284 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



[May i, 1903. 



PERSONAL MENTION. 



Mr. George P. Whitmore, secretary of the Boston Belting 

 Co., will, by the time this is in type, have graduated from the 

 Appendicitis class at the Massachusetts General Hospital. His 

 many friends throughout the trade will be delighted to know 

 that he comes out of his brief illness in good health and spirits. 



= Mr. R. A. Lowenthal, of the U. S. Rubber Reclaiming 

 Works, has recently returned from a midwinter outing in the 

 Mediterranean. 



= The term of Mr. Frederick M. Shepard (president of the 

 Goodyear Rubber Co.), as a member of the Essex County (New 

 Jersey) Park Commission, expiring this year, a lively interest 

 was felt in " The Oranges " over the filling of the vacancy, for 

 which there were several candidates. On April 13 Mr. Shepard 

 was reappointed, by Chief Justice Gummere, of the supreme 

 court. 



Mr. C. S. Sanxay, second vice president of the New York 

 Rubber Co., is at the Long Island Hospital (New York), quite 

 ill with nervous trouble. 



"A HORSE ON" MR. ELSON. 

 Until recently, no man in the rubber trade has borne a more 

 spotless reputation as regards strict honesty than has Mr. B. F. 

 Elson, New York agent of the Boston Belting Co., and the act 

 that has shattered the faith of his friends is thus set forth : It 

 seems that during a recent visit to the Boston headquarters, 

 Mr. Elson found it necessary to go to Cambridge. He, there- 

 fore, approached the man who for years has had charge of the 

 company's teaming, and inquired if he might use his team, to 

 which a most cordial assent was given. He therefore hurriedly 

 left the building, unhitched a horse, jumped into a buggy and 

 started. About fifteen minutes later a well known customer of 

 the company, who had been engrossed with one of the sales- 

 men, was horrified to find that his horse was missing, and was 

 of two minds, whether to summon the police or call out the fire 

 department. He was prevailed upon to becalm until Cambridge 

 could be telephoned and Mr. Elson's attention secured. This 

 was finally done and the good looking abstractor of other peo- 

 ple's horseflesh returned with the animal and with many apolo- 

 gies. Whether Mr. Elson planned to drive straight through to 

 New York or whether he would have returned anyway is a ques- 

 tion that his friends claim is still unsettled. The matter is still 

 further complicated by the statement of the head of the team- 

 ing department, who claims that he hasn't owned a driving 

 horse in ten years, and that he simply gave Mr. Elson permis- 

 sion to take a truck and a pair of draft horses for his ride. In 

 the meantime the New York agent is xept very busy purchas- 

 ing a variety of refreshing liquids for the host of friends who, 

 somehow or other, have heard the story. 



THE TEXTILE GOODS MARKET. 



APRIL has been a featureless month so far as the demand 

 for textiles from the rubber trade is concerned. There 

 has been very little new business placed by rubber manufactur- 

 ers, and very little was expected, for the reason that most of 

 them had previously made contracts covering their require- 

 ments for the entire year. The demand for goods under con- 

 tract, however, has been exceedingly good, and fully up to the 

 expectation of the cotton g)ods manufacturers, all of whom 

 are congratulating themselves that they are now under cover 

 from the high price of cotton. 



New rubber manufacturing concerns that are constantly 

 springing up are, of course, looking around for textiles. Among 

 the most prominent of these is the Milwaukee Rubber Works 

 Co. These people have been in touch with the market during 



the month for lines which they will consume in the manulac- 

 ture of mechanical rubber goods. For the benefit of the com- 

 paratively small number of concerns that buy their goods as 

 they need them from time to time, The India Rubber World 

 can say that the market is extremely firm on the present price 

 basis, with no possibility of lower prices until after the market 

 assumes a more settled position, and it will be possible then to 

 obtain better rates from only those who have had an old supply 

 of cotton on hand. 



Since the last issue of this Journal several of the mills of the 

 United States Cotton Duck Corporation have shut down entirely 

 because it was not possible to produce goods from cotton 

 bought at present prices and sell them at the price which con- 

 sumers are willing to pay. Of course, this has a restricting 

 tendency, and enables sellers to hold their present prices firmly. 

 It is understood that the big corporation has not sufficient raw 

 mateiial to carry it through the season and will be compelled 

 to purchase raw cotton at ioJ£ cents a pound, or thereabouts. 

 There has been no change in the prices for goods consumed by 

 the manufacturers of rubber boots and shoes. 



As an evidence of the importance of the rubber trade to the 

 cotton industry it may be said that the United States Cotton 

 Duck Corporation has been making some important changes 

 and improvements in the manufacture of fabrics. For the pur- 

 pose of facilitating the production they have been dividing up 

 the work, so as to concentrate the manufacture of rubber goods 

 materials at certain mills. 



In regard to the market for raw cotton, there is nothing to 

 say that will encourage the consumer of textiles. There is a 

 division of opinion concerning the present cotton situation. 

 That speculation has much to do with present prices is con- 

 tended by a certain clique, while it is possible to find many who 

 have been on the cotton fields and declare that there is a pro- 

 nounced scarcity of the staple. One thing is certain, many of 

 the mills are paying io/4 cents a pound for cotton in the fields, 

 which would seem to refute the contention that speculation is 

 the cause of high priced cotton. In the vicinity of Charlotte 

 and Spartanburg there is a pronounced scarcity of cotton. In 

 some of the flooded districts of Louisiana and Mississippi prep- 

 arations are reported to be backward. There has been little or 

 no rain in Texas, while some fields in Arkansas have been in- 

 undated until within the past week. 



The following figures show the price of spot cotton at the 

 various ports at the close of each week during last month : 



New York. New Orleans. Liverpool. 



April 4 1025c. y|c. 5 3^ 



April II 10.65c. I°i'eC. 5.36^ 



Apri 18 10 40c. I Oj\c. 54W 



April 25 10 50c. i°ts c - 5-Abd 



Manufacturers of felting have been driven to the top of their 

 speed for several months, and some of them have been adding 

 to their facilities during the past month in hope to make the 

 deliveries of orders more to the liking of their customers. 

 There have been no changes in the cost of these goods to the 

 rubber manufacturer since the last report. 



The matter of cotton duck yarns is not a factor in the mar- 

 ket, for the reason that all, or nearly all, of the manufacturers 

 of cotton ducks spin their own yarns. So far as other cotton 

 yarns are concerned, the market this week shows some improve- 

 ment over the recent past. Prices have not changed and there 

 is a very fair consumption going on among the weavers. The 

 market for cotton fabrics of every description is at the present 

 time in very satisfactory shape, although the rubber manufac- 

 turers are having some difficulty in obtaining the advanced 

 price for goods which they have been compelled to ask because 

 of the higher cost of cloth. 



