318 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



[June 



1903. 



NEWS OF THE AMERICAN RUBBER TRADE. 



GOOD BUSINESS OF THE OKON1TE CO., LIMITED. 



Till! London Financial Times pirnts a very favorable re- 

 port of the second year's business of The Okonite Co., 

 dating from the reorganization, since which time the 

 ptincipal management has been in America. It says: 

 "The profits were sufficient, after allowing for all charges, to 

 pay 6 per cent, on the ordinary shares and to cany forward 

 ,£18,500, making, with the balance brought forward from 1901, 

 when no dividend was distributed, a total surplus of ,£27,900. 

 In addition, during the two years, .£5900 has been placed in 

 trust for bond redemption, and notes outstanding for borrowed 

 money to the extent of .£17,200 have been extinguished. The 

 only obligation for notes now is all against merchandise. The 

 chairman at the meeting in America the other day stated that 

 business had been better than ever so far this year, and that 

 the company has been compelled by expanding orders, to add 

 to its buildings and plant." 



EUREKA FIRE HOSE CO. STILL BUILDING. 



An extension is being built to the plant in Jersey City, New 

 Jersey, to afford additional space needed by the twisting and 

 weaving departments. The extension is about 116X50 feet, 

 with four floors, and will make the total area of the company's 

 main brick factory about 3 acres. With the extension, the 

 main building will be 366 feet long and average 90 feet in width, 

 all being four stories in height. The machinery to be installed 

 will be electrically driven and the electric lighting, telephone, 

 and fire alarm systems of the present mill will be extended into 

 the new structure. 



BOSTON RUBBER SHOE CO.'s AFFAIRS. 



The latest annual statement of condition, required by law to 

 be tiled with the commissioner of corporations of Massachusetts, 

 makes the following showing, as of date April 1, 1903 : 



ASSETS LIABILITIES. 



Real estate — Maiden.... $332,400 Capital stock $ 5,000,000 



Maiden Last Co 27.000 Balance profit and loss. . 996,965 



Melrose 399 125 Debenture bonds 4,800,000 



Machinery — Maiden . . . 229.553 Accrued interest on bonds 



Maiden Last Co 10,000 and pay roll not due. . 59,290 



Melrose 125.235 



Cash and debts receivable 2,288.675 Total $10,856,256 



•Special contract U. S. 



Rubber Co 4,800,000 



Merchandise 2,626.837 



Miscellaneous 17.430 * To pay principal and interest of de- 



benture bonds as they may mature or be 



Total $10,856,256 drawn - 



The holdings of shares are reported as follows: E. S. Con- 

 verse, 25,740; Industrial Trust Co., trustee, 8400 ; C. C. Con- 

 verse, 5562 ; Mrs. E. M. Chick, 4663 ; Fred T. Ryder, 2000 ; H. 

 E. Converse, 1000 ; Mrs. F. C. Leland, 500; Mrs. M. D. Converse, 

 500; E. L. Corning, 500; Mrs. M. I. Converse, 500; E. T. Bick- 

 ford 275; Samuel 1'. Colt, 200; Mrs. J. L. Bickford, 100; Lester 

 Leland, 60 ; total, 50,000. 



A CHARGE OF FRAUD NOT SUSTAINED. 



On May 6, at New York, occurred a final hearing in the case 

 of one James B. Kellogg, who had been held in $2500 bail on a 

 charge of conspiring to violate the postal laws. One count in 

 the charge connected Kellogg with the use of the mails in pro- 

 moting The International Wheel, Tire, and Rubber Manufac- 

 turing Co. [See The India Rubber World, April 1, 1903- 

 page 245]. At the hearing it was testified that the company 

 had been organized in good faith to make tires, for which pur- 

 pose it had purchased a rubber plant at New Brunswick, New 



Jersey ; that company shares had been offered to the public, but 

 a certain publication in a New York newspaper made investors 

 suspicious, and the sale of shares ceased, leaving the company 

 unable to carry out its plans. The proof offered failed either 

 to show that the enterprise was fraudulent in intent, or to con- 

 nect Kellogg directly with its affairs, whereupon he was dis- 

 charged from custody. 



HI! I Nil RUBBER CORPORATIONS. 



A RECENT proclamation by the governor of New Jersey de- 

 cl ires the charters of certain named corporations to be void, on 

 account of their failure to pay the corporation taxes assessed 

 against them in that state for the year 1900. Following are 

 the names of such concerns related to the rubber trade, to- 

 gether with further details in regard to some of them : 



American Commercial Rubber Co., Elizabeth, N. J , incorporated Feb- 

 ruary 9, 1899; capital, $250,000 ; waterproofing cloth for the trade; 

 receiver appointed in April, 1900. 



American Rubber II irseshoe Co., incorporated August 16, 1899. by 

 Buffalo (N. Y.) and New Jersey parties ; principal office, Jersey City, 

 N. J. ; capital, % 100,000. 



Artificial Rubber Co., Philadelphia, Pa .incorporated February 4, 1899; 

 capital, $1,000,000 ; manufacture of a substitute for rubber. 



Continental Crude Rubber Co. 



Enterprise Rubber Co., Trenton, N. J., incorporated August 22, 1899 ; 

 capital, $25,003 ; manufacture of heels and soles and mold work. 



Insulated Wire Co. 



Malachite Rubber Specialty Co. 



Mears Rubber Horseshoe Co. 



Mutuil R lbber Manufacturing Co., Trenton, N. J , incorporated 

 March 23, 1899; capital, $125,000 ; rubber brokerage, with permis- 

 sion in the charter to engage in manufacturing. 



New Jersey Hard Rubber Novelty Co. 



Rigby Waterproofing Co., New York city, incorporated in March. 

 1899 ; capital, $300,000 ; waterproofing cloth by the Rigby — an Eng- 

 lish — process. 



Single Tube Tire Co., incorporated late in 1897, by leading American 

 manufacturers, to introduce single tube cycle tires in Europe ; busi- 

 ness succeeded by The Single Tube Tires, Limited, of London. 



Waterbury Rubber Co., New York city, incorporated in 1888 ; business 

 succeeded by the Waterbury Rubber Manufacturing Co., incorporated 

 by the same pirties July 3. Igoi ; capital, $100,000. 



AN ACTION FOR DAMAGES IN CANADA. 

 In 1900, Hugh McCaugherty, aged 17, while at work at a cal- 

 ender, keeping the rollers clean, in the factory of the Gutta- 

 percha and Rubber Manufacturing Co. of Toronto, Limited, 

 sustained the loss of all his fingers, and later sued the company 

 for $10,000 damages and $2000 for doctors' bills. The trial was 

 before a jury, under the common law in relation to negligence 

 of employers, a verdict resulting on September 30, 1901. The 

 jury found that the machine was a dangerous one, and that the 

 accident was due to defective condition or arrangement of the 

 works, in that the calender rolls were not provided with guards; 

 that the defendants had not used reasonable care to protect 

 their employe, and that the plaintiff by the exercise of ordinary 

 care could not have avoided the accident. The only expert 

 witness introduced by the plaintiff was a machinist without ex- 

 perience in a rubber mill, whereas the defendant offered the 

 testimony of the builders of the calender and of several exper- 

 ienced rubber factory managers to the effect that the calender 

 was of the usual kind, that guards for the rollers were never 

 used, and were not necessary and would interfere with the 

 working of the machine. Damages were awarded in the sum 

 of $2000, against which verdict the company appealed. 



