rape oil at a high temperature. The first class has little application
to the rubber trade, though its use is universal in the linoleum
industry. In Europe the chemist holds a more important position in the
rubber manufacture than here, one result of which has been cheaper
compounds of rubber and another the satisfactory employment of the
refractory African rubbers long before they were used extensively in
the United States. Hence the cost of raw materials in the rubber
industry has been, on the whole, cheaper abroad. The Europeans have
had an advantage, too, in respect to cheaper labor, which has offset
somewhat our own advantage from the use of reclaimed rubber as a cheap
material.

There are numerous grades of reclaimed rubber, due to differences in
the quality of stock used, and also to the different degrees of care
used in its preparation, according to the requirements of
manufacturers. The declared value of reclaimed rubber exported from
New York during July, 1897, averaged 12.6 cents per pound, while the
value of exports for September averaged only 9.1 cents. The average
value for the eight months ending February 28, 1898, was 10.08 cents
per pound. The total declared value of such exports for the fiscal
year 1896-97 was $119,440, which, at the prices prevailing since,
would represent considerably more than 1,000,000 pounds. Some of the
material sold at home is known to bring less than any prices quoted
above. "Mechanical" stock brings about two cents per pound more than
"acid" stock of corresponding grade.

The collection of old rubber has acquired large proportions as an
adjunct to the trade in junk or rags. Not long ago the estimated
yearly collection of rubber shoes alone amounted to 18,000 tons, and
since that time the business in bicycle tire scrap has also become