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by leaps and bounds. To show the precise effect in dollars and cents of the use of accelerators is a difficult task. Conclusions from figures can be only rough estimates. I n 1906 the total amount of crude rubber used in the United States was 27,344 long tons; in 1924, 301,778 long tons. I n 1906 there were 107,000 automobiles, which a t the rate of 6 tires per car per year consumed 642,000 tires. I n those days, 3500 miles per tire was considered reasonable service. Nowadays, fabric tires run a yearly average around 7000 miles, and cord tires 15,000 to 20,000 miles. The averages show for 1924 (with its 17,897,000 automobiles) for replacement purposes about 2.4 tires per car per year. These improvements came about, not alone because of accelerators, but b y virtue of a number of other factors working together; the making of tires upon machines, improvements in processes, improvement in the fabric used, better rubber mixtures, and more careful factory control-all contributed to the service improvements. We know of no way accurately to estimate money saved due t o the differences in quality. The inorganic accelerator is valuable, but we have stated that the organic accelerator has given to the consumer additional service qualities. It is not too much to say that the resistance of modern compounds to aging has been improved by at least one year. We are inclined t o believe that, were there t o be no organic accelerators today, i t is probable that in tires alone there would be not less than 3 tires per car per year which would require additional cost t o the user. Since the total bill for tires and tubes during the year 1924 amounted to $196,930,000 it is probable that this chemical research work has saved the motorists an amount equal to 25 per cent of the present expense, or in round figures, say, $50,000,000 yearly.
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Factories have increased in size. \Ye can, however, roughly estimate the additional investment that might be required in the curing rooms for molds and vulcanizers, were the organic accelerator to be removed from our undertakings. I n the old days, tires were vulcanized with but few molds in a heater. These molds were bolted together, put on a car, and run into a heater where they were cured a t from 3 to 4 hours. It was a slow process. Today we have automatic conveyers that carry molds to heaters, and upon discharge bring them back to the workmen. Machinery has minimized effort. These heaters are now large vertical presses which hold from 20 t o 30 molds in them a t a time. Hydraulic pressure is used to close them. The time of vulcanization varies from 1 to 1.5 hours. For purposes of rough estimate, it is probable that without the organic accelerator it would be necessary at least to double the investment required in molds and in the heaters and other apparatus incident to the vulcanization of the product. The present-day investment in molds and vulcanizers for the purpose of turning out a matter of 50 million tires per year is probably, in round figures, $25,000,000; in buildings necessary to house these, say, $25,000,000 more. It is likely t h a t all other molds, presses, and buildings would require $30,000,000 in addition-a total of $8O,OOO,OOO. These are rough estimates only. If we assume double t h e time of vulcanization required (if no organic accelerators were used) our estimate would show t h a t the organic accelerator has probably saved the rubber industry an investment of $40,000,000. Yes, the industry has benefited, and so has the consumer of rubber goods, because organic accelerators of vulcanization were discovered and have been used! ~
Earning Power of Research HE Sun-Maid Raisin Growers' Association, comprising over 85 per cent of the raisin growers of California, was confronted with a problem which is common t o many industries. The raisin growers have years of over-production, the quality of their raw product is not uniform, and even under the best of circumstances there are wastes produced during the preparation of raisins for human food consumption which should be conserved. Unless a use could be developed for raisins in the form of a product that would not compete with the raisins themselves, they would be eternally subject t o violent market fluctuations and uncertain costs of production that are t o be avoided for any enterprise. An announcement has just been made that research applied to this problem has found the solution. To maintain a uniform high-quality product, this association of growers must segregate the lower grades of raisins, and this tonnage, together with any surplus crop beyond the market requirements, as well as the waste material, is to be converted into a neutral fruit sugar sirup, for which there is already a great demand. This sirup of dextrose and levulose not only has great sweetening power but is nondrying and therefore in great demand by the baking trade for use in breads, cakes, and icings, which must be kept a t the right degree of moisture. The business management of this raisin growers' association followed the method that is so often recommended but too seldom heeded by manufacturers. They secured a chemical engineer t o organize a research staff to investigate the engineering and chemical problems and t o determine the economics of the situation. F. M. de Beers was chosen for this task, and he engaged as his associates J. K. Dale, H. W. Denny, F. E. Twining, and the Miner Laboratories. Cooperating with this group were members of the staff of the University of California, both at Berkeley and at Davis, where stock-feeding tests
are being made. Following the necessary research, a process was developed based upon the facts determined. It could not have been developed by any other method. Next came the semicommercial plant, which has been operated 24 hours a day for nearly 9 months, converting thousands of tons of raisins into sirup and producing many carloads of stock feed. The sirup and feed have been sold, thereby paying for a large part of the expense of development, and enough data were secured to guide the group in the designing of the first unit of the commercial plant. Contracts for this unit have been placed. Research through all these agencies of scientific study will be continued in order to improve the process, reduce costs, and improve the final product. The four main buildings of this sirup unit are placed on an eight-acre tract well served by railroads with adequate provisions for expected increases in capacity. This work on the part of an association of eighteen thousand growers is due largely t o the foresight of Ralph P. Merritt, its president and managing director. This organization distributed over 600 tons of raisins per day t o the consuming public during 1924, and in a business so large it is obvious that great quantities of stems, seeds, cap-stems, and low-grade raisins must be handled. Estimates as to available tonnage, yield of sirup, costs, etc., have been made, but it is too early to discuss these details even if the policy of the association would permit such authorized publicity. Besides sirup and stock feed, cream of tartar will be prepared as a by-product, and a press cake containing lime, phosphates, and nitrogenous matter will be offered as a fertilizer. So once again we have an illustration on a scale adequate to demonstrate the earning power of research and a model to which we can refer with pride in urging others t o consider what chemistry might do for them in stabilizing markets, eliminating wastes, and adding t o revenue, if but given the opportunity.
