April i , 1903 ] 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



217 



agents, and in fact extracts all the information that years of 

 experience have accumulated. A final question, how best to 

 obtain.a market, how easiest to draw it to the attention of the 

 world, is answered by a timid suggestion regarding the inser- 

 tion of a card in the accredited organ of the rubber trade, to be 

 paid (or at the very reasonable rate appended to the contract. 

 Here appears the first sign of escape. A look of distrust ap- 

 pears in the creator's eyes, which he hides behind an embar- 

 rassed laugh, and, thanking you hastily, he seizes his sample 

 and disappears. 



Once upon a time we published an article explaining why 

 certain rubber manufacturers had not engaged in making tires, 

 but had left to their competitors all the possible profits in this 

 then new branch of the rubber industry. Without repeating 

 here the various reasons referred to, we may note that a dis- 

 tinctly different and novel reason kept the "International Wheel, 

 Tire, and Rubber Manufacturing Co." — of which some account 

 appears on another page — from making any tires. The reason 

 is very simple, when it is once understood. Instead of laying 

 out money for plant, raw material, labor, and selling expenses, 

 the management simply pocketed all the cash supplied by 

 shareholders. In this way all risk of loss in trading was 

 avoided, and every dollar that came in was so much profit for the 

 promoters. This left the shareholders out of consideration, of 

 course, but the shareholders didn't plan or organize the com- 

 pany, or otherwise use their brains in connection with it, and 

 the promoters, who had done all the work, evidently considered 

 themselves entitled to all the profits. Besides, who knows that 

 any profit would have been made if the shareholders' money 

 had been risked in actually running a tire factory ? 



If Brazil should succeed in establishing her claim to 

 the Acre district, after having caused the Bolivian Syndicate 

 to relinquish its plans for development there, this alone can 

 neither help Brazil nor give any great impetus to the exploita- 

 tion of rubber along the Acre. What rubber will be gathered 

 will be the product of the intermittent efforts of many small 

 operators, not working in concert, and contending against dis- 

 advantages and lack of facilities which can be overcome only 

 by the investment of large capital for systematic improve- 

 ments, on plans requiring years for their full development. 

 Today much Bolivian rubber is carried for long distances on 

 muleback or floated over rapids in rivers, which should be con- 

 veyed by railways or through canals, constructed to obviate 

 the obstructions in the extensive system of natural waterways. 

 The history of native enterprise in the rubber regions of Bra- 

 zil gives no promise that any of these things will ever be done 

 without the aid of outside capital, outside enterprise, and out- 

 side direction. All of which means that if the Acre rubber 

 fields, after being conceded to belong to Brazil, are to be 

 opened on a comprehensive scale, Brazil must adopt some such 

 course as Bolivia, planned to follow, and place the district at 

 the disposal of a foreign syndicate on terms that will justify the 

 investment of the capital requisite for the work to be done 

 That is to say, the Brazilians on the Acre will then be under 

 foreign control just as much as if the development syndicate 

 were operating under a charter from Bolivia. 



The projected isthmian canal is not a matter of imme- 

 diate concern to any branch of the rubber interest, though ulti- 

 mately it may have an important bearing upon the production 

 of rubber. The canal route traverses a section of the rubber 

 producing zone which has been well denuded of the native sup- 

 plies, but which may offer advantages for the forming of planta- 



tions after the new means of transportation has made that re- 

 gion more accessible. What is likely to prove more important 

 is the greater accessibility of the Pacific coast by reason of the 

 canal, and the consequent development of the rubber resources 

 which lie nearer to the western than to the -eastern coast of 

 South America. The canal will not be built to morrow, how- 

 ever ; with the greatest possible expedition ten years will be re- 

 quired for the work, after the enterprise emerges from its 

 present stage — that of diplomatic negotiation. 



Beginning with the May issue of The India Rubber 

 World, there will appear the first of a series of articles, en- 

 titled " A Trip Through the Tierra Caliente," which will be a 

 record of the personal observation of the Editor during a re- 

 cent trip to the rubber plantations in southern Mexico. The 

 articles will be well illustrated, and will describe typical planta- 

 tions and the various conditions that surround the pioneer 

 work in the country named. 



AKRON RUBBER FACTORY BURNHD. 



THE factory of The India Rubber Co. (Akron, Ohio) and 

 all its contents were completely destroyed by fire on the 

 afternoon of March 26. The plant was in ruins in less than an 

 hour from the discovery of the flames. The company occu- 

 pied a three-story brick building, the main portion of which 

 was 200 X 60 feet, and a wing 150X100 feet. It was in the 

 mixing department that the fire started. A boy was pouring 

 gasoline from a cup into a can. His elbow came so close to an 

 electric belt that a current shot through his arm and a spark 

 from the end of his finger ignited the inflammable liquid. He 

 dropped the can and cup and an explosion followed. Almost 

 instantly the fire had communicated to an elevator shaft and 

 virtually from the first was beyond control. 



The flames had gained great headway before an alarm could 

 be turned in, and although the fire department made heroic 

 efforts to save that portion of the building in which valuable 

 stock was stored, nothing effectual could be done but preserve 

 adjoining property from destruction. A frame dwelling stand- 

 ing between the ruined factory and the office of the company 

 would certainly have burned but for the changing of the wind 

 to the north, carrying the flames away from this structure, and 

 had the fire communicated to this house the office would have 

 been destroyed. All the employes escaped in safety. 



The loss is placed by W. L Wild, the treasurer and mana- 

 ger, at $200,000, approximately, as follows: On stock, $90,000 ; 

 on machinery, $60,000 ; on buildings, $50,000. The aggregate 

 insurance is nearly $150,000. The burned buildings, except for 

 additions which had been made, were originally a part of the 

 Empire Mower and Reaper Co. plant and were purchased by 

 The India Rubber Co. soon after their organization. Whether 

 they will be rebuilt is to be determined when President Parker, 

 of the Rubber Goods Manufacturing Co., with which the India 

 Rubber Co. were identified, reaches Akron. The company were 

 very busy, night and day, in their tire departments, and the 

 loss in trade will be heavy. The factory employed 300 people. 



The India Rubber Co. was incorporated in November, 1895, 

 as the Akron India Rubber Co., and in 1896 under the present 

 name, with $100,000 capital. In 1S99 it was merged into the 

 Rubber Goods Manufacturing Co. Charles H. Wheeler, at first 

 treasurer of the company, and later president, resigned official 

 connection with the company at the annual meeting in January 

 last. He was during the whole time general manager, and as 

 the result of his capacity and energy, with capable assistance 

 a good business had been built up, especially in vehicle tires. 



