The Boot and Shoe Manufacturers' Assistant and Guide. / Containing a Brief History of the Trade. History of India-rubber and Gutta-percha, and Their Application to the Manufacture of Boots and Shoes. Full Instructions in the Art, With Diagrams and Scales, Etc., Etc. Vulcanization and Sulphurization, English and American Patents. With an Elaborate Treatise on Tanning.

by Unknown

BOOK III.

CHAPTER I.
DISCOVERY
OF THE
SULPHURIZATION AND VULCANIZATION OF INDIA-RUBBER
IN AMERICA.

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 to spread 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 which would 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 produced free from stickiness, and presenting the peculiar appearance of sulphurized rubber.

The result was produced, but which of the agencies had caused this wonderful transformation? For months Mr. Hayward pursued his investigations, until at length the mystery was unveiled. Thus by ACCIDENT was 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 for the 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 was granted. 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.