BOOK III.
It may be safely stated that no chemical discovery within the last century, has produced such wonderful results as those here alluded to. From being a simple gum, the use of which was limited to the erasure of the school boy’s blunder, or the merchant’s mistakes, India-rubber, by the process of vulcanization, has become one of our most important articles of commerce. It is one of the most wonderful products of nature that has ever been applied to the arts.
The first attempt to manufacture caoutchouc or India-rubber into clothing, and articles of daily use in this country, was upon the discovery that the essential oils was a dissolvent of the gum sufficient tospread it upon cloth. This was the beginning of the excitement. The idea of making water-proof clothing took possession of the public mind at once. This was about the year 1834. Spirits of turpentine was the cheapest and most effectual solvent. A company organized and established a large manufactory in Roxbury, Mass., and the shares at $100 par value soon went up in the market to 3 or 4 hundred.
It was soon found however, that they had not sufficiently investigated the matter. In a few months, or perhaps weeks, the manufactured articles which at first presented a substantial face became soft again and adhesive, so much so that masses of clothes adhered together and became almost a solid body. But the excitement continued as the real facts were not made known to the public; companies were formed, and factories were erected to a considerable extent before the bubble burst.
The discovery of sulphurization in the United States was made about the year 1835, by Mr. Nathl. Hayward, a native of Easton, Mass. Mr. Hayward was at this time a resident of Boston, the proprietor of a livery stable. Being of an inventive turn, his mind for a long time had been revolving the idea of applying some substance which would remove the cause of the adhesiveness of the manufactured article so fatal to the success of this great enterprise. Not possessing a thorough knowledge of chemicals or their compounds, Mr. Hayward purchased at random a great variety of drugs to mix with the dissolved rubber. These he placed in the sun hoping that he might, by chance hit upon that substance whichwould cause the rubber to become hard and retain its consistency. White lead, and all other substances which possessed the virtue of “driers” were successively subjected to his alembic. For months Mr. Hayward prosecuted his investigations, but hitherto without success. Finally, becoming discouraged, he one day collected all the various drugs, etc., which he had purchased, and threw them indiscriminately into a boiler, happening to have some sulphur in hand which he had procured for his horses, he mixed that in with the rest.Nil desperandum—the result of this experiment was the key to the long sought for secret. A fine substantial India-rubber cloth was producedfreefrom stickiness, and presenting the peculiar appearance of sulphurized rubber.
Theresultwas produced, butwhichof the agencies had caused this wonderful transformation? For months Mr. Hayward pursued his investigations, until at length the mystery was unveiled. Thus byACCIDENTwas this important discovery made.
Yet another discovery was necessary in order to fully complete the magnificent results which Hayward had developed. Sulphurized goods were found to emit a very unpleasant odor, and what was of still greater importance, the goods became rigid in cold weather, and loose and elastic in warm weather. These objections must be removed, or the discoveries of Hayward would lose their chief importance. Vulcanization, subsequently discovered by Goodyear, was the important element to be applied. To Hayward and Goodyear conjointly is the world indebted forthe benefits which have followed as a sequence to their discoveries. They stand like the Siamese twins connected by reciprocal inventive faculties, the one equally dependent upon the other for the success which has crowned their united efforts. The intelligent reader cannot fail to see the relative importance which the one holds to the other, and how admirably the genius of Goodyear completed what the untiring energy of Hayward first disclosed. This much is necessary at this point to introduce the reader to what follows concerning vulcanization.
On the 24th day of February, 1839, Mr. Hayward secured a patent for vulcanizing India-rubber by means of sulphur, which patent was assigned to Charles Goodyear—a man of shrewd and future grasping mind. Some idea of the importance of this improvement may be formed from the fact that it has been a subject of continual litigation for a number of years; yea, almost since the day the patent was issued. It is the real vulcanizing substance now used in the manufacture of India-rubber fabrics of every description. The claim is in these words: “the combining of sulphur with gum-elastic, whether in solution or in substance, either by mixing with the digested India-rubber, kneading it, or sprinkling it on the surface of sheets and pressing it in.”
At the time of the famous contest between Goodyear and Day, testimony was produced by which it was endeavored to be proved that the vulcanization of India-rubber was discovered in Germany by F. Luedersdorff, six years before Hayward’s patent wasgranted. Some doubts have been expressed concerning the statement. Whether true or false, we cannot see why the circumstance should detract in the least from the claims or position of Mr. Hayward, inasmuch as it is very conclusive that his discovery was purely accidental.
A Prussian pamphlet published at Berlin in 1832, describes the experiments made by F. Luedersdorff with India-rubber, and the production of sulphurized India-rubber compounds. The Scientific American in speaking upon this subject, and combating the claims of the learned Prussian has the following:—
“The clamminess of dissolved India-rubber, and its tendency to decomposition are attributed to its resinous properties. On page28, the following language occurs: ‘After a long series of experiments, in which neither deodorizing or oxidizing substances, neither alkalies, nor mechanical means, which affected the speedy drying, produced the desired result; I succeeded at last in finding in sulphur the substance, which even in very small quantities, perfectly prevented the injurious effect of the resinous aggregation.’ Instructions are given how to prepare the sulphur solution, by heating and stirring three parts of flour sulphur in one hundred parts of rectified oil of turpentine, bringing them to a boiling heat, then dissolving the India-rubber in the solution. By Hayward’s patent, one teaspoonful of sulphur was mixed with that quantity of oil of turpentine required to dissolve a pound of India-rubber, and in this respect, there is little difference between his method and thatof the Prussian doctor. It is the sulphur which is the grand agent in the production of vulcanized India-rubber, no matter how combined, in solution, or with India-rubber softened by heat. Leave sulphur out of the question, and we would have no vulcanized India-rubber fabrics.
“The question now arises, what reliance is there to be placed upon the authenticity of this pamphlet, published six years before Hayward’s patent was obtained? We have been assured that the original work is in the College Library, at Providence, R. I.; but it is rather singular, that in the many controversies on this subject, and the numerous suits at law which have taken place, respecting the originality of the invention, that such information was not produced as testimony before some tribunal.
“That Dr. Luedersdorff made the experiments described, we will assume to be true in every respect, but neither is our country or any other indebted to him in the least, for the introduction and success of India-rubber manufactures. To American inventors alone, is the world indebted for the invention of vulcanized India-rubber. Hayward was no doubt totally ignorant of the Prussian doctor’s experiments; he probably could not read German; he made the discovery of sulphurized India-rubber by his own efforts, and he is an original inventor, in this sense of the term.”
We have thus given a brief account of this remarkable discovery. Heretofore but little has been written or published upon the discovery, and the subsequentinventions to which it gave rise. The books which have been published have carefully avoided full and complete statements or facts, and have contained little or no information of value, but on the contrary, have seemed, at least, to deal in generalities calculated to befog and mislead.
In the long and tedious trials which tasked the ingenuity and power of Webster and Choate, it was clearly proven that the articles claimed to be made by specifications there introduced,could not be manufacturedby such compounds. To all who are interested in the facts, etc., elicited upon these celebrated trials, we would refer them to “Day’s Bible” if obtainable, containing the Genesis and Revelation of all that could then be said or written upon the subject.
“The profits on the India-rubber business will reach almost two millions of dollars in the year, and the present manufactories cannot supply the demand. Shoes which weigh nine ounces per pair have only about three and a half ounces of rubber, the other materials being worth only from one to six cents per pound. One girl can make from twenty to thirty pairs per day, hence, enormous profits have been derived by the manufacturers of such goods. The best valve packing is made of 30 lbs. of India-rubber, 6 lbs. of lampblack, 22 lbs. red or white lead, and 22 oz. of sulphur; these metalizing substances are all very cheap. India-rubber is easily rendered plastic, and combines readily with almost every substance, such as the oxides of metal, clay, pulverized sand, gums, carbon, saw-dust, ground cork, &c. It is, certainly,one of the most wonderful and useful products of nature that has ever been applied to the arts.”
The importance of the discovery of the vulcanization of India-rubber to the world, can hardly be over-estimated, whether regarded in the light of science, or political economy. But comparatively few years have elapsed since its highest uses were discovered and applied; and even now, with all the success which has thus far crowned the efforts of those engaged in its development, it is yet in its infancy. Like many of the most important discoveries in the mechanic arts, that of vulcanization was imperfectly applied, and millions of dollars were expended in the manufacture of improperly vulcanized goods, mills, machinery, &c.
No sooner had the practicability of manufacturing boots and shoes from India rubber been demonstrated, than the attention of capitalists, and inventors, was turned to this new field of enterprise. Without stopping to test thenatureof the gum which was to be moulded in golden ingots, viz., the manufacture of boots, shoes, etc., and the effect of the seasons upon the manufactured articles, the anxious speculator, and the enthusiastic manufacturer plunged boldly into the sea of trade. All classes became interested in its success, stock companies were formed, the shares of which were eagerly snatched up, and visions of untold profits were dividedin anticipation. But the “bubble” soon burst, goods manufactured and solarized in April, became a sticky mass of useless rubbish in July. The warm weather literally meltedthe hopes and expectations of the incautious adventurer. A panic was the consequence, mills were abandoned, thousands of artizans were suddenly thrown out of employment, and this vast field of enterprise so promising but a few months before, was swept as by a hurricane. Hundreds of thousands of tons of India-rubber, both raw and prepared were either given away, or sold at ruinous sacrifices. Hilltops blazed with its ignited masses, and the illuminations of the fourth of July succeeding the failure, were made unusually brilliant by the aid of the India-rubber panic.
As before intimated, thecauseof this great loss of money and material, originated in the “indecent haste” of the manufacturer. In the first place, solarization, that is heating in the sun the cloth, or other substance upon which the gum or compound of rubber, and some foreign substances was spread, was an imperfect process, as the heat of the sun was not sufficiently powerful to evaporate the solvent, and form a chemical union between the sulphur and the rubber, which union constitutes perfect vulcanization.
The unfortunate result of the “experiment” was so dearly purchased, that all who were engaged in the traffic, abandoned it without an attempt to profit by experience. It is at this point that we introduce Mr. Charles Goodyear, a man of observation, possessing a larger share of perseverance than is usually found in any single individual, together with fair inventive genius. He saw the sad results of that zeal which is without knowledge, and resolved to find if possible, the thread which should guide him safelythrough the labyrinth of this mystery. He undertook the task alone, as the severe reverses which had visited the pioneers in the movement, had disgusted them with further attempts to correct, what appeared to be insurmountable objections. Mr. Goodyear seemed to be impressed with the idea that nature never plays practical jokes, and that what had already been accomplished in the uses of rubber was simply an earnest of what might be realized. Acting upon this conjecture, we see him devoting himself to the elucidation of the mysterious problem. Two important points were to be gained. To those acquainted with the India-rubber or gum-elastic, it is well known that after it has been subjected to a certain tension for any considerable time, it loses its elasticity; also, that during hot weather it melts and becomes sticky or adhesive, and in cold weather becomes stiff and rigid, and correspondingly less pliable. These important, in fact,fatalobjections must be removed, or India-rubber would become comparatively valueless. Mr. Goodyear engaged in the work with all the enthusiasm of his nature, and notwithstanding he was without money, and the sympathy of friends, and was frequently the subject of privations, hardships, and imprisonments, still he labored on, as though a presentiment of the discovery of the long sought for secret was continually before him, encouraging him to work and he should finally triumph. His persistent efforts were finally successful. The admixture of sulphur with the gum at a heat of about 270°, was the “open sesame” to the treasures which he ultimately realized in the prosecution of his labors.
The Commissioner of Patents of the United States, the Hon. Joseph Holt, in his late decision upon the “extension” of the Goodyear Patent, thus eloquently discourses concerning the early efforts of Mr. Goodyear, in the search of his ultimately wonderful discovery.
“As early as 1834–’5, Mr. Goodyear seems to have formed a most exalted estimate of the capabilities, as a material for manufacture, of the gum known as caoutchouc or India-rubber. This gum had been previously extensively employed in the fabrication of a variety of articles, but, owing to their indifferent quality, all concerned in these enterprises, as well as in those which followed for a series of years afterward, were involved in bankruptcy and ruin. The fabrics thus made could not keep the market, because they were found to grow rigid under the influence of cold, and to soften and become sticky under that of heat, while they rapidly decomposed when brought into contact with perspiration and the animal oils. The applicant was thoroughly convinced that these qualities, which had proved so disastrous to the trade, could be removed, and he set himself resolutely to work to ascertain the process for accomplishing this result. Sulphur had already been advantageously combined with India-rubber by Hayward, so that the discovery had been approached to its very verge. The step, however, which remained to be taken, short as it was, was indispensable, and without it all those which had preceded it would have been unavailing. Science could afford but little assistance in theinquiry, for, as the event proved, the most potent element in the process was too subtle to be disclosed by the severest chemical analysis. The applicant had therefore to pursue the investigation gropingly; but he persisted in it with an ardor and a courage which nothing could abate or daunt. His aim was definite, his conviction as to its attainability complete. As one who searches for a hidden treasure in a field where he knows it is to be found, so pursued he his explorations in quest of this secret. He sought it on the right hand and on the left, by day and by night, in the midst of ceaseless toil and lavish expenditure, and by the light of every form of experiment which his most fertile genius and daring spirit could suggest. He became completely master of everything known in regard to the properties of the material which it was his ambition to improve, and so thoroughly was he imbued with the soul of his inquiry, and so intensely quickened was his vigilance, that no phenomenon, however minute, could meet his eye, no sound, however faint, could fall upon his ear, without his at once detecting and appreciating its bearing upon the great problem whose solution he was seeking. From four to five years were passed in these unremitted labors, when an incident occurred which at once revealed the long sought truth. And it is a singular coincidence, that the spark of light yielded by this incident, was elicited by a collision, so to speak, the result of that intense zeal which, so far as health and fortune were concerned, had been the consuming fire of his life. In one of those animated conversations so habitual to him, in referenceto his experiments, a piece of India-rubber combined with sulphur, which he held in his hand as the text of all his discourses, was by a violent gesture thrown into a burning stove near which he was standing. When taken out, after having been subjected to a high degree of heat, he saw, what it may be safely affirmed would have escaped the notice of all others—that a complete transformation had taken place, and that an entirely new product—since so felicitously termed “elastic metal”—was the consequence. When subjected to further tests, the thrilling conviction burst upon him that success had at length crowned his efforts, and that the mystery he had so long wooed, now stood unveiled before him. His history in this respect is altogether parallel with that of the greatest inventors and discoverers who have preceded him. The lamp had swung for centuries in the Cathedral of Pisa, but of the thronging multitudes who worshipped there, none had heeded the lessons which it taught. It was reserved for the profound and observant intellect of young Galileo to extract from its oscillations the true laws of the pendulum, which led to the creation of an infallible measure of time. The theory of universal gravitation loses nothing of its grandeur or value because suggested by the falling of an apple from the tree. In all lands, by teeming millions, this phenomenon had been observed, but to none had it imparted instruction—to none had it spoken of that wonderful secret which lurked beneath its simple features. At length its “still small voice” fell upon the delicate and appreciative ear of one whom it startled into inquiry. The lightthus afforded, to which all had been blind, was indeed dim and twinkling; but, following its guidance, as one who traces back the dawn, the great Newton soon plunged into the full-orbed splendors of a discovery confessedly the most brilliant which has gilded and ennobled the annals of science. On all the hearthstones of the civilized world, for thousands of years the kettle had boiled and lifted its lid by the expansive power of its steam; yet for none had this seemingly trite and ever-recurrent incident been significant—to none had it announced that measureless power of which it was the humble but distinct exponent. At length the movement caught the eye of a lonely student of nature, then a prisoner in the Tower of London, and in the soil of his prolific mind it proved the rapidly expanding germ of that steam-engine whose triumphs have changed the social, political, and commercial aspects of the globe. So India-rubber in combination with sulphur may by accident have been exposed to a high degree of heat often before without attracting the attention of any; and it is safe to allege that it might have been thus exposed a thousand times afterwards, without the world’s having been wiser or wealthier for it. The thorough self-culture and training of the applicant and his unwearied researches prepared him at once to seize upon, to comprehend and embody in a practical form, the truth he sought, the moment it presented itself, no matter how dimly, to him. This was his merit—the same in kind with that of the most illustrious inventors who have appeared in the world, and by that of but a few of them surpassed in degree. It isa figure of speech—but an exalted mode of expression—which assigns to man any part in the work ofcreation.”
The importance of this discovery is well understood. Gum-elastic is thereby madepermanentlyelastic—it resists exposure to heat and cold—is elastic under compression—is impervious to wet—resists the action of solvents to a remarkable degree, and the attacks of vermin of all kinds. It can be moulded into almost every conceivable shape for use, or beauty. In the mechanical arts it has been subjected to a thousand uses, with remarkable success. And here we may remarken-passant, that gutta-percha was discovered subsequently, and is already a formidable rival of India-rubber inasmuch as the latter is affected by oils, and will, in a short time, except as a hard gum, become decomposed, whereas the former (gutta-percha) isnot affected in the least by oils or acids, in its pure state; and here is the grand secret of the failure of those shoe manufacturers, who, ignorant of the fact that those shoes or boots cemented by a rubber filament would in ashort time become useless, owing to the decomposition of the cement caused by the oil in the leather, were induced to make heavy outlays in the fitting up of large manufacturing establishments which were finallyabandonedfrom this cause alone. Gutta-percha is a firmer and more consistent gum than India-rubber. Gutta-percha when placed in boiling water contracts considerably in bulk, while India-rubber expands. Gutta-percha juice, when taken from the fire, is ofa dark brown color, and consolidates in a few moments, and becomes hard like wood. India-rubber sap is perfectly white, and has the appearance of thick cream; when it coagulates, it gives from four to six parts water out of ten. Gutta-percha first treated with water, alcohol, and ether, and dissolved with spirits of turpentine and precipitated, yields a substance consistent with the common properties of gutta-percha; but India-rubber similarly treated, results in a substance resembling in appearance gum arabic.
Gutta-percha by distillation yields 57⅔ per cent. of volatile matter; India-rubber by the same process, yields 85¾ per cent.
But Mr. Goodyear’s discoveries of vulcanization, as applied to the softer elastic compounds, did not end there. He continued his experiments for the space of five years from the time of his first grand discovery, when he obtained his patent forVulcanized Hard Rubber. This invention was the crowning result of his long, patient, and laborious researches.
Probably the entire history of inventions cannot furnish an instance of more intense self-sacrificing, entire self-immolation to the elucidation of a great scientific principle, than is shown in the persistent labors of Mr. Goodyear while in pursuit of the crowning discovery of the age. Let us read the glowing account of his toils and disappointments, his defeats and victories, as given by the Commissioner from whom we have previously quoted.
“From the first moment that the conception entered his mind until his complete success—embracinga period of from sixteen to eighteen years—he applied himself unceasingly and enthusiastically to its perfection and to its introduction into use, in every form that his fruitful genius could devise. So intensely were his faculties concentrated upon it that he seems to have been incapable of thought or of action upon any other subject. He had no other occupation, was inspired by no other hope, cherished no other ambition. He carried continually about his person a piece of India-rubber, and into the ears of all who would listen he poured incessantly the story of his experiments and the glowing language of his prophecies. He was, according to the witnesses, completely absorbed by it, both by day and night, pursuing it with untiring energy and with almost superhuman perseverance. Not only were the powers of his mind and body thus ardently devoted to the invention and its introduction into use, but every dollar he possessed or could command through the resources of his credit, or the influences of friendship, was uncalculatingly cast into that seething cauldron of experiment which was allowed no repose. The very bed on which his wife slept, and the linen that covered his table, were seized and sold to pay his board, and we see him, with his stricken household, following in the funeral of his child on foot, because he had no means with which to hire a carriage. His family had to endure privations almost surpassing belief, being frequently without an article of food in their house, or fuel in the coldest weather—and indeed it is said that they could not have lived through the winter of 1839, butfor the kind offices of a few charitable friends. They are represented as gathering sticks in the woods and on the edges of the highways, with which to cook their meals, and digging the potatoes of their little garden before they were half grown, while one of his hungry children, in a spirit worthy of his father, is heard expressing his thanks that this much had been spared to them. We often find him arrested and incarcerated in the debtor’s prison, but even amid its gloom his vision of the future never grew dim, his faith in his ultimate triumph never faltered. Undismayed by discomfitures and sorrows which might well have broken the stoutest spirit, his language everywhere, and under all circumstances, was that of encouragement and of a profound conviction of final success. Not only in the United States did he thus exert himself to establish and apply to every possible use his invention, but in England, France, and other countries of Europe, he zealously pursued the same career. In 1855, he appeared at the World’s Fair in Paris, and the golden medal and the Grand Cross of the Legion of Honor were awarded to him as the representative of his country’s inventive genius. Fortune, however, while thus caressing him with one hand, was at the same moment smiting him with the other; for we learn from the testimony that these brilliant memorials passed from the Emperor and reached their honored recipient, then the occupant of a debtor’s prison among strangers in a foreign land—thus adding yet another to that long sad catalogue of public benefactors who have stood neglected and impoverished in themidst of the waving harvest of blessings they had bestowed upon their race. Throughout all these scenes of trial, so vividly depicted by the evidence, he derived no support from the sympathies of the public. While the community at large seemed to have looked on him as one chasing a phantom, there were times when even his best friends turned away from him as an idle visionary, and he was fated to encounter on every side sneers and ridicule, to which each baffled experiment and the pecuniary loss it inflicted added a yet keener edge. The mercenary, naturally enough, pronounced his expenditures, so freely made, culpably wasteful; the selfish and the narrow-minded greeted the expression of his enlarged and far-reaching views as the ravings of an enthusiast; while it is fair to infer from the depositions, that not a few of the timid and plodding who cling, tremblingly apprehensive of change, to the beaten paths of human thought and action, regarded him as wandering on the very brink of insanity, if not already pursuing its wild and flickering lights. Such in all times has been the fate of the greatest spirits that have appeared on the arena of human discovery, and such will probably continue to be the doom of all whose stalwart strides carry them in advance of the race to which they belong. With such a record of toil, of privation, of courage and of perseverance in the midst of discouragements the most depressing, it is safe to affirm that not only has the applicant used that due diligence enjoined by law, but that his diligence has been, in degree and in merit, perhaps without parallel in the annals of invention.”
The change produced in the native gum has been aptly compared to the change which is wrought in the perishable hide by the process of tanning. We can hardly estimate the uses to which this “vulcanite” may be applied, or rather we may say we shall find it quite as difficult to say what uses itcannotbe made to subserve. It can hardly be denominated an improvement, but a creation. Daniel Webster in his great plea, Goodyearvs.Day, eloquently remarks that, “it introduces quite a new material into the manufacture of the arts, that material being nothing less thanelastic metal. It is hard like a metal, and as elastic as pure original gum elastic. It is as great and momentous a phenomenon occurring to men in the progress of their knowledge, as it would be for a man to show that iron and gold could remain iron and gold, and yet become elastic as India-rubber.” Mr. Goodyear denominates this improvement “metallic gum elastic.” This article is extensively used, and may be wrought into thousand shapes, from massive blocks to the thinnest sheets. It is susceptible of a beautiful polish, and possesses great firmness and durability. It already constitutes an important staple of commerce. Millions of dollars are invested in its manufacture, both in Europe and America. It is largely wrought into imitations of marble, wood, leather, whalebone, shell, horn, &c. The imitation is so perfect as to deceive even a practised eye, and while it so closely resembles the various articles alluded to, it is more durable and permanent than many of them, inasmuch as it remains unaffected by heats or colds, dampness orextreme dryness; no corrosion, oxidation, nor decay. It excels in beauty, nicety of finish, and in durability, those trinkets of glass and jet, which, in the common form, are so liable to instant destruction by children.
Few persons have any adequate conception of the wonderful transformations to which vulcanite may be changed, or its important position in the industrial arts.
Having traced at length the discovery of vulcanization and its contingent results, we now call attention to remarks that have appeared in various English scientific works, of acknowledged authority. The whole process of vulcanization and its application is fully and clearly set forth. And here we would remark that the English have not been backward in publishing with commendable liberality the various discoveries and improvements as they were perfected. On the other hand, all the American inventors have studiously avoided, not only the publication of their discoveries, but have endeavored to obstruct and prevent all investigation, the publication of which would simply make known to the world the results of their genius. The object seems to have been to throw an air of mystery around their discoveries, and by thus preserving to themselves their secrets, be enabled to place an undue value upon the manufactured article. Were they not fully protected in the manufacture and sale of their goods, by the patents which have been so lavishly granted, American inventors would be fully justified in preserving as profound secrets, the results of their perseverance and patient toil, but as it is, we can see no substantialreason for this endeavor to shield from the public eye that which would add to the general stock of scientific knowledge, and could but be honorable to the manliness and genius of the discoverer.
We are indebted to theLondon Mechanic’s Magazinefor many of the valuable thoughts which we shall now introduce to the reader.
CHAPTER II.VULCANIZATION.
We have attempted to show, that amongst the number of advantages claimed for the hard vulcanized India-rubber, is that of the power of closely imitating almost any article, substance, or material. In doing this, we ought to have referred to the Vulcanite Court of the Crystal Palace for a full corroboration of the position we desired to assume. We are now about to advance a step farther, and shall put forward proofs that hard India-rubber, submitted to a certain facile process, not only has a right to be placed side by side with almost all and every material it affects to imitate, but has a further right to be considered as superior. Of course there are exceptionable cases to this, as in all rules, and these will be pointed out during this attempt to give a thought-bearing digest of the present position of this discovery.
The material produced by vulcanization being as hard as, and capable of a greater amount of wear, than iron, brass, and, in many cases, even than steel, we have the element of durability to start with; andit must be recollected, that this wonderful power of resisting wear, both from friction and the action of the atmosphere is endowed by a process as facile as that possessed by the baker of ship biscuits. That while the mass or dough is in its soft state, it falls into, and as it were, courts the required form of its future existence with a fluency possessed by scarcely any other material. Designs of the most exquisite kind, or of the simplest character, may thus be turned out like tea cakes, and like tea cakes carried to the vulcanizing oven. But here, the simile stops, for these biscuits of Mr. Goodyear defy the teeth of time and the digestion of ages. There are manufacturers, however, that cry out, “we don’t want articles that will last.” This is a narrow view of things. Experience is opposed to so unjust a sentiment. A moment’s thought would forever dispel the illusion. Is there any less demand for iron furniture or iron household utensils, because such articles in that metal will last longer than others? Or is the diamond less prized because it is nearly indestructible? The family of mankind, ever growing and increasing, with its varied wants, its constant changes of fortune and alterations in its tastes, its coquetry, and its caprice, will find for the industry of the world quite enough to keep it employed.
With the introduction of machinery there was to have been a less demand for “hands;” with the introduction of railways, horses were literally to go to the dogs. Need instances be multiplied? Perhaps it would be better to do so, while such a feeling is in the ascendant; but space is imperative, although prejudiceis stubborn. But, very naturally observes the reader who has possessed himself of some one or more of the specimens from the Crystal Palace, “this quality of cheapness is a myth.” I for one have put it to the test, and this stick, for instance, cost me 5s.or this pencil 2s.Now, in the first place, the stick or the pencil should be compared with any other sticks or pencils professing all the recommendations of those in question, to arrive at a fair appreciation; and in the next, it should be remembered that those examples are produced from abroad. They bear a duty, and in many cases, they proceed from small and experimental operations. We have made especial inquiries into these facts, and find that such is the case, and that such circumstances are no more than reasonable, as appertaining to every invention upon its first introduction.
The Daguerreotype is a case in point. The inventor, and all those concerned in placing the discovery before the public, take care that the prices shall be kept so that a remuneration shall be obtained before it is let down to the bare cost of production, added, it may be, to interest upon capital employed.
The mass, in its soft stage, does its own work; that is to say, a sheet of it may be laid over a mould, and the bare weight of a shovel full of sand cast upon it will press it into every lineament of the matrix. This sheet of the soft material may have for its components, a large proportion of oxide or of saw-dust, as the desire may be either an imitation of bronze or of some particular wood, or other material. * * *
Mr. Charles Goodyear, in an unpublished workupon the subject, states that the first pair of India-rubber over-shoes were made by himself and daughter in a cellar in New York. There are now millions of them made each year at the various India-rubber mills throughout America, France and Belgium. But a singular desire to appreciate and follow sequences, and an indomitable perseverance in conquering difficulties, appears to have acted upon the industrious mind of Mr. Goodyear, in this direction with peculiar force. The India-rubber over shoe perfected, Mr. Goodyear did not sit down quietly to contemplate his work, even when apparently complete, but strongly convinced that there was more to do than covering the feet of nations with a water-proof substance, however symmetrical in its form and comfortable in its fit under almost every circumstance, he felt that if the leather boot or shoe could be altogether dispensed with, and there could be substituted for it an India-rubber boot or shoe, a boon of priceless worth would be conferred upon humanity, the more so as the item of boots and shoes to a poor family, or even to a person of moderate means, was one of considerable importance. To reduce the cost of this article of clothing, and to give to the poor man a pair of boots at one-third of the present expense, and not as now, at more than one-half of his week’s wages, has been one of the special objects of Mr. Goodyear’s untiring life. That he will succeed in this, there now exists not a shadow of doubt. The combinations of the hard, the semi-hard, and the soft vulcanized India-rubber, have given him all the needful elements of success, and ere long, boots and shoesof India-rubber which need not a morsel of leather for their formation, will be as plentiful as over-shoes are now, and even more so. The power of the hard, the semi-hard, and the soft vulcanized India-rubber to resist wear, is one of their extraordinary features. Heels, for instance, made of the soft material, have been put on to shoes of boys at the United Parish School at Norwood, and on to the toes of the same boots iron tips of the eighth of an inch have been secured. The result of this test has been that the iron has been worn out, and the heel, when removed and weighed, has scarcely suffered the slightest appreciable difference in weight or density. Mr. Goodyear has already made arrangements to disperse heels of this material by the hogshead. He fashions them in a circular form making the outer margin of the hard material and the inner circle of the soft. The hard material is smooth and beautifully polished. It does not require blacking, and will keep its lustre a long time. The centre bulb projects beyond the surface of the hard ring, and when trodden upon yields and is flattened by the weight of the body. One of the applications of this form of heel bears directly upon the perfectibility of a boot or shoe wholly made of India-rubber. In the first place, the rotary principle of heel is employed which one might suppose almost an unnecessary arrangement, and in the next, the peculiar form of the bulb or lobe acts when pressed upon as a valve or air-pump, and sends at every step into those shoes or boots properly prepared, a certain amount of air, or perhaps it would be more correct to say, it displaces a certain amount of airwhich finds renewal from other parts of the boot. Is a boot made unsightly?—not in the least. They are really elegant in form and general contour. Our readers are familiar with the corrugated dress boots. The India-rubber boots we have seen closely imitated these, but it may be added, that in thus copying, Mr. Goodyear copies his own, as the corrugated dress boot was introduced more to prepare the eye for what was to follow, than to give the beau of New York, of Paris, and of London, any particular style of dress boot. In this, Mr. Goodyear displays a consummate knowledge of human nature. Had he brought out a corrugated boot without this avant courier and child of fashion, his invention might have possessed very essential recommendations but that of “optical familiarity,” and the work of years would have been as nought.
We may mention here a characteristic of Mr. Goodyear’s inventive genius. He considers failures as stepping-stones to success. He tells one of the many well selected aids by whom he is surrounded, to do such and such a thing. The mechanician returns after giving his earnest attention to the task, with a something so clumsy or so ridiculous that it either raises the fear of censure or the dread of laughter as the reward of his pains; but neither laughter or censure await him. The result is just what its originator expected; the practical application confirms his views. A dozen failures, perhaps fifty, perhaps two hundred, wait upon these efforts, but with this valuable difference, that each failure approaches, directly or indirectly, the something that the minddesired to arrive at. Thus, each thing is, as it were, hemmed in; it is check-mated by these far-seeing moves, and science, the antagonist in this noble game, renders up the coveted object of an intellectual struggle. In a word, it is a practical exercise of inductive philosophy, or the algebra of mechanics getting at positive and useful facts by means mysterious and unintelligible to ordinary comprehensions.
CHAPTER III.VULCANIZATION.
Camphine or turpentine, oil of sassafras, and all the essential oils, are faithful tests of the quality of gum elastic, and as certain in their tale-telling as nitric acid is of the genuineness of gold. As the native gums, and also the common manufacture of gum elastic have the same general appearance as those that are vulcanized, more particularly to persons not acquainted with the manufacture nor judges of the goods, these tests are of the utmost importance, not alone to determine whether the goods are genuine, but also to ascertain whether those that are vulcanized are properly done. When these tests are applied to any fabric of native gum, it is rendered very adhesive, and so quickly as to destroy any light fabric almost immediately, while upon goods that are well vulcanized, they should have no such effect. If they do so the manufacture is bad.
Although the manufacture of hard India-rubber goods, by the process of vulcanizing, is extensively known and appreciated in the United States, and in France and Belgium, very little appears to be understood in Great Britain. Indeed, in Birmingham,which is justly termed the “work-shop of the world,” little or nothing, or if anything, a something amounting to a misunderstanding, would comprise the quantity of intelligence upon the subject. There can be little doubt, however, that as the infinite capabilities of the material become known, and justly esteemed, and its amazing applications get manifested, no one thing of late years, surprising as the changes have been in that neighborhood, will have caused so great a revolution in very many of the staple manufactures of that town as will the introduction of this discovery.
As regards the power to be used in the manufacture, steam has a decided advantage over water, as in the plastic state of the mass there exists a variety of proceedings, according to the nature of the material to be made or the object to be imitated, in which steam would have to play a conspicuous part. But it must be in this country as in America and elsewhere, that as the manufacture extends, so will the best and most suitable machinery and power be devised and rendered subservient to its development. When the manufacture is favored with the advantages of steam power, and large capital, the most profitable results have been and are attendant upon it; and perhaps there are few manufactures which require less comparative space, and in which less waste is consequent. There should not be a particle of the substance lost, as all cuttings, sweepings of the factory, and the very dust upon all things around, can be re-worked with profit and advantage. Indeed, it is here that we should make publicly known the fact that every article of vulcanized India-rubber, bearsits value according to its make and kind, however old it may be.
As a general impression exists that India-rubber when once vulcanized cannot be again used, this statement should be borne in mind, and the greatest publicity given to it in order that the millions of pounds now lying waste in the shape of galoshoes, &c., may not be heedlessly thrown away. The old Jew clothesmen will at once open their eyes to the fact, and the valet or humble servant girl will find in their collection and sale an increase to their perquisites, in proportion to the consciences of those with whom they deal.
Here, then, we have important elements of economy, at the very beginning and end of the manufacture, if end that can have which has the attribute of a renewal of usefulness. Galoshoes may be called in as worn out sovereigns and shillings are now, and returning to their mint, be melted up and re-stamped for renewed circulation. Another advantage in the manufacture is, that the same tools are employed for its various branches, and the same operatives can be turned from the making of one description of an article to another, without delay or expense. A girl, for instance, who may be engaged as the maker of garments one day, may become the next a trunk, a harness, or a shoemaker; and on the third, find herself occupied in pressing out of the soft and ductile mass brooches, and other articles of adornment, which being afterwards vulcanized, and thus rendered almost imperishable, may serve to encircle the neck, clasp the arm, or hang pendantfrom the waist of Britain’s fairest daughters. The machinery employed in the manufacture of India-rubber, since the first attempts to work it, has been subjected to variation and gradual improvement. Numerous expedients and divers machines were early tried for chopping, grinding and spreading the gum, and also for flowing it in a liquid or semi-liquid state, which have been abandoned. It is now generally agreed by manufacturers in this business, that the machinery is as near perfection as can be attained; that is to say, they are all satisfied with it. But in this age of improvements, we might see to-morrow one machine doing the work of two or more, and all calculations as to perfectibility obliterated, but to begin again upon fresh data. It must however be admitted that it is of the most simple kind, doing the work well and with astonishing rapidity, although requiring great mechanical power, owing to the toughness and tenacity of the gum. The machine used for cutting and washing the gum is the same as that employed by paper-makers in cutting rags. A large proportion of the India-rubber was nearly useless from the quantity of bark in it until this engine came into use. Gum-elastic or India-rubber can be readily mixed or combined with almost every other substance. It may be mixed with other gums, oils, coal-tar, carbon, and with the earths, and oxides or pulverized metals or ores. It can likewise be combined with all fibrous products.
It is compounded in the manufacture with many of the above substances, for the purpose of obtaining particular advantages for special uses. Ground corkand other light materials are sometimes mixed with the gum to increase the bulk, and make the articles light. The oxides of metals, their filings and pulverized silicas will give imitations of marble. The fibre of cotton, or the dust of different woods will afford simulations of wood of greater or less gravity, as may be required. The combining of plumbago gives the crayon; oxide of zinc, produces lithographic stone, and so on, and on. Pigments and earths are used for color and cheapness, and to increase the weight of the fabric as in the case of carpeting. Bitumen and rosin are sometimes used to give articles a finish, or high lustre. Oxides of some of the metals are used, but white lead and litharge are commonly preferred. From two to four ounces of either of these metals to the pound of gum cause the articles, and particularly those that are thick or massive, to be readily changed or vulcanized, and more completely, or with greater uniformity. Sulphur is applied through the medium of heat in different ways, according to the nature of the articles or fabrics, and their uses. It is generally mixed in the process of crushing or grinding the gum, in the proportion of half an ounce of sulphur to the pound of gum for the vulcanized elastic goods, and about five or six ounces to the pound of gum for the “vulcanite,” or hard goods. In the former case, about 270° of heat are necessary, and in the latter, 300 to 310°. At other times the sulphur is dusted upon the articles in the form of flour of sulphur before they are placed in the heater or oven. This is commonly done in the manufacture of elastic thread and other articles, which possess noextraneous mixture, in which case the gum is penetrated or impregnated with the sulphur, without its being mixed with the gum in the crude state.
Enough has been given in this chapter to permit of the intelligent and thoughtful at once following us, in the manufacture and finish of—we will say for example—buttons. The mass in a tough but plastic state, a toughness and plasticity in combination with which there exists no approachable parallel—having been so rendered by simply plunging it into boiling water, becomes of as easy manipulation as clay. Indeed the material in this stage being so like clay, we can scarcely point to any better illustration than the porcelain button manufacture, which being familiar to most, there can be no need to detail. Treated thus like clay, the moulds may be filled by the gross, and the buttons afterwards submitted to vulcanization. The moulds may bear any impress, and however fine such patterns may be, the material will receive and retain them after vulcanization, to a degree which will defy every power that destroys all other substances short of those of actual cutting, filing, or grinding. Thus a button is produced at an extraordinary economical rate, and with marvellous ease, which, while comparing the facility of its origin to that of the porcelain, possesses the superlative qualities of being comparable with one made with the properties and strength of iron or other metal, and in imitation of bronze, ivory, cameo, and is, indeed, a substitute for any other, and the very best material or thing ever used for button making. In a word, it may possess the closest similitude to themost exquisite carving, with the properties of bronze, ivory, or any hard and scarce material. The applications as far as results are concerned, are attended with like favorable characteristics, whether the article produced be nearly every one of those innumerable and familiar things, which meet us at each turn, either within the palace or cottage, or the many others to be met with out of doors.