Chapter XVIII: Part 18

The idea of ghosts is the result of a mistake of the brain or an attempt to account for something of which we see the results, but have no actual knowledge. There are no ghosts. There are many forces at work in the world of which we know nothing as yet. Many of the wonderful things that occur in the world are as yet mysteries to the mind of man. Every little while man discovers one of these new forces, and then he is able to understand many things plainly which were up to then surrounded with mystery and in the minds of superstitious people attributed to spirits or ghosts. Long before we understood as much as we do now of the workings of electricity (and they say we know only a little of its wonders as yet) many of the natural wonders produced by electricity were attributed to ghosts.

Most of the marvelous tales of the wonders performed by and visits from ghosts are the result of disturbances of the brain in the people who think they see the ghosts and the results of their work.

A creature without imagination does not pretend to see or believe in ghosts. Man is the only animal which possesses the ability to imagine things and so the ghosts we hear about are the creatures of the disturbed brains of men. Generally in the ghost stories we hear of, the ghost is described as wearing clothes--usually white. A bed sheet thrown over the foot of the bed may appear to a half-awake person as the outline of the figure of a ghost and to one of a highly imaginative temperament without the courage of investigation, become forever a real ghost. Usually what is supposed to be a ghost is only a creation of the mind--a vision such as we can develop during a dream--oftentimes, however, what you look at when you think you see a ghost is an actual something such as the sheet referred to, but which takes the form of the ghost in the brain of the person who is looking at it through eyes that really see it, but out of a brain that for the moment at least is far off its balance.

Why Do Girls Like Dolls?

Girls like dolls because they come into the world for the purpose of becoming mothers and the love which they display for dolls is the mother instinct which begins to show itself early in life. To the little girl the doll is a make-believe child. It satisfies her as long as there are no real babies to take its place, but any little girl will drop her dollie if she is given an opportunity to play at dolls with a real live baby instead. This is a very interesting fact in connection with the human race. Boys sometimes play with dolls, but not so often, and any kind of a boy will give up playing with a doll as soon as a toy engine or some other boy’s toy appears for him. A boy has certain mannish instincts which a girl has not. We have many other instincts besides the instinct of parenthood and each of them has its origin in some certain kind of feeling which is born within us and is capable of development along interesting lines.

What Makes the Works of a Watch Go?

A watch like any other machine which we have, only goes when power is applied in some form or another. In the case of a watch it is a spring. A spring is an elastic body, such as a strip of steel, as in the case of the watch, coiled spirally which, when bent or forced out of its natural state, has the power of recovering its shape again by virtue of its elastic power. The natural state of a watch spring is to be open flat and spread out to its full length. When you wind a watch you coil this spring, i.e., you bend it out of its natural shape. As soon as you stop winding the spring begins to uncoil itself, trying to get back to its natural shape, and in doing so makes the wheels of the watch which operate the hands go round. The spring then, or rather its elasticity, which always makes an effort to get back to its natural state, is the power which makes the watch go. Men who make watches arrange the spring and the other machinery in the watch in such a way that it will uncoil itself only at a certain rate of speed. Sooner or later the spring loses its elasticity and then its power to make the watch go.

What Makes a Hot Box?

When you put oil on the axle, however, the oil fills up the hollows between the little irregular bumps on both the axle and the hub, and makes them both smooth--almost perfectly so. This reduces the friction and keeps the axle and hub from becoming hot and expanding. The less friction that is developed, the more easily the wheel will turn.

The Story in a Moving Picture

How Are Moving Pictures Made?

To begin at the beginning, we must start with the negative stock, or film on which the pictures are taken. This material is very much like the films you buy for the ordinary snap-shot camera, slightly heavier and of more durable quality, to stand the wear and tear of passing through the picture camera and the projecting machine used in exhibition. This film is 1³⁄₈ inches wide and comes in rolls of 200 feet in length. This negative stock has to be carefully perforated, making the holes necessary to conduct the film by aid of sprockets through the camera and the projectoscope. To still further understand this explanation, see illustrations of the negative stock. Having prepared the film in the dark room, we can load the camera in the dark room and proceed to take the picture.

In taking an industrial or travelogue picture, after the camera is in readiness, is not so much of an undertaking as taking a picture of a drama or comedy, wherein a plot and players are concerned. The travelogue or industrial pictures are simply photography, with the additional manipulation of panoraming or turning the camera, which requires an expert knowledge, acquired from experience and years of study. There is a distinction and a big difference between the ordinary photographer and the moving picture photographer, who is generally known as a “camera-man.” A photographer, therefore, though of vast experience, cannot step into a “camera-man’s” place and expect to “make good.” The latter has to depend entirely upon his special experience and judgment as to light and distance, focusing and general physical conditions of the moving-picture camera, which is affected by static and other electrical peculiarities of the atmosphere, to be avoided by him. These, and many other points, are convincing evidence that the moving-picture camera is entirely different from an ordinary photographic camera. A moving-picture camera and tripod weigh from fifty to one hundred pounds. There are two styles of cameras, one which takes a single film and one which takes two films at once, and each lens of the double camera must be equally well focused and every feature to be depicted must be brought within the focus, which generally occupies a radius of 8 feet in width by 10 feet in height.

Exact size of a Motion Picture Film]

When it comes to taking a photo-play, a drama or comedy, different conditions of a varied nature have to be contended with. To proceed intelligently in taking a photo-play, a scenario or manuscript is essential. It must be prefaced with a well-written synopsis of the story involved, cast of characters, scenes to be enacted and a list of properties required in the scenes. The director, or producer, of the play, being furnished with such a guide, proceeds to select the actors and actresses (called players) suitable for the parts and the filling of the cast. This being accomplished, he insists that each one of the players read the scenario in order to be familiar with his or her part and understand the whole play before going into the picture. The director instructs them as to the costumes fitting the parts and then confers with the costumer concerning the furnishing of proper dress for each one of the players. The director is ready to go on with the performance of the play, and tells his cast to appear for rehearsal at a set hour. At that time he puts them through a thorough course of training or rehearsal, to “get over” and register the meaning of each thought which is to be expressed by their actions. Sometimes a scene is rehearsed four to six hours before it is photographed. A one-reel play is generally 1000 feet in length, and it is very important that the director, if he has twenty scenes, for instance, to introduce within that 1000 feet, to time the scenes to the length of his film; that is, if he has twenty scenes within one thousand feet, each of the twenty scenes must not average more than one minute each. If one should happen to be more than one minute, then he has to condense another scene less than one minute, in order to bring all within the twenty minutes or 1000 feet.

REHEARSING SCENE IN STUDIO]

The Size of Each Picture on the Film.

So you can see from this that it needs very careful rehearsal and nice calculation to bring a well-acted and convincing play within so short a time, to tell the whole story intelligently. Having done all this, the director is ready to have the “camera-man” do his part of the work. He draws his lines within the range of the camera, which do not exceed eight or ten feet in the foreground. This is another point to be considered on the part of the director, because all the action has to be carried out within the eight feet of space, which is really confined to that much stage width. Here again is where the camera-man has to watch very carefully, not only the workings of his camera, but the players; always alert that they are in the picture, and assisting the director by his observations. The size of each picture as taken on the film is ³⁄₄ by 1 inch. It is magnified ten thousand times its actual size when we see it on the screen in a place of exhibition. A full reel of 1000 feet shows 16,000 photographs on the screen during the twenty minutes it consumes in its showing. The future of moving pictures is no longer a matter of speculation. The business is an established one, and its further developments are only matters of time. The possibilities and uses of the animated art are unlimited. Already it is felt in educational, religious, scientific, and industrial affairs. Their influence in matters of sanitation and all civic improvements, construction and mechanics, is invaluable. As a medium of wholesome entertainment and solid instruction it is unsurpassed.

These are merely suggestions of a few phases of its utility and it is only a natural conclusion that it will be so far-reaching in its uplift that it will surpass the expectations of the most sanguine.

To develop, tint and clear the films, large tanks of wood or soapstone are used. The films, which are wound upon the wooden frames, or racks, are dipped into these vats, filled with the necessary chemicals and liquids. The films being wound on frames enables the developers to examine them without handling them. The tinting is done by similar methods to give the necessary tint, coloring in red, sepia, blue, green or yellow, imparting to them the effect of night, sunlight or evening, whichever the case may be. The films are finally cleared, to wash them clear of any extraneous chemicals or matter which might streak or scratch the films, and avoid any objectionable matter that might mar their appearance when shown on the screen or in the process of handling.

~EACH PICTURE IS FIRST EXHIBITED AT THE STUDIO~

As soon as convenient after a film is finished it is taken to the exhibition rooms, at the studio, where it is thrown onto the screen. It is reviewed first by the heads of the departments and the directors, and later by players and all those interested in it. The projectoscopes or moving-picture machines are run by motor, presided over by licensed operators, who are kept on the job continually.

These exhibition rooms are called, in the parlance of the studios, “knocklodeums,” for here is where everything is criticised. Players’ acting and fitness are judged by their appearance and conduct on the screen and decision given as to their qualifications. The quality of the photography, developing and the picture as a finished production is here determined by the heads of the concern.

~THE BOARD OF CENSORS PASSES ON EVERY PICTURE~

Every picture before it is released for exhibition must be passed upon by the Board of Censors. It is run upon the screen and thoroughly inspected, criticised, and every point involved thoroughly weighed as to its effect upon the mind of the general public. If, in their estimation, it is found objectionable in any particular, the objectionable parts are eliminated, and if considered entirely harmful, in its sentiments or influence, the picture is condemned. The majority rules in the board’s judgment, although it is by no means infallible in its decision. This board is composed of about sixty persons, who are appointed by the government for their general qualifications, their interest in the general welfare of the public, keenness as to morals and uplift of the people at large. They do not receive salaries; their services are _pro bono publico_.

THE STORY IN “PIGS IS PIGS”

VITAGRAPH FAMOUS AUTHORS’ SERIES BY ELLIS PARKER BUTLER.

_You Have Seen Pigs, but Never Such Pigs as These. Two of Them Become
Eight Hundred Pigs so Rapidly, They Set Bunny Daffy and Almost Ruin
the Express Business._

_Director_--GEORGE D. BAKER. _Author_--ELLIS PARKER BUTLER.

CAST.

_Flannery, an Express Agent_ JOHN BUNNY
_Mr. Morehouse_ ETIENNE GIRARDOT
_Clerk in Complaint Dept._ COURTLAND VAN DEUSEN
_Head of Claims Dept._ WILLIAM SHEA
_Mr. Morgan, Head of Tariff Dept._ ALBERT ROCCARDI
_President of Company_ ANDERS RANDOLF
_Prof. Gordon_ GEORGE STEVENS

After a strenuous argument with Flannery, the local Express Agent, Mr. Morehouse refuses to pay the 30c charges on each of two guinea pigs shipped him, claiming they are pets and subject to the 25c rate. Flannery replies, “Pigs is pigs and I’m blame sure them animals is pigs, not pets, and the rule says, ‘30c each.’” Mr. Morehouse writes many times to the Express Company, claiming guinea-pigs are not common pigs, and each time is referred to a different department. Flannery receives a note from the Tariff Department inquiring as to condition of consignment, to which he replies, “There are eight now! All good eaters. Paid out two dollars for cabbage so far.” The matter finally reaches the President, who writes a friend, a Zoological Professor. Unfortunately that gentleman is in South Africa, causing a delay of many months, during which time the pigs increase to 160. At last word is received from the learned man proving that guinea-pigs are not common pigs. Flannery is then ordered to collect 25c each for two guinea-pigs and deliver the entire lot to consignee. There are now 800 and Flannery is horrified to find Morehouse has moved to parts unknown. He is about to give up in despair when the company orders him to forward the entire collection to the Main Office, to be disposed of as unclaimed property, in accordance with the general rule.]

Who Made the First Moving Pictures?

~THE FIRST MOVING PICTURE CAMERA~

The first device which produced the motion-picture effect was nothing but a scientific toy. The idea is almost as old as pictures themselves. This toy we speak of was called a zoetrope. It consisted of a whirling cylinder having many slits in the outside through which you could see by looking into the cylinder a picture opposite each slit. The pictures were drawn by hand and the artist aimed to place the pictures within the cylinder in such order that each succeeding one would represent the next successive motion of any moving object in making a movement as near as he could draw it; when the cylinder was whirled with the slits on a level with the eye, the effect produced was of a continuous moving picture.

A great many devices were produced as a result of this toy for presenting the effect of pictures so arranged, but until photography was invented no way was found for making the pictures to be viewed except such as were drawn by artists. But when photography was developed it was possible to get actual successive photographs. The greatest difficulty was found in taking photographs in such quick succession that all of the motions in the moving object were taken without any skipping. This difficulty was for the first time successfully overcome by Muybridge in 1877. He arranged a row of twenty-four cameras with string trigger shutters, the string of each shutter being stretched across a race track. A moving horse approaching down the track broke the strings as he came to them, thus operating each of the cameras in turn in quick succession and securing a series of pictures of the moving horse within a very short time. There were twenty-four pictures to this film when reproduced in the devices then known for projecting pictures, and this method required one camera for each section of the picture produced. Of course, the length of the series was thus limited greatly.

About ten years later Le Prince arranged what he called a multiple camera. This was as a matter of fact a battery of sixteen automatically reloading cameras in which strips of film were used. Each of the sixteen cameras took a picture in turn and then automatically brought another strip of the film into position, so that camera number one took the seventeenth picture, the twenty-third, the forty-ninth, etc., and each of the other cameras took their various pictures in turn. With this camera a film of any required length could be produced.

The Le Prince camera was therefore the real parent from which the modern motion-picture camera sprang. The first really modern motion-picture camera was built in a single case with a battery of sixteen separate lenses and sixteen shutters. These were operated by turning a crank. The pictures were taken on four strips of film. When the crank was turned the exposure was made to each of the sixteen lenses in succession, and when the series was completed the films were cut apart and pasted together in a single strip of film, the pictures themselves being arranged in the proper order. The principal development of this camera, as found in the present method of making motion pictures, is the invention of the flexible film negatives; the transparent support for the print which permits the pictures to be projected in enlarged form upon a screen; and the system of holes in the margin of the film by which the film is held in perfect alignment for projecting the pictures.

But a few years ago, then, the motion picture was a child’s toy. To-day it forms the basis for not only a very large and profitable business for many people, but a source of amusement and education to millions of people at reasonable prices. To-day the motion-picture business is regarded as one of the world’s greatest industries.

No corner of the world is so far remote but the motion-picture man finds his way there, either as an exhibitor or as a producer. Nothing happens in the world to-day but the motion-picture man with his camera is on the job if it is a happening that can be preserved in motion pictures and worthy of that. The dethronement of kings and the inaugurations of presidents are all alike to him. If there is a war, he is found in all parts of the field, and is the first to see the parade when there is a peace jubilee. Disasters, horrors, heroes and criminals pass before his lens and he gives us a moving panorama of everything that is interesting, in nature, in real life, and in fiction.

Taking Motion Pictures a Simple Operation.

Motion-picture photography is mechanically simple and the projection of the pictures on the screen was made possible by the improvement in dry plates which made instantaneous photography successful, together with the invention of the process of using celluloid films for negatives. Motion pictures consist of a series of photographs made rapidly and then projected rapidly on the screen. In this way one picture follows another so quickly that the change from one picture to another is not noticed and the movements and actions of the persons or things photographed are reproduced in a life-like manner.

Is the Hand Quicker Than the Eye?

There is no question that the hand can be moved so quickly that the eye cannot detect the movement. This is proved by the motion picture when projected on the screen. In moving pictures the quickness of the machine deceives the eye and the transition from one picture to another is done so rapidly that the change is not seen and the apparent movement is continuous and unbroken.

The film made by the motion picture is a “negative” in which the colors are reversed, the blacks being white and the whites black, exactly as in still photography. The film used in the projection machine is a “positive,” in which the lights and shadows have their proper values. The principle and process is exactly the same as in making lantern slides and window transparencies.

Does the Film Move Continuously?

In making the negative for the motion picture the film does not move forward regularly, but it goes by jumps. It is absolutely still at the moment of exposure. The same is true in projecting the picture on the screen. In most projection machines the film is stationary three times as long as it is in motion, though in some machines the proportion is one in six. In the taking of the picture, the film is really stationary one-half of the time. As pictures are usually projected at the rate of fourteen or sixteen to the second, this means that each separate picture appears on the screen three-fourths of one-sixteenth of a second, or three-sixty-fourths of a second, and

How Are Freak Pictures Made?

Freak pictures are usually the result of clever manipulation of the camera or the film. Articles or individuals can be made to instantly disappear by stopping the camera while the article is removed or the person walks off the stage, the other characters holding their pose until the camera is again put in motion. In some films in which a person is thrown from a height or is apparently crushed under a steam roller the effect is gained by the live person walking away after the camera is stopped and a dummy substituted to undergo the death penalty.

By projecting the picture at a faster rate than it was taken, excruciatingly comic scenes are sometimes devised. An automobile going ten miles an hour, by speeding up the projection machine, may be made to apparently move at a hundred miles an hour, and by increasing in the same way the apparent speed of persons dodging the demoniac auto exceedingly ludicrous effects are had.

By mechanical means in combining two or more negatives into one positive a man can be shown fencing with himself or even cutting his own head off.

Pictures by courtesy of the Vitagraph Company.

WASH ROOM.[4]]

[4] These and the following Pictures by courtesy of the Goodyear Tire
and Rubber Co.

The Story in a Ball of Rubber

How Crude Rubber Is Treated.

_Washing._--When the crude rubber arrives at the factory of the rubber manufacturer, it is generally stored in bins in dark and fairly cool store-rooms, where it is kept until ready to be used. The rubber passes directly from the storage bins to the wash-room, where it is cut up into small pieces, put into large vats of warmed water and allowed to soak, in order to soften it sufficiently to be broken down in the machines. It is then fed into a cracker, a machine consisting of two rolls with projections on their surfaces shaped like little pyramids, the two rolls revolving with a differential, one going considerably faster than the other, and being adjustable, so that they can work close together or with some distance between them. The rubber is fed between these rolls and broken down into a coarse, spongy mass. Water flows on to the rubber during the process, bringing down sand, dirt, bark, and the many other foreign materials which come mixed with the rubber. The rubber is put through this machine a number of times, until it is worked into a uniform condition. Some of the rubbers, like the Ceylons and Paras, will sheet out into a coarse sheet by being put through this machine; others, like the majority of the African rubbers, will fall apart and come down in chunks and have to be fed into the machine with a shovel.

CALENDER ROOM.]

After the rubber is broken down sufficiently in the cracker, it is next put through a washing machine, which is built very similar to the cracking machine, except that the rolls are grooved or rifled, so that their action is not so severe on the rubber. A large quantity of water is kept constantly running over this machine while the rubber is being put through, and the rolls work very close together, so that the rubber is finely ground and run out into a thin and comparatively smooth sheet, allowing the water flowing between the rolls to take out practically all of the foreign matter that remains. The rubber is run through this machine a number of times until the experienced inspectors in charge are satisfied that it is thoroughly washed. Some types of rubber, such as Manicoba, which have large quantities of sand in them, are washed in a special form of washing machine known as the beater washer. This is an endless, oval-shaped trough with a fast-revolving paddle-wheel. In this machine the rubber is submerged in water, after being broken down in the cracker, and the sand is literally knocked out of it by the paddle-wheel. The sand drops to the bottom of the machine, where if is drained off, while the rubber floats to the top and is there gathered and then put through a regular washing machine for the final sheeting out.

_Drying._--From the wash-room the rubber goes to the dry-room. Before the rubber can be used in any articles of commercial value, it must be thoroughly dried, as any moisture in the stock would turn to steam during the vulcanizing process and cause blisters or blow-holes to form in the goods. There are two ways in which rubber is usually dried. The method mostly used, and which is generally practiced with all the better grades of gums, is to hang the washed strips on horizontal poles and space them in aisles, so that air can freely circulate all around the surface of the rubber, the dry-room being kept at a constant temperature. To properly dry the rubbers by this method takes from four to six weeks. The other method of drying is by means of a vacuum-drier. Low-grade rubbers which have a comparatively large percentage of resin in their composition cannot bear their own weight when hung on horizontal poles, but drop off and stick in piles on the floor. Hence, these rubbers have to be dried in a peculiar manner. They are laid in trays which are placed into a large air-tight receptacle. The air is then withdrawn from this receptacle and the interior heated by means of steam coils. This allows the water to be evaporated off from the rubber at a considerably lower temperature than that at which water boils under atmospheric pressure, and at such a low temperature, and in such a short time, that the rubber is not affected. By this process these rubbers can be dried in a few hours.

_Mixing._--After the rubber has been thoroughly dried, it is ready to be mixed in proper proportions with the various ingredients which are used in rubber compounding, to give the desired quality of rubbers for the various products for which they are intended. In order that rubber shall vulcanize, it is necessary to mix with it a certain proportion of sulphur, vulcanizing, or curing, as it is sometimes called, being merely the changing of a physical mixture of rubber and sulphur into a chemical compound of these ingredients, by the application of heat. Besides sulphur, some of the more important ingredients used in compounding rubber are:

_Zinc oxide._--This toughens the rubber and increases its wearing properties and tensile strength.

_Barium sulphate._--This stiffens the rubber and adds weight, so reducing the cost.

_Lithopones._--This whitens the stock and makes it soft, and is used extensively in druggists’ sundries.

_Antimony sulphide._--This makes the stock red and is a preservative against oxidation.

_Litharge._--This has the same action as antimony sulphide, but makes the stock black.

_White lead._--This hastens the cure and is extensively used in gray and black stocks, and is a good filler or weight adder.

_Magnesia oxide and carbonate._--These are used as fillers for white stocks.

_Oxide of iron._--Used for coloring red and yellow stocks.

_Lime_ (unslacked).--This hastens vulcanization and chemically removes any water left in the rubber.

_Whiting._--This is used only as a cheap filler to increase quantity and lower cost.

_Aluminum silicate._--This is used chiefly as a filler.

There are also used in compounding what are known as the various substitutes. These are chiefly linseed oil products and mineral hydrocarbons which are more or less elastic, and act somewhat as a flux.

Why Don’t We Use Pure Rubber?

There seems to be a general impression that the various ingredients which are mixed with rubber are put into the compounds merely to cheapen the product and to lower the grade of the material. This is true in many cases, such as the general line of molded goods, rubber heels, bicycle grips, automobile bumpers, etc., but in many cases, such as tires, packing, belting, etc., these ingredients are added to toughen the gum, increase its wearing qualities, to make it indestructible when subjected to heat, or to make it soft and yielding so that it can be forced into fabric, etc.

~PROCESS NECESSARY TO MAKING RUBBER GOODS~

In the general process of manufacture the sheeted rubber is sent directly from the dry-room to the compound-room, where the various ingredients are weighed out into proper proportions along with the rubber to make up a batch, and placed in receptacles ready to be mixed. The batch is then sent into the mill-room to be mixed into a uniform pasty mass, which is the characteristic uncured, or so-called green, rubber compound. The mixing is done in the mill. This is a very heavy machine, constructed similarly to a cracker and a washer except that it is much larger and heavier, and the rolls are perfectly smooth and run closer together. No water at all is used on the batch during the mixing. There are steam and cold water connections to the mills which are connected with hollow spaces inside the rolls, so that the latter can be kept at any temperature desired. The general process of mixing is as follows:

First the rubber portion of the batch is thrown into the mill and is worked and warmed up until it takes on a very sticky and plastic consistency. When it has arrived at a certain stage of plasticity, the various compounds in the batch, which are always in the form of very fine powders, are thrown in the mill, being worked by the rolls into the rubber. The compounds are generally thrown on, a small amount at a time, until they are all taken up by the rubber. The batch is then allowed to go through and through the mill, over and over again, until the mixture is absolutely uniform throughout the whole mass. The consistency of the rubber, during this operation, is such that the batch can be made endless around one of the rolls of the mill, so that it is constantly feeding itself between the rolls.

After the batch is properly mixed, it is cut off the rolls in sheets and rolled up and sent to the green-stock store-room. In this store-room the compounded, uncured gums are kept in different bins, according to the nature of the compound, and are there allowed to season a certain length of time, after which they are delivered to the various departments of the factory in which they are going to be used.

Another form in which rubber is used is the so-called Rubber-Cement. Rubber or any of its compounds are readily soluble in naphtha. In this process, the compounds, after being milled, are chewed up and washed in specially constructed cement-mills and there mixed with a certain proportion of naphtha which gives a thick solution.

_Spreading and calendering._--Rubber which is used for the general line of molded goods, solid tires, some kinds of tubing, etc., goes directly to the various departments from the green-stock store-room, while rubber used for boots and shoes, waterproof fabrics, many of the druggists’ sundries, belting, pneumatic tires, inner tubes, etc., has to be sheeted out, and some of it forced into fabric before it goes to the various departments. This sheeting-out of the gum, as well as applying the rubber to fabrics, is done generally by two methods; either by spreading a solution of the rubber and naphtha onto the fabric, or by calendering the rubber between heavy rolls in a rubber calender.

In the spreading process, a machine called a spreader is used. The fabric to which the rubber is to be applied is mounted in a roll at one end of the spreader and from the roll passes through a trough of rubber-cement, and then up over a so-called doctor roll, and under a knife edge, which allows only enough cement to pass through to fill the pores of the fabric. From this knife the cemented fabric passes over a steam drying chest and is then rolled up with a roll of liner cloth to prevent its sticking together. Fabric treated in this manner must be put through the spreader a number of times before it has sufficient rubber on it to be used in the products for which it is intended.

For calendering rubber, a machine called a rubber calender is used. This machine is made with three and sometimes four heavy rolls, which are capable of very fine adjustment. The rubber from the green-stock store-room is first warmed up on a small mixing mill and is then fed between the rolls of the calender, coming through in a thin sheet of required thickness, and is wound up in a liner cloth and sent directly to the departments, where it is used for inner tubes, druggists’ sundries, etc., where only rubber and no fabric is used. Where the rubber is to be applied to fabric, the fabric is put through the calender rolls with the rubber, and the rubber is literally ground into the fabric. Fabric treated in this manner is known to the trade as friction, and is generally used in the manufacture of pneumatic tires, belting, hose, etc. For boots, shoes, and other special work, calenders are used which are equipped with rolls engraved with the shapes of the soles and other parts of the articles in question, so that the sheet of rubber coming from the machine has imprinted on it the shapes and thickness of the articles for which it is intended.

After passing through such of the above processes as are required the rubber is ready to be made up into the various articles known to the rubber trade, such as boots and shoes, mackintoshes, waterproof fabrics, for balloons, aeroplanes, tentings, etc., mechanical goods, such as rubber heels, horseshoe pads, packing, tiling, automobile and other bumpers, artificial fish bait, etc., druggists’ sundries, such as nursing-bottles, nipples, syringes, bulbs, hot-water bottles, tubing, etc. tobacco pouches, rubber belting, golf and other balls, insulated wire, fire and garden hose, inner tubes, tires, and the many other commodities into the manufacture of which rubber enters.

How Are Automobile Tires Made?

From the calender room of the rubber factory the stock is received in the automobile tire department, in the form of large rolls of rubber-coated fabric, and in rolls of sheeted rubber of various thicknesses and widths. The rubber-coated fabric is first cut into strips of proper widths so that the edges will extend from bead to bead over the crown of the tire. These strips are always cut on the bias, generally at a 45-degree angle, with the edge of the roll, and were formerly all cut on a cutting-table, a table about 50 feet long and 6 feet wide, covered with sheet metal. The cutting was done by two men, each having a knife and each cutting half-way across the cloth along the edge of a straight-edge so arranged as to be always set at 45 degrees with the edge of the table. This method of cutting is gradually being put aside by the use of the bias cutter, an extremely up-to-date machine having jaws which ride up to the end of the fabric and pull it for a certain distance under a knife set at a 45-degree angle, the knife being set to cut just when the jaws have arrived at the limit of their motion. The action is repeated so that the machine cuts about eighty strips a minute. These strips are fed onto a series of belts which carry them to where they are placed, by boys, into a book having a leaf of common cloth between each strip of gum fabric, to prevent the strips from sticking together.

CURING ROOM, FIRST CURE--PNEUMATICS.]

The majority of automobile tires to-day are machine built, but there are still a great many built by hand and this is the process we shall describe first. In this process the books of fabric are laid up and spliced into proper lengths to go around the tire and allow a proper lapping for the splices. The proper number of these laid-up pieces, or plies, as they are called, are placed together with cotton cloth between and taken to the tire builder. The tire builder mounts the core, upon which the tire is to be built, on the building stand, generally cementing it so that the first ply of fabric will stick in place. The first ply is then stretched onto the core and spliced, rolled down with a hand roller onto the sides of the core, and trimmed with a knife at the base. The following plies are put on and rolled down in the same manner, the beads being put in at the proper time, according to the size and the number of plies to be used. After all the plies have been put onto the core the so-called cover rubber is put on. This cover rubber is generally a sheet of rubber about one-sixteenth of an inch thick or more, and of the same compound as the rubber on the fabric.

TREAD LAYING ROOM.]

In the case of the machine-built tire, the result is the same, but the stock is handled as follows: After the rubber-coated fabric has been cut on the bias cutter, the strips are spliced and rolled up in rolls on a spindle which is placed in the so-called tire-building machine. The tire core is mounted on a stand attached to the machine, so that it can be revolved by power, and the fabric is drawn onto the core from the spindle under a certain definite tension. The tire-machines roll the fabric down by power, and the beads are put into place before the tire and core are removed from the machine. Thereafter the process is the same as in the case of the hand-built tires.

After the cover rubber is in place the tire is ready to have the tread applied. The tread is made up independently of the tire by laying up narrow strips of rubber, in different widths, in such a way that the center of the tread is thicker than the edges. In the case of the so-called single-cure tires, which are wholly vulcanized at one time, this tread is applied to the tire directly after the cover, a strip of fabric called the breaker-strip generally being placed underneath, and the building of the tire so completed.

In the general method of curing, the tire is allowed to remain on the core, and is either bolted up in a mold and put into an ordinary heater, or it is laid in a mold and put into a heater press, where the hydraulic pressure keeps the two halves of the mold forced together during the vulcanizing process. After the vulcanizing is completed, the tire is removed from the mold, the inside is painted with a French talc mixture, the tire inspected and cleaned, and so made ready for the market. In some methods of curing, instead of the tire being put in a mold, it is put into a so-called toe-mold, which is virtually a pair of side flanges only reaching up as high as the edges of the tread on the side of the tire. After the flanges are fastened into place, the whole is cross-wrapped, the cross-wrapping coming in direct contact with the tread. The tire in this condition is then put into the heater and vulcanized, giving the so-called wrapped tread tire. Still another form of curing is to inflate a kind of canvas inner tube inside the tire and place the whole in a mold. This is known as the air-bag mold process.

How Are Inner Tubes Made?

Inner tubes for pneumatic tires may be classed under three headings, according to the methods used in their manufacture, viz., seamed tubes, rolled tubes, and tube-machine tubes. By far the greater number of tubes come under the first two headings. For seamed tubes, the rubber is taken from the calender in the form of sheets from one-sixteenth to three-sixteenths of an inch in thickness. These sheets are cut into strips of proper length and just wide enough to make a tube of proper cross-section diameter when the two long edges are folded over and fastened together with rubber cement. These two long edges are cut on a bevel so that they make a good lap seam. The tube is then pulled over a mandrel of proper size and a thin piece of wet cloth rolled around it, and then it is spirally cross-wrapped with a long, narrow piece of wet duck for its entire length. The whole is then put into a regular heater and the tube vulcanized. After vulcanizing the wrapping is removed and the tube stripped from the mandrel, turning the tube inside out, so that the smooth side which is vulcanized next to the mandrel appears outside, and the rough side showing the marks of the cross-wrapping is inside. The valve hole is then punched in the tube, the valve inserted and the open ends of the tube buffed down to a feather edge. The tube in this state passes to the splicers, who cement the buffed ends and splice them together, placing one open end within the other, making a lapped seam around the tube about 2¹⁄₂ inches long. The cement used in splicing is generally cured by an acid which chemically vulcanizes the rubber without the application of heat. The tube is thus finished and ready for the market. Rolled tubes are made from very thin sheet rubber by rolling same over a mandrel of proper size, until the required number of layers of thin rubber have been rolled on to give the tube the desired thickness. The tube is then wrapped, cured and spliced, in exactly the same manner as a seamed tube.

What Is Rubber?

Crude rubber is a vegetable product gathered from certain species of trees, shrubs, vines and roots. Its characteristic peculiarities were early recognized by the natives of the tropical countries in which it is found. Records of the earliest travelers in these countries show that the natives had used various articles, such as receptacles, ties, clubs, etc., made from rubber, but it was not until about 1735 that rubber was first introduced into Europe. In civilization rubber was first used for pencil erasers and in waterproof cloth, and finally in cements. Vulcanizing, or the curing of rubber, was not discovered until 1844, and thereafter the development of the rubber industry was very rapid, especially in Great Britain.

There are many kinds and grades of rubber, and to-day these can be divided into two chief classes, wild and cultivated.

Gathering Rubber in South America.]

Pictures herewith by courtesy of The B. F. Goodrich Company, Ltd.

What Is Wild Rubber?

~WHERE RUBBER COMES FROM~

The first class, or wild rubbers, are collected from trees which have grown wild and where no cultivation processes whatsoever have been used. These rubber-producing trees, shrubs, etc., are found mostly in Northern South America, Central America, Mexico, Central Africa and Borneo.

The finest rubber in the world is Fine Para, and is gathered in the Amazon regions of South America. This rubber has been gathered in practically the same way for over a century. The natives go out into the forests and, selecting a rubber tree, cut “V”-shaped grooves in the bark with a special knife made for the purpose, these grooves being cut in herring-bone fashion diagonally around the tree, with one main groove cut vertically down the center like the main vein in a leaf. The latex, or milk-like liquid, of the tree, from which the rubber is taken, flows from these veins and down the center vein into a little cup which the natives place to receive it. After the little cups are filled they are gathered and brought into the rubber camp, and there the latex is coagulated by means of smoke. This is done by the use of a paddle which is alternately dipped into a bowl of the latex and then revolved in the smoke from a wood or palm-nut fire. This smoke seems to have a preservative effect on the rubber as well as drying it out and causing it to harden on the paddle, each successive layer of the latex causing the size of the rubber ball or biscuit to increase. When a biscuit of sufficient size has been thus coagulated it is removed from the paddle and is ready for shipment to countries where rubber products are manufactured.

Para rubber is sold in three grades. Fine Para, which is the more carefully coagulated or smoked rubber; Medium Para, which is rubber gathered and smoked in the same way as Fine, but which has had insufficient smoking, and, therefore, more subject to deterioration due to oxidation, etc.; and Coarse Para, which is rubber gathered from the drippings from the rubber trees after the cups have been removed. This latter grade has generally a large percentage of bark and other foreign substances mixed with it, and is subject to even more deterioration than is Medium Para, as it is oftentimes not smoked at all.

Another important grade of rubber coming from South America is Caucho. This tree grows similar to the Para trees and the rubber is gathered in a similar manner, but is cured by adding to the latex some alkaline solution and allowing the whole to dry out in the sun. The value of this rubber can be greatly improved by better methods of coagulation.

From Central America and Mexico comes the Castilloa rubber. This rubber is gathered from trees in a very similar manner to Para, and is coagulated by being mixed with juices which are obtained by grinding up a certain plant which grows in the Castilloa districts. After being mixed with this plant juice, the Castilloa is spread out in sheets on bull hides, where it is allowed to dry in the sun, after which the rubber is rolled up and is ready for shipment. Castilloa is gathered mostly from wild trees, but in Mexico it has recently been cultivated to some extent.

From Mexico we also get Guayule. This rubber is obtained from a certain species of shrub, the shrub being cut down and fed into a grinding or pebble mill where the branches are crushed and ground and mixed with water, and the rubber, which is contained in little particles all through the wood, is worked out, being taken from the pebble mills in chunks as large as a man’s fist.

From Central Africa and from Borneo come the so-called African gums, such as Congo, Soudan, Massai, Lapori, Manicoba, Pontianic, etc. Some of these rubbers are gathered from trees, but most of them from vines and roots, and the methods of coagulation are varied. Practically all of them are dried out in the sun. These rubbers are all of lower grade than the Para rubbers of South America.

The Story in a Stick of Chocolate

Where Does Chocolate Come From?

Perhaps no other one thing is so well known to boys and girls the world over as chocolate. Yet there was a time, and not so many years ago, as we figure time in history, when there were no cakes of chocolate, or chocolate candies to be had in the candy shops, no chocolate flavored soda water or chocolate cake. To-day quite a panic would be started if the world’s supply of chocolate were cut off.

Chocolate is obtained from cacao, which is the seed of the cacao tree. It is quite often called cocoa, although this is not quite a correct way of spelling the word. The cacao tree grows to a height of sixteen or eighteen feet when cultivated, but to a greater height when found growing wild. The cacao pod grows out from the trunk of the tree as shown in the picture, and is, when ripe, from seven to ten inches long and from three to five inches in diameter, giving it the form of an ellipse. When you cut one of these pods open, you find five compartments or cells, in each of which is a row of from five to ten seeds, which are imbedded in a soft pulp, which is pinkish in color. Each pod then contains from twenty-five to fifty seeds, which are what we call “cocoa beans.”

The cacao tree was discovered for us by Christopher Columbus, so that we have good reason to remember him aside from his great discovery of America. The discovery of either of these would be fame enough for any one man, and it would be difficult for some boys and girls to say just which of the two was Columbus’ greater discovery.

Columbus found the cacao tree flourishing both in a wild and in a cultivated state upon one of his voyages to Mexico. The Indians of Peru and Mexico were very fond of it in its native state. They did not know the joy of eating a chocolate cream, but they had discovered the qualities of the cacao bean as a food and had learned to cultivate it long before Columbus came to Mexico.

Columbus took some of the cacao beans back with him to Spain and to this day cacao is much more extensively used by the Spaniards than by any other nation. The first record of its introduction into England is found in an announcement in the _Public Advertiser_ of June 16, 1657, to the effect that:

“In Bishopgate Street, in Queen’s Head Alley, at a Frenchman’s house, is an excellent West Indian drink called chocolate, to be sold where you may have it ready at any time and also unmade, at reasonable rates.”

Of course, by the time America became settled the people brought their taste for chocolates with them.

What is the Difference Between Cacao and Chocolate?

When the cacao seeds are roasted and separated from the husks which surround them, they are called cocoa-nibs. Cocoa consists of these nibs alone, whether they are ground or unground, dried and powdered, or of the crude paste dried in flakes.

Chocolate is made from the cocoa-nibs. These nibs are ground into an oily paste and mixed with sugar and vanilla, cinnamon, cloves, or other flavoring substances. Chocolate is only a product made from cocoa-nibs, but it is the most important product.

WHERE THE SHELLS ARE SEPARATED FROM THE BEAN.]

What Are Cocoa Shells?

There are other products which are obtained from the cacao seed. One is called Broma--which is the dry powder of the seeds, after the oil has been taken out.

Cocoa shells are the husks which surround the cocoa bean. These are ground up into a fine powder and sold for making a kind of cocoa for drinking, although the flavor is to a great extent missing and it is, of course, not nearly so nourishing as a drink of real cocoa.

MILL IN WHICH THE BEANS ARE ROASTED.]

What is Cocoa Butter?

The oil from the cacao seeds, when separated from the seeds, is what we call cocoa butter. It has a pleasant odor and chocolate-like taste. It is used in making soap, ointments, etc.