nd another the satisfactory employment of the
refractory African rubbers long before they were used extensively in
the United States. Hence the cost of raw materials in the rubber
industry has been, on the whole, cheaper abroad. The Europeans have
had an advantage, too, in respect to cheaper labor, which has offset
somewhat our own advantage from the use of reclaimed rubber as a cheap
material.

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

The collection of old rubber has acquired large proportions as an
adjunct to the trade in junk or rags. Not long ago the estimated
yearly collection of rubber shoes alone amounted to 18,000 tons, and
since that time the business in bicycle tire scrap has also become
very large. During the past ten years the price of old rubber shoes
has ranged between $60 and $120 per ton in carload lots, being at
present about $90 per ton. Some 1,500 tons of rubber scrap are
imported annually by the reclaiming companies in the United States.

* * * * *

In the Baltic Sea there are more wrecks than in any other place in the
world. The average throughout the year is one each day.

* * * * *

ENGINEERING NOTES.

THE AUSTRIAN government has ordered thirty-seven engines arranged to
burn kerosene, for use in the Arlberg tunnel, in which lack of proper
ventilation at present causes the tunnel to remain filled with
smoke.--Uhland's Wochenschrift.

One of the first essentials to modern military enterprise is the
establishment of a military railway system for war purposes. To be in
a position to carry out efficiently and speedily what we may exp