March i, 1907. 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



191 



THE RUBBER TRADE AT TRENTON. 



BY A RESIDENT CORRESI'UNDENT. 



"IPHERE is to be included in Trenton's new Riverside Park 

 a tract of land that for some time was devoted to rubber 

 mainifactiire. This is a section of the famous old Brookville mill 

 property, on the bank of the Delaware river. Once far beyond 

 the city limits, Trenton has grown so that the old stone mill is 

 now within the municipality. The land just acquired by the city 

 for the new park was bought from Ezra Evans, head of the old 

 Reliance Rubber Co., for $1,923.15. The mill was built by the late 

 James Brook, once one of the leading spirits in Trenton, and 

 whose son was a member of the firm of Brook, Oliphant & Co., 

 founders of the Globe Rubber Co., now part of the United and 

 Globe Rubber Manufacturing Cos. Used tor years as a grist mill, 

 the place was acquired a few years ago by the Reliance Rubber 

 Co. and turned into a rubber mill. The Reliance company did 

 not succeed and Ezra Evans bought the stock, and for several 

 months the old mill has stood idle. Mr. Evans has been consider- 

 ing a proposition to re-open the mill and begin the manufacture 

 of druggists' sundries. The matter has been placed before the 

 re-organization committee of the Trenton board of trade. 



* * * 



Vice-Chanceli.or Emery has filed in the court of chancery at 

 Trenton a memorandum denying the application of the .^cme 

 Rubber Manufacturing Co. (formerly the Eureka Rubber Manu- 

 facturing Co.) for a modification of the final decree of the court 

 restraining the company from using the word "Eureka" in its 

 corporate title or on certain rubber goods manufactured by it. 

 The application was that the decree be so modified that, while 

 continuing the restraint as to the name, it would have per- 

 mitted the company named to use "Eureka" as a trade-mark on 

 goods not in competition with those manufactured by the Eureka 

 Fire Hose Co. 



* * * 



Some local rubber manufacturers are considering the question 

 of establishing in Trenton a niill for the manufacture of cotton 

 duck. This is due to the difficulty which they have experienced in 

 obtaining this necessary raw material in quantities as needed. 

 The Trenton rubber trade at present is unusually brisk, and the 

 general verdict is that the delay in securing raw materials inter- 

 feres with the quick filling of orders. Tlie high price of duck 

 is another thing that has brought on the agitation. Cotton yarns 

 also being at top notch prices, the proposition is to erect mills 

 for the spinning of yarns and for weaving them into duck. Tlie 

 proposition involves the association in the enterprise of all the 

 principal rubber manufacturers in Trenton and its vicinity. 

 It is reported that as soon as the local men reduce the plan to a 

 practical working basis, certain Philadelphia cotton manufac- 

 turers stand ready to provide any additional capital that may be 

 needed. One rubber manufacturer assured The India Rubber 

 World correspondent that there was no doubt that a ready mar- 

 ket could be found for all the duck that could be made. He 

 thought that the surplus beyond the needs of the Trenton market 

 would find quick sale in other centers. 



* * * 



Mr. Clifford H. Oakley, genera! manager of the Ajax-Grieb 

 Rubber Co., of Trenton, was married on the evening of Febru- 

 ary 7 to Miss Elizabeth Moon, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Daniel 

 Moon, also of Trenton. The marriage was according to the 

 custom of the Friends. After an extended bridal tour, Mr. and 

 Mrs. Oakley will reside at No. 375 Hamilton avenue. 



Quarterinaster General C. Edward Murray, City Treasurer W. 

 J. B. Stokes, and Mr. John S. Broughton, all prominent Trenton 

 rubber manufacturers, gave material aid to the ball given in the 

 Second Regiment armory, on February 7, for the benefit of the 

 fund for the Mercer County Soldiers and Sailors' Monument. 

 About 2.500 persons were present. Governor Edward C. Stokes 



and a number of state officials and other notables were in at- 

 tendance. 



It IS announced that representatives of the Woven Steel Hose 

 and Rubber Co. have purchased a lot of ground on Prospect 

 street, near Perniingion avenue, on which they conteniplate the 

 erection of a new building, probably early in the coming summer. 

 Though the concern is comparatively new among the Trenton 

 rubber companies, it has had a rapid growth, and the present 

 quarters have become too small for the expanding business. The 

 leading produce of the company is rubber hose reinforced by .-i 

 woven steel armor of a special pattern. 



Mr. Harry E. Evans, general manager of the Consolidated 

 Rubber Co., is convalescing after an attack of typhoid fever. 



The William H. Skirm Rubber Manufacturing Co., of Trenton, 

 was incorporated in the office of the secretary of state on Feb- 

 ruary 14. It has an authorized capital stock of $300,000 and the 

 incorporators are William H. Skirm, William C. Mayne, and 

 John H. Kafes. ITie charter states that the company will manu- 

 facture and deal in all kinds of rubber goods. It is understood 

 that the intention is to erect a new rubber mill here. It is said 

 that the concern will manufacture rubber insulation for copper 

 wire and insulate the wire. United States Senator William A. 

 Clark is said to be interested. 



THE RUBBER TRADE IN AKRON. 



BY A RESIDENT CORRESPONDENT. 



A T a recent meeting of the directors of the Diamond Rubber 

 Co. it was decided to increase the capitalization of the 

 company from $3,000,000 to $5,000,000. The company's first move 

 will be to increase its capitalization $500,000, but the rest of the 

 $2,000,000 will be added within a short time afterward. The 

 rapidity with which the Diamond's tire business has expanded 

 during the past year or two has necessitated the increase. It is 

 announced at the ofiices here that one, or possibly two, large 

 buildings will be erected in the spring. Mr. W. B. Miller, secre- 

 tary of the company, states that the additional stock is already 

 being sold. 



* * * 



The rubber industry at Akron is deeply interested in a decision 

 rendered during the month at New York, sustaining the validity 

 of the A. W. Grant patent on solid rubber tires. [This decision 

 is reported on another page of this issue.] It is estimated here 

 that Akron factories produce at least half of the 10,000.000 

 pounds of solid tire stock made yearly under the Grant patent. 

 If the attempt of the Consolidated Tire Co. to collect royalties 

 proves successful, it will mean a heavy drain upon the Akron 

 companies. These are protected, however, in their trade in four 

 states embraced in the sixth judicial circuit of the United States, 

 under a decision rendered at Cincinnati in 1902. The Firestone 

 Tire and Rubber Co., the unsuccessful litigants in the case just 

 decided at New York, have not determined whether to carry the 

 matter to the United States Supreme Court. 



* * * 



Akron is to have still another rubber factory. The Star 

 Rubber Co. has been incorporated here, with $100,000 capital. 

 The incorporators are Jefferson D. Slater, John W. Miller, Homer 

 A. Hine, William Slater, and Fred ^I. Hall. The company has 

 already purchased 3'/^ acres of land, and a factory will be erected 

 in the spring. Seamless druggists' sundries will be the only 

 articles manufactured at the start, and about 100 men will be 

 employed. Mr. J. D. Slater, who will be general manager of the 

 plant, has been connected with the Faultless Rubber Co. for 

 many years. 



The Gibson-.Alling Co., manufacturers of rubber stamps, seals, 

 stencils, etc., has been incorporated here, with $25,000 capital, 

 by G. L. Gibson, A. L. Ailing. C. Gibson, George H. .Mling, and 

 M. Olin. 



