31 AUGUST 1861, Page 19

A NEW FIELD FOR THE EMPLOYMENT OF WOMEN.- Pass question,

which attracted so much attention at the recent meeting of the Social Science Association in Dublin, is, in fact, far more a practical than a theoretical one. The whole thing is solved when suitable employments are found. One such has recently been introduced in Edinburgh, and the account of it, which we condense from the Scotsman, will have a considerable interest for our readers. A company has been established there, called the Scottish Vulcanite Company: "The North British Rubber Company, at Castle Mills, is really the only establishment in the city that can be said to afford any great scope for our surplus female labour. At the present time, there are about 400 young women employed here at wages ranging from 7s. to 12s. per week, and which on the average, allowing- for less busy seasons, may be reckoned at 8s. per week the year through.

Vulcanite,' or hard-rubber,' the article to be manufactured in this new erection, is in its natural state, as most of our readers are doubt- less aware, simply caoutchouc, a substance obtained from the Pima elas&a, or india-rubber tree, which is found in abundance in Brazil, in Java, Penang, Singapore, Assam, and also in some parts of Africa. That obtained from 'Para, in South America, however, is the best. India-rubber appears to have been introduced into Europe about the beginning of the last century, but little seems to have been made of it until the latter half of that period, when it was used for erasing pencil marks. Bottles of Indian manufacture found their way into the United States about 1800, and shoes some twenty years later. Experiments began to be made with gam-elastic in the States about 1824, and five years thereafter it became generally known that the gum could be dissolved by the essential oils, a fact that showed how useful it might become. Several large manufactories now sprang up in America for the manufacture of shoes and other articles from caoutchoue, but after the expenditure of immense sums of money they were forced to give the matter up, the principle of vuleir. nizmg, by which the material is rendered unsusceptible alike to heat and cold, not yet having' been discovered. This important invention occurred in 1839, and was due to Mr. Charles Goodyear, an American, who had previously found out a 'method for manu- facturing the gum-elastic into sheets, in such a manner as to prevent the surfaces from adhering when brought together, as well as a plan for imparting to the sheets a cloth-like surface. The vulcanization, without which india-rubber could never have played any very important part in the industrial arts, is secured by the application of a very high degree of heat (from 250 deg. to 300 deg. and upwards of Fahrenheit); the india-rubber having been previously compounded with carbonate of lead and sulphur, or other metallic bases, the proportions of which are the secrets of the manu- facturers, although Goodyear himself stated the exact elements. There is no end to the uses to which vulcanite,' for the special ma- nufacture of which this new factory has been erected, can be put. Yesterday we saw a very handsome smoking-pipe that had been ma- nufactured out of it, an exquisitely-carved little basket for holding. the knick-nacks of the drawing-room, and small-toothed combs of such admirable workmanship and substance that they cannot fail to put buffalo-horn out of fashion very speedily. These were of American manufacture, and they infinitely surpassed some of French con- struction, which we also saw. The patents of the American ma- chinery are, we understand, -possessed by the new company, so that an equally good article as the American may be expected to be turned out here. Combs, indeed, will be one of the principal articles of manufacture at the new establishment. Imitation whalebone, for dresses, stays, umbrellas, &e., will also be extensively manufactured. This, we think, is a most important feature. Whales have been se much hunted that they now seek shelter from the sharp harpoons of our fishermen in the far recesses of the Arctic Seas, into which our vessels cannot hope to penetrate with profit, especially since the introduction of paraffin oil has reduced so much the price of that expressed from the blubber of the whale. There was therefore great cause for fear that the supply of whalebone would very soon fall far short of the demand. This alarm need be no longer entertained. The new article possesses all the elasticity of the whalebone, without its liability to split, and it will be obtained, we believe, at a much cheaper rate. Knife-handles, which will suffer no injury from im- mersion in hot water, canes, whip-handles, door-nobs, castors for furniture, &c., will also be manufactured. Mixed with a variety of substances, hard-rubber can be formed into sofas, couches, chairs, bookcases, writing-desks, inkstands, paper-knives, picture-frames, statues, ornaments, and articles of bijouterie of all kinds, bottles, jugs, musical instruments, sword-sheaths, &e. &c. It possesses the hardness of iron, with perfect freedom from corrosion, and less- • liability to be injured by concussion. The employs in this new- branch of industry will be mainly women, of whom it is likely not fewer than 200 or 300 will be employed as soon as the place gets fairly into working order."