February i, 1907.] 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



i3y 



THE RUBBER TRADE IN SAN FRANCISCO. 



UV A KESIIIENT CORRESI'ONBENT. 



A I IVE Imsincss in rubber footwear lias resulted from th« 

 ■'* very bad condition of the streets in the burned district. 



riierc are so few sidewalks that it is for all intents and purposes 

 a case of walking in the street all of the time, and the mud which 

 has gathered there will never have time to dry until the winter 

 and spring rains are over. It is impracticable to try to get about 

 many of these streets without rubber boots or shoes, and the local 

 houses dealing in this line have had all the trade they could 

 handle. 



The building activity of the city is progressing rapidly, and per- 

 manent buildings are springing up on every side, so that the 

 burned district begins to look more and more like a habitable 

 region. Everybody is anxious to get into a permanent building 

 as the insurance rates are beyond all reason, and it is that con- 

 sideration which will drive the retailers away from Van Ness 

 avenue to the new and permanent buildings which are being 

 erected for them downtown. 



'Hie new factory of the Bowers Rubber Co., at Black Diamond, 

 is now in active operation. The company had secured a large 

 acreage, had completed plans for a modern rubber factory, and 

 had begun work on one of the main buildings, when the San 

 Francisco fire occurred. Then the company bent all their energies 

 In tlie completion of thi'^ building, b\it instead of waiting to com- 



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plete all their plans, temporary corrugated iron structures have 

 been put up. 'lliey have been working two shifts,. night and day, 

 in the rush of cleaning up accumulated orders. Work will be 

 begun soon on the additional permanent' buildings. Mr, C. H, 

 Chase, of the Bowers company, says that the indications are that 

 the present year will result in the heaviest country business that 

 they have ever enjoyed. 



The Sterling Rubber Co., a new concern mentioned in the last 

 India Rubber VVoki.d, have taken on the Pacific coast accounts of 

 the Seamless Rubber Co., the Bourn Rubber Co., and the Voor- 

 hces Rubber Manufacturing Co. Mr. W. Perkins, the president, 

 and Mr. W. M. Gibson, the manager, were connected formerly 

 with the Gorhani Rubber Co., and are well and favorably known 

 to the trade here. 



"It is simply a matter of getting goods; the business is here." 

 said the manager of the Sterling Rubber Co. "Trade has been 

 remarkably good, and there has been plenty of business for every- 

 body. We can dispose of goods as fast as we get them, but 

 the getting of them is a hard matter. The delay in shipments 

 of frieght, which had only in a small way begun to be relieved 

 before the holidays, has been almost completely chol*d up again, 

 on account of the rush during the holidays, and now on account 

 of the heavy storms, as well as a railroad strike, which has 

 blockaded freight on the other side of the mountains. Freight 

 cars with goods in them are backed up now in the yards by the 

 thousands, and some of them it is impossible to get at, so that 



they stay there sometimes for a month or more. Then the in- 

 dependence of the working classes is a great problem to deal 

 with. They are getting good wages and they deserve good 

 wages, but the trouble is lo keep anybody in any one line of 

 employment. The building trades have drawn large numbers 

 from all other industries, and the high wages there induce men 

 to try that line so that they are changing continually. The cost 

 of every commodity has advanced so that living comes at least 

 a third higher now for everybody llian formerly. Then buildings 

 arc still so scarce that you have lo pay a mint of money for 

 a place as big as a cigar box, and the matter of insurance has 

 grown to be a nightmare with the majority of the merchants." 



-Mr. Joseph V. Selby, Pacific coast manager of the Boston 

 Woven Hose and Rubber Co., states that in the mechanical rubber 

 lines business in San Francisco, and for that matter, on the entire 

 coast, was never better than it is at the present time. He reports 

 for the Western Mechanical Rubber Goods Association, which 

 was organized for the purpose of protecting the interests of the 

 mechanical rubber industry on the coast, with headquarters in 

 .San Francisco, that since the earthquake and fire there have been 

 no meetings. Hut as soon as the merchants are better settled, and 

 the important matters of getting reestablished again have become 

 less pressing, the members propose to resume their regular 

 monthly meetings. 



The Goodyear Rubber Co. are now doing business at the same 

 location as before the lire last year — Nos. 573-579 Market street — 

 and which they have occupied for 35 years. They are of course 

 ill a temporary building, but good progress has been made on the 

 new permanent building which is rising on that site. Mr. R. H. 

 Pease, president of the company, reports business as good as at 

 ihc same time a year ago, which was before the fire. Business 

 during December (in footwear) was particularly good, on account 

 of the rains. He says that the great trouble in San Francisco is 

 the lack of labor ; that people ought to come out from the East. 

 The company are greatly helped in carrying on their Pacific coast 

 business by having at Portland, Oregon, a store filling a building 

 of six stories and basement, with too feet front. 



Mr. Parish, of the Oakland store of the Gorham company, was 

 lately confined to his bed for two or three weeks on account of 

 illness. He is now able to be around again. 



Henry Martine, manager of the Gutta Percha and Ruliber 

 .Manufacturing Co., whose headquarters are now at Alameda, 

 California, sustained very serious injuries in an automobile ac- 

 cident about New Year's. Mrs. Martine was with him at the 

 time and was even more seriously injured than he. He has been 

 gradually recovering from his injuries and has been able to be 

 out some. 



F. W. Paige, representing the San Francisco branch of Morgan 

 & Wright, which is located in a large establishment together 

 with the Hartford Rubber Works Co. and the G & J Tire Co.. 

 at No. 423 Golden Gate avenue, reports that conditions are ex- 

 cellent, collections good, and the future prospects all for pros- 

 perity. Mr. Paige returned lately from an Eastern trip. C, A. 

 Davis, the representative of the G & J Tire Co., will start East 

 about February i to visit the factory, and prepare for the coming 

 year's business. 



The Harris Rubber and Supply Co. is a new concern just in- 

 corporated in San Francisco. They have fitted up a new store on 

 the corner of Polk and Turk streets, and the principal business 

 of the company at present is handling the Goodrich tires. Mr. 

 Harris was formerly with the Goodyear Rubber Co. 



The new Phoenix Rubber Co. have got their factory started. 

 They are operating six presses, and expect shortly to have ten at 

 work. 



Recent visitors to the Pacific coast trade were Mr. Hayes, of 

 the Home Rubber Co. (Trenton, N. J.), and Mr. Torrey, of the 

 Pennsylvania Rubber Co. (Jeannelte. Pa.) 



