158 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



[February i, 1906. 



THE NEW CONTINENTAL RUBBER CO. 



'Tpl IE incorporation of the Continental Rubber Co. under the 

 -*- lawsof New Jersey, January 6, with S,^o, 000, 000 capital, 

 caused quite a stir in the rubljer trade, the objects of the 

 company being very little understood except to those having 

 inside information. For example, it was supposed in some 

 quarters to be a manufacturing enterprise. Those interested 

 in rubber planting wanted to know whether the great 

 amount of Guayale that might be expected at once to come 

 in would bring the price of other crude rubber down so low- 

 that there would be no good market for their product. 

 Right here it is safe to say that no such danger was immi- 

 nent. TiiK Ini>i.'\ RiUHicu WoRi.n interviewed several per- 

 sons prominent in the Continental company' but the infor- 

 mation secured was not voluminous. It was learned, how- 

 ever, that the parties interested financially are United States 

 Senator Nelson W. .Mdrich of Rhode Island, Mr. B. M. 

 Baruch, !\Ir. Thomas K. Ryan, Mr. Meyer Guggenheim, 

 Mr. John D. Rockefeller, Jr. (son in ]a\\ of Senator Aldrich) 

 and certain Mexican financiers who are not named. It was 

 definitely contradicted that John D. Rockefeller, Jr., w-as either 

 a large stockholder or that he would be president of the com- 

 pany. The president's name was not given, but it was said 

 that the man selected for that office was one whose name was 

 not at all familiar to the rubber trade. Permanent offices for 

 the company will be opened shortly at No. iii Broadway, 

 Nevf York. From other sources it is known that the com- 

 ])anv's factory at Torreon, Mexico, is being considerably en- 

 larged, and that an excellent quality of rubber is being 

 secured from the Guayule shrub. It may be stated further 

 that the new corporation is successor to the New Jersey 

 corporation of the same name, formed in 1903 with $1,000,000 

 capital. The object of the reorganization remains to be 

 known. 



Some holders of United States Rubber stocks expressed 

 anxiety over the organization of the Continental Rubber Co., 

 which, they thought, might become in some way a compet- 

 itor. This anxietj' was not shared in well informed quar- 

 ters, where it was pointed out that the new company would 

 confine its operations to the crude rubber business, princi- 

 pally in ^le.xico, while the fact that Senator Aldrich, who is 

 interested in Continental Rubber, is a fellow townsman and 

 friend of President Colt of the United States Rubber Co., 

 and that there are other ties of friendship between interests 

 in the two companies, is a further assurance that the new or- 

 ganization does not intend to trench upon the business of the 

 older one. 



The details of promotion of the new company are in the 

 hands of Bernard M. Baruch, who has been associated with 

 the Guggenheims in smelting enterprises iji Mexico. 



GUAYULE PLANTS WANTED IN GERMANY. 



TO THE Editor ok The Indi.v Rubber World : I should 

 feel obliged to you if you could recommend somebody 

 to me in Mexico or New York who can ship large quantities 

 of Guayule plants. Yours truly, feist strauss. 



Frankfort-on-Main, Germany, January 13. 1906 



[It may not be generally known that the new customs 

 tariff schedule of Mexico, promulgated June 20 and taking 

 effect September i, 1905, includes among the articles sub- 



ject to export duty, Chicle at the rate of 20 pesos [=$9.96] 

 per metric ton, net, and Guayule (in the natural state or 

 ground), 15 pesos [=57-471 per ton, gro.ss weight.] 

 GlJAYUl.K NOTKS. 



Tin; Guayule Rubber Co , incorporated in California in 

 November last, with offices in Fay building, Los Angeles, 

 Cal., are producing rubber from the Guayule plant at fSan 

 Luis Potosi. The president and general manager, who is in 

 charge of the factory, is Mr. W. O Franklin, sometime rep- 

 resentative of the Boston Woven Hose and Rubber Co., at 

 Los -Vngeles. 



^Thomas F. O'Donnell, Hotel Saltillo, .Saltillo, Mexico, 

 is desirous of obtaining "a machine that will clean the 

 wood or fiber from the rubber bark " — referring evidently to 

 the extraction of rubber from the Guayule plant. 



= The Vienna journal Das Hiuidels- Museum reports that 

 the great steel firm of Krupp, in Essen, is interested in a 

 German-Me.xican rubber enterprise, interested in a factory 

 at Torreon for working Guayule, under a patent vi'hich has 

 been acquired by Krupp 's representative. 



THE BADLY USED HOT WATER BOTTLE. 



A LITTLE book on the mis-use of hot water bottles, sent 

 out by The B. F. Goodrich Co. (Akron, Ohio) is inter- 

 esting as well as instructive. The cover has a picture of 

 two little red devils poking barbed spears into a water bot- 

 tle. This does not necessarily imply that the chief market 

 for such wares is in the bad place, but rather expesses the Ak- 

 ron opinion of him who would abuse a good thing, and then 

 blame the Goodrich folks. Thoughtless matrons are gen- 

 tly cautioned against the practice of heating the water by 

 frying the bag on top of the stove, or boiling in the dish- 

 pan. The bottles are also said to make good invalid cush- 

 ions, only so long as they are not used as such. Water bot- 

 tles are made to stand the weight of 5 or 6 pounds of 

 water with a reasonable margin of strength ; but if there 

 were sufficient demand for puncture proof bottles to hold a 

 few pounds of steam pressure, or a 200-pound woman, the 

 Goodrich people stand ready to make them. Turpentine 

 and coal-oil do not seriously injure rubber bottles, either, 

 when carefully kept away from them ; otherwise the rubber 



stands about the same chance as a snowball in ! If 



Father can afford it, too, the combination of a small boy and 

 a new bag hanging on a nail produces an excellent jumping- 

 jack for several minutes. If orders be properlj- placed at 

 the factory, the Goodrich companj- might make water-bags 

 specially designed for this or almost any other purpo.se. 

 Their ordinary bags are made to hold hot water. 



i\lR. Robert Eddy, city salesman for the Goodyear Rub- 

 ber Co. (Milwaukee, Wisconsin), is the originator of a ver}- 

 catchj- post card souvenir which is copyrighted and which 

 many large houses have purchased as an advertising novelty. 

 It is in reality a nice little hot water bottle, made of white 

 rubber bound in red, and attached to a tag, the reverse 

 side of which shows a picture of a pair of feet that certainly 

 did not grow east of Chicago, and between them printed in 

 large type the legend—" Don't Get Cold Feet." This with- 

 out doubt appeals to the American poker player and he goes 

 after it with both feet. 



