2 1 9 Fountainbridge.] INDIA-RUBBER COMPANY.
flesher would venture to kill any beast till all the
different parts were bespoke, butcher meat being
then a very unsaleable article.?
At the southern extremity of Fountainbridge
stood, till within the last few years, an antique villa,
a little way back from the road, named Bainfield,
for years the residence of an old and well-known
citizen, Bain Whyt, a W.S. of I 789, who was senior
lieutenant and afterwards adjutant of the First
Edinburgh Volunteers formed in 1794, and who
is still remembered in Edinburgh as the founder
of the Wagering Club in 1775. Yearly, on the
night of the 30th January, the members of this
club meet and solemnly drink to the memory
of ?? Old Bain Whyt,? in whose honour songs are
occasionally sung, the character of which may be
gathered from the following two verses of one sung
at the ninetieth anniversary :-
?? Come all ye jolly wagerers, and listen unto me,
And I will sing a little song, composed in memorie
Of the fine old Scottish gentleman, who in 1775,
Did plant the tree that still we see, right hearty and
alive.
Chorus-Right hearty and alive,
In this its ninetieth year !
With mirth and hearty cheer !
?Ihen drink to-night, to old Bain Whyt,
6? When haughty Gaul did fiercely crow and threaten swcird
Bain Whyt among the foremost rose to guard our native
A soldier good, full armed he stood, for home and
The pattern of a Ioyal man, a British volunteer !
in hand,
land ;
country dear,
Chorus-A British volunteer,
And an adjutant was he !
To him with three times three ! ?
Then fill the cup, and quaff it up,
The wagers, for small sums, a bottle of wine, a
dinner, perhaps, are made on the probable course
of current public events. They are then noted and
sealed up, to be opened and read from the chair
that night twelvemonth-the club holding no meetings
in the interim ; and the actual results are often
so far wide of all human speculation as to excite
both amusement and interest.
North of Bainfield, in what is still called Gilmore
Park, are two of the largest and finest manufactories
of India-rubber in the world, and the operations
conducted therein illustrate most ably the
nature and capabilities of caoutchouc. They stand
near each other on the western bank of the Union
Canal, and belong respectively to the North British
Rubber Company, and the Scottish Vulcanite
Company.
In 1855 an enterprising American brought to
Edinburgh the necessary capital and machinery
for an India-rubber manufactory, and acquired
possession of a great quadrangular block of fine
buildings, known as the Castle Silk Mills, which
had long been vacant, the projectors having failed
in their expectations. This edifice consists of two
large blocks of five floors each, with a number of
adjacent buildings.
Here the India-rubber arrives in different forms,
according to the fashion of the countries that produce
it, some shaped like quaint bottles, and some
in balls, of five inches diameter, and it is carefully
examined with a view to the detection of foreign
substances before it is subjected to the processes of
manufacture. After being softened in hot water,
the balls are crushed into thin pieces between
cylinders, the rubber being sent through and
through again and again, until it is thoroughly
crushed and assumes the form of a web. If further
reduction is necessary, it is sent through a third
set of rollers, and to rid it completely of foreign
matter, leaves or bark, &c., washing and cleansing
machines are employed. So adhesive is its nature,
that cleansing would prove abortive in a dry state,
and consequently jets of water flow constantly on
the rubber and cylinders when the machines referred
to are in operation. After being thus
cleansed, the webs are hung in the warm atmosphere
of the drying-room for several weeks.
From thence they are taken to ?? the mill,? which
occupies two entire floors of the main building.
The grinding machines; to the operation af which
the rubber is subjected, consist of two cylinders,
one of which is moderately heated by steam, and
the webs formed by the washing-machines are kept
revolving round and round the cylinders, until the
material becomes quite plastic. At this stage, sulphur,
or other chemical substances, are incorporated
with it, to determinate its ultimate character, and it
is then made up into seven or eight pound rolls,
while all further treatment depends upon the purpose
to which it is to be applied.
Great is the variety of goods produced here.
One of the upper floors is occupied by shoemakers
alone. There boots and shoes of all sizes are
made, but more especially the goloshes for wearing
over them; another floor is occupied by the makers
of coats, leggings, cushions, bags, and so forth. The ?
light-coloured coats foi India are the finest articles
made here.
The North British Rubber Company have paid
much attention to that department which includes
the manufacture of mbes, springs, washers, drivingbelts,
tires for wheels, &c They made the latter
for the wheels of the road steamer invented by
Rfr. R W. Thomson, of Edinburgh-huge rings of
