154 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



[February i, 1906. 



THE SLOGAN OF THE M. R. M. A. 



SIIKRRV'S beautiful banquet hall, in New York, decked 

 with flowers and palms and its center occupied bj- an 

 oval table with covers laid for fifty diners, the center of the 

 table a mass of lilies, was the sight that greeted the members 

 of The Mechanical Rubber Manufacturers' Association of the 

 United States on the evening of Januarj- 18. There were not 

 quite fifty present, but those who gathered were full of the 

 spirit of brotherly love, and both at the informal reception 

 which preceded the dinner and at the table, allowed this 

 spirit full scope. It had been ex- 

 pressly provided that the occasion 

 was to be free from speech making 

 and the result was almost everybodj- 

 spoke, very informally to be sure, 

 but very well. At the close of the 

 dinner, the president, Bertram G. 

 Work, arose and briefly reviewed the 

 history of the Association, describ- 

 ing vividlj- what it had accomplished 

 in eliminating all of the abuses inci- 

 dent to the trade that it represented. 

 He did this so seriously that the lis- 

 teners did not at first catch the vein 

 of delightful sarcasm which ran 

 through the speech, and it was only 

 when he presented the resignation of 

 all the oflicers and announced the 

 dissolution of the Association, that 

 the crowd awoke. 



It was then that they began to ap- 

 preciate the full meaning of the illus- 

 trations on the front page of the 

 menu, and when thej- had fairlj- 

 grasped this then came the final 

 death blow to the Society in the 

 shape of a beautiful siuvenir knife, 

 one of Reed & Barton 's most artistic 

 productions, on the handle of which 

 was engraved, "Slogan of M. R, 

 M. A." Immediately following the 

 Association's demise, came the 

 "wake," in which many speakers 

 took part. Among them were Welling 

 G. Sickel, William H. Hillman, 

 Ernest F. Hopkinson, II. K. Raj-- 

 mond, James Boyd, Henry C. Pear- 

 son, Herbert W. Du Buy, C. A. 

 Daniel, H. F. Hering, Wilmer Dun- 

 bar, J. J. Voorhees, Jr., and others. The thought that 

 ran through most of the speeches was that if the Association 

 had failed in everything else, it had been successful in en- 

 gendering the spirit of good fellowship among its members. 



The exercises were much enlivened by the presence of a 

 fine orchestra and a quartette of colored vocalists, who ren- 

 dered " coon songs " with a perfection rarely equalled. From 

 a business standpoint the fini.shof the Association was most 

 complete, all the money in the Treasury going for the banquet 

 and nothing remaining ior post mortcms. Ex-President Work 

 paid Ex Secretary Hillman a handsome compliment, stating 

 that he had done most of tlie work, and exceedingly well. 



One point in Mr. Work's speech is worth emphasis. It 

 had been whispered about that he had evolved a plan under 

 which all could work without violating in the least any ob- 

 ligations. Tlie audience were therefore on the gtii five to 

 hear the solution of their troubles. This, perhaps, was the 

 reason that they were so slow to catch on to the truth that 

 the end of the Association was in sight. And so firmly was 

 this thought in their minds that it was not until the speaker, 

 in plain English, or as H. Iv. Raymond wittily said, "with 

 much grace oi bcnt'AxcWon " plainU- announced the end, that 

 they understood. 



FRONT OF M£NU (MOURNING BORDER ADDED). 



