materials readily
available, but to the Elberfelder Far
benfabrlken belongs the distinction of
priority in the solution of the problem.
Dr. Fritz Hofman, director In charge
at Elberfeld, gives his own story of
the pursuit of the elusive key.
''Uy mere cbanco my atteution was
called to this question of synthetic
rubber through a lecture delivered In
London about six years ago by Prof.
Dunstan. As a pharmaceutic chemist
In a dyo factory my work did not take
me In the direction of rubber, but the
problem fascinated me.
" I found on reading up the subject
that caoutchouc was based on Iso
prene, and I tried to prove It. To do
that I had to havo Isoprene, and, what
was more, I had to have synthetic Iso
prene and not the kind obtained by a
dry distillation of rubbor such as had
hitherto generally boon used. I had
a task before mo,
"To the organic chemist coal Is an
Ideal mother substance, and I chose
It as my basic material. In this we
were Justified, and In March of 1900
Carl Coutello and I succeeded In ob
taining tht first large quantity of
pure synthetlo Uopreno several
an
litres of It. This showed us that wo
had tho right formulae, tho scientific
execution of which was no longer
questionable. Hut with tho making
of Isoprene our troubles wero not
ended; on the contrary, they wero but
beginning.
" Wo wero confronted with tho pro
blem of converting this liquid Into
that tough, clastic, plastic colloid
which was to be a successful substi
tute for rubber, In truth Ub very
counterpart Theoretically tho task
was easy, because as Hellsteln says,
Isoprene Is converted Into caoutchouc
by treating It with muriatic acid. Of
courso, we tried that at once, but for
our palnH we got nothing but oily
chlorides not a traco of rubber. We
wero apparently defied.
" We tried all aorta of likely and
Imaginable physical and chemical
mediums in connection with Isoprene,
but tho wilful stuff refused to thicken.
Finally I discovered tho power to per
form this miracle hlddon away In
heat Thcro was nothing new In
heating Isoprene) but tho result we
obtained thereby was new. Other
authorities had tried heat, but all they
got was either an oily or at best a
resinous substance.
" Polymerlsm In chemistry Is that
property peculiar to some compounds
by which they differ In their mole
cular weights and also In their chemi
cal properties even when formod from
the same elements and combined In
tho same proportions. In other
words, the structural atoms are differ
ently arranged, and the body or sub
stance thuB differs from another of
the same chemical got up but with
Its tiny units otherwise distributed.
"We soon recognized that the poly
merizing power of heat could bo
furthered by ilumcrous chemical ad
mixtures, but wo soon found that
there are many more substances that
work In opposition to this end. In
August of 1909 I obtained tho first
rubber polymerized by heat In the
laboratory of the Elberfeld works. In
September of that year I submitted
a sample of this material to Dr.
Gerlach. Ho was the first to confirm
that our product actually contained
caoutchouc. A month later Harries
tested our synthetic material with
his ozone method, and by this means
was ablo to establish that our heat
polymorlzed lsopreno was voritable
India rubbor."
Dr. Hofmann frankly admits that
should the extensive rubber planta
tions cultivated under English direc
tion In tho Malay Archipelago meet
expectations synthetic rubber will not
bo so necessary in supplying at a
more reasonable rato tho present
markot However, ho says that the
syntheslst has' so adjusted conditions
that he can competo with his ware In
price and quullty with tho natural
product
Thousands upon thousands of ex
pertinents havo thus buen brought to
a crystallized knowledge which makes
It possible and prnctlcablo to embark
upon tho manufacture of rubbor syn
thetically from nvnllablo cheap mate
rials. The plantations In tho far
eaBt have boon developing over a
period of fully thirty-live years, and
In a sonso they havo the start of the
artificial product In a quantitative
estimate, but this advantage will not,
contlnuo If tho chouilst manufacturer
can tuako rubber synthetically as
cheaply as Dr. Hofmunu predicts.
In 1910 and 1911 tho world produc
tion of India rubber reached a total
of about 80,000 tons and tho world
consumption of caoutchouc was In tho
neighborhood of 70,000 tons. Figur
ing tho cost oMhlfl rubber at an aver
age of t a pound Oho total valuo of
tho production reaches $160,000,000.
Synthetlo rubber, It Ib believed,
would tnako It possible to widen the
field of application or rubber. Make
shifts and substitutes of ono sort or
another are now used in many direc
tions, becttuso natural rubber Is too
expensive. Theroforo, tho publlo Is
Interested In tho artificial product
first because It will add stability to
tho prlco of tho rubber from trees, and
next It will Make It posslblo to apply
It In many wayB now prohibited by
prlco and tho relatively lltnltod out
put of plantations and tho wild
growth.
Whether tho basic Isoprone bo made
from a starchy substance after the
English process or from a product of
coal, as Dr. Hoffmann has chosen,
thero will bo Immonso quantities of
by-productB which will bo a part of
tho systems employed In making Iso
proi.i and In converting It Into coun
terpart caoutchouc In either case. It
would bo financially prohibitive to
neglect those by-products in concen
trating upon tho manufacture of arti
ficial rubber.
Dr. Hoffmann says that If 25 per
cent of artificial rubber could bo pro
duced from every pound of basic mate
rial, then a factory turning out nan
a million pounds a day would require
2,000,000 pounds of tho mother sub
Btanco, three-quarters of which would
accumulato every twenty-four'houra In
tho form of by-products. This gives
an Idea of what tho chemist-manufacturer
has before him, oven though the
secret of synthotlc rubber has boon
solved. With characteristic thorough
ness, the Germans aro working away
at this end of the question.
So far as 1b known the German
ynthetlc rubber haB met alt tho ex
acting tests and analyses of other
German chemists. On the other hand,
it Is said that tho English artificial
rubber Is not chemically Identical in
its atomic makeup with natural caout
chouc, and the crltlcB declare that this)
artificial substitute will not meet all
of tho requirements. It seems that
thn artificial rubber contalna one
atom of carbon less than nature's
caoutchouc, and whether or not this
difference will prove vital either at
once or later In tho employment of
the synthetlo substance haa yet to be
established.
Summer School.
Particularly significant Is
growth of summer schools In
the
the
Carolines, whore the movement start
ed comparatively late. At the Uni
versity of North Carolina thcro was
an attendance of 450 this year, Just
douMo last year's enrollment At the
normal school at Greensboro, North
Carolina, a session of eight weeks was
hold, the first In the history of tho
Institution, and 200 'enthusiastic teach
ers were In attendance. At thjt sum
mer session of tho Wlnthrop Normal
Ccllego, Rock Hill, South Carolina,
particular attention was paid to prob
lems of Industrial oducatlon and rural
schools, and men of national promi
nence participated In the work.
Growth Attached to It.
"You've been slcoplng In the tele
phone booth, I believe," Bald the
manager of the summer hotel.
"Yes'
"I can glvo you a billiard table now,
if you like."
"No; I'll stick to the booth. I rath
er like the room. It Isn't large, but
It's cosy."
IftraraoNAL
SIINBSrSdlOOL
Lesson
(By K. O. BELLKR8, Director of Kvenins)
Detmrtmont, Tho Moody Ulblo Institute,
Chicago.)
LESSON FOR SEPT. 22.
FEEDING THE FIVE THOU8AND.
I.rfiSON THXT-Mnrk 6:30-44.
QOI.ni:N Ti:XT "Jesus snld unto
them, I nra tho bread of life." John 0:3&
This parnblo marks tho high level
of tho year of popularity In tho llfo of
our Lord. It Is such nn Important
mlraclo as to bo tho only ono rocorded
by all four gospel writers.
Tho returning disciples (v. 30) nro
urged by tho Master to como with him
Into n desert plnco that they might
rest, and also that ho might comfort
tholr hearts over tho death of John
tho DaptlBt "They had no leisure."
Jesus know tho need and also tho
proper uso of leisure. Rut tho multi
tude would not grant this nnd flocked
to hlB retreat In tho desert,. They saw
and followed that they might listen
to his gracious words or behold somo
new wonder, but Jesus nlsb saw and
ministered, V. 24. Carlisle said ho saw
In England "forty millions, mostly
fools." Not bo with Jcsua. Ho saw
and was moved, not with sarcasm, but
with compnsBlon, which compassion
took a tangablo form of Borvlco. It is
Interesting to noto In verso 31 that tho
compassion of Jcsua led htm first of
all to teach. It is better to tench a
man how to help himself than to help
tho man. Wo also Infer from this
verso that tho soul of a man Is of
moro valuo than his body. It Is not
enough, howovcr, to Bny, "God bless
you, bo fed nnd warm," when a man
Is hungry. So It Is that Jesus listened
to bis dtclplos when thoy saw 'the
physical need of tho multitude.
A Great Task.
St John tells ua In this connection
of tho conversation with Philip. Phil
ip lived In Rothsalda near by, yet to
feed this multltudo was for him too
great a task, even with hlB knowledgo
of tho resources at hand, John G:G-7.
Yet we need not bo surprised at Phil
ip's slowness of faith. Moses In like
manner was onco nonplussed how to
feed six thousand In the wilderness.
eco Num. 11:21-23. It Is not bo much
as to how great tho need nor how lit-,
tie wo possess, but rather Is tho little
given to God.
Another disciple, Andrew, who had
discovered tho Saviour unto Peter, dis
covers as though In desperation a boy
whoso mother had thoughtfully pro
vided him with n lunch consisting of
five barley biscuits and two email
dried herring (John 0:9), at least that
much romalncd. , It is a great com
mentary upon tho tldo of interest at
this time that this boy should not
have eaton his lunch, for a boy's hun
ger Is proverbial. It seems as though
Jesus emphasizes tho helplessness of
tho dlclples In order that ho may Bhow
bis power. Ills command, "glvo yo
thorn," (v. 37) teaches us that wo aro
to glvo cuch as wo havo, not look to
othcrB, nor do our charity by proxy.
Prov. 11:21, 25.
Again tho Saviour asks his disciples
to eco (v. 38) as though ho would
teach them tho boundless resources of
his kingdom. Glvo whut you havo and
he will bless and Increase It to the
supplying of tho needs of tho multi
tude. Tho sccrot of success was when
ho took tho loaves and "looking up"
for God also saw on that day, and
blessed It,
We need to observe tho eystematlo
procedure Tho people seated or re
clining upon be ground In ranks or
by companies. The Master blessing
and breaking the boy's cakes and giv
ing first to the disciples, for God only
works such miracles through human
tgonclcB, and then giving to the peo
ple. The result of this systematic pro
cedure was that "all did cat," Aind
further, they were satisfied, v. 42. Not
ilone, however, wan thcro Divine or
der and lavUhncss, but thcro was
economy and thrift as well, for Jesus
gavo careful directions as to tho frag
ments. Tho lavlshnesa is shown by
the fact that tho baskets Into which
the fragments wero gathered were
each largo enough In which to sleep.
Living Bread.
Tho conversation process was a'
stinging rcbuko to tho Improvident
jjrlontals, and to tho prcBent day prodi
gals of that wonderful bounty with
which God has blessed our land.
God gives to U3 that wo may use.
Joy dies unless it Is shared. Jesus,
tho living bread (John 6:48) will satis
fy hunger, and llfo, ob bread, gener
ates in tho human body heat, energy,
vitality, power, etc., BO ho would feed
tho hungry souls of mankind. Wo
have nt hand tho Word; it Is for lack
of It that men die in tbo deepest sense
of that word.
Tlio poverty and perplexity of the
disciples In his presenco and tho pres
ence of this great need Is being re
peated over and over today nnd yet It
la absurd. Wo have not enough' to
food tho multitude. Our few loaves of
amusements, mental activities, etc.,
will not feed them, but whon wo break
uuto tbom the Living Bread thoy have
enough and to sparo. The words of
(ho lato Maltblo Rabcock aro appro
priate In this connection:
Back of the lonf Is tho snowy flour,
And back of tho flour the mill,
And back of the mill Is tho wheat an4
.. the ehowor '
And the sun, and the Father's will
YOUNG WIFE
SAVED FROM
HOSPITAL
i
Tell. How Sick She Was And
What Saved Her From
An Operation.
Upper Sandusky.Ohfo. "Three years
ago 1 was married and went to house
keeping. I was not
feelinor woll and
iMkBlBBaiMBflBl onnM hnrillv Hmv
myself along. I bad
such tired feelings,
my back ached, my
sides ached, I had
bladder trouble aw
fully bad, and I could
noteator sleep. I had
headaches, too, and
became almost a ner
vous wreck. My doc
tor told me to go to hospital. I did
not like that idea very well, so, when I
saw your advertisement in a paper, I
wrote to you for advice, and have done as
you told me. I have taken Lydia E.
Plnkham's Vegetable Compound and
Liver Pills, and now I have my health.
" If sick and ailing women would only
know enough to take your medicino,they
would getrelicf."-Mrs.BENJ.H.STANS-BRRY,
Route 6, Box 18, Upper Sandusky,
Ohio.
If you have mysterious pains, irregu
larity, backache, extreme nervousness,
inflammation, ulceration or displace
ment, don't wait too long, but try Lydia
E. Plnkham's Vegetable Compound now.
For thirty years Lydia E. Plnkham's
Vegetable Compound, made from roots
and herbs, has been the standard remedy
for female ills, and such unquestionable '
testimony as the above proves the valuo
of this famous remedy and should ghrs)
very one confidence.
FOREIGN BELIEFS ARE QUEER
Spanish Wedding Is Ruined If One
Person Appears Entirely In Blsek
Some Other Signs.
In Spain the wedding Is spoiled It
ono of the guests appears entirely la
black, or If tho brldo looks Into a
mirror after orange blossoms and veil
aro fast In her headdress.
When a person's hair ends split, it's
taken by tho superstitious for a slga
that Bho Ib either a witch or has been
bowltched. As blond hair splits moro
readily than dark hair, all witches,
spirits and sorceresses have blond or
red hair, according to popular belief.
Likewise, according to the standard of
art.
On the marriage thore Is often
much good-natured rivalry between
tho groom and the bride In the Slav
countries as to who shall blow out
tho candle, for the person who does
will bo "first to die." It is Imposlble
to traco the origin of this superstition,
yet It prevails In arlstocratlo society
as well as in the peasant's hut, even
as like this, that "to Insure the life
and health of the children" the wom
an must occupy the right side of tho
bod. In addition, Bho must not smoke
before her forty-fifth year.
Thero Ib a superstition In this coun
try nnd many others against burning
a broom. The bud of birch broom Is
iiscd In southern Germany as a pre
ventive against erysipelas. These
buds, a pleco of yellow wax and some
other articles aro enclosed In a pink
Bilk bag, secured with red silk and
worn on the back of tho neck. The
person must chango his shirt every
Friday. .
The Ststus.
"I see this prospect of a strapless
street car Is still hanging on."
"So Bre the passengers."
A man must draw the Una som
whero, but the chances are he will gel
on the other side of It later.
RIGHT HOME
Doctor Recommends Postum from Pec
' sonat Test
No one Is better able to realize the
Injurious action of caffeine the drug
In coffee on tho heart than tho doc
tor. Tea is Just as harmful as coffee
because It, too, contains the drug caf
feine. ' When the doctor himself has bees
relieved by simply leaving off coffee
and using Postum, he can refer with
full conviction to his own case.
A Mo. physician prescribes Postum
for many of his patients because ho
-was benefited by It He says:
"I wish to add my testimony In re
gard to that excellent preparation
Postum. I havo bad functional or
nervous heart trouble for over IS
years, and a part of the time was un
able to attend to my business.
"I was a moderate user of coffee and
did not think drinking it hurt me. But
on stopping it and using Postum In
stead, my heart has got all right, and
I ascribe it to the change from coffeo
to Postum.
"I am prescribing it now in cases of
sickness, especially when coffee does
not agree, or affects tho heart, nerves
or stomach.
"When made right It has a much bet-
tor flavor than coffee, and Is a vital
sustainer of the system. I shall con
tlnuo to recommend it to our people,
and I havo my own case to refer to."
Name given by Postum Co., Battle
Creek, Mich. Bead the little book,
"Tho Rood to Wellvillo," la pkgs.
I "There's a reason."
I Ever read the efcor letter A new
one appenm from time to (line. They
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