166 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



[February i, 1906. 



THE RUBBER TRADE AT AKRON. 



BY A RESIDENT COKRESPOMDENT. 



TIIK Akron rubl)er nianufacturers have joined The Fisk 

 Rnbber Co. (Chicopee Falls, Massachusetts) in an ef- 

 fort to secure a reduction of freight rates on rubber, and 

 especially on rubber tires. Besides claiming that the rail- 

 road companies are charging an excessive rate through a 

 wrong classification, not only of tires, but of many other 

 rubber goods, the manufacturers desire to get changed the 

 rule which prevented single tube tires from being shipped 

 while inflated. 



At the annual meeting of the Swineliart ClinclK-r Tire and 

 Rubber Co., on Januarys, James \. Swineliart was reelected 

 president. The other officers are practically the same as 

 before, B. C. Swineliart being elected secretary, H. F. Sie- 

 grist treasurer, and William J. Frank vice president. These 

 officers, with William Hyrider, Frank Iv Ream, and JI. S. 

 Rudgers con-stitute tlie directors. The usual dividend was 

 declared. 



The annual election oi The B. F. Cioodrich Co. was held 

 January 10, with the same board of directors and officers 

 elected as before, with the exception that Charles B. Ray- 

 mond succeeded R. P. Marvin as secretary, Mr. Marvin having 

 resigned some time ago on account of ill health. The officers 

 elected are : Colonel George T. Perkins, president ; B. G. 

 Work, vice president ; George W. Crouse, second vice pres- 

 ident ; C. B. Raymond, secretary ; W. A. Folger, treasurer ; 

 F. H. Mason, general works manager; W. A. Means, assistant 

 treasurer ; E. C. Shaw, general superintendent ; C. C. Good- 

 rich, assistant general superintendent ; II. E. Raymond, gen- 

 eral sales manager. 



President Swineliart, <>f the Swineliart Clincher Tire and 

 Rubber Co., stated to The India Rubbku World corre- 

 spondent that the action commenced b\- his company in the 

 United States court in Cleveland on Januar}- 10 w-as only 

 the first of a series that will be commenced against the Motz 

 Clincher Tire and Rubber Co. The plaintifl" claims in this 

 first suit that the Motz co'mpany has infringed upon the 

 concave tire and the beaded thread patented by the Swine- 

 hart company, and damages are asked. Mr. Swinehart 

 stated that other patents owned by his company protecting 

 their tires have been infringed upon, and that two or three 

 other suits will follow. 



George A. Ludington has resigned as superintendent of 

 the plant of the Firestone Tire and Rubber Co. to accept a 

 similar position with the G & J Tire Co., (Indianapolis, 

 Indiana). Mr. Ludington was with the Firestone companj- 

 as superintendent for three years, previous to which time he 

 was superintendent of the Morgan & Wright plant at Chi- 

 cago for ten years. Mr. Ludington is the inventor and 

 patentee of a continuous length process of manufacturing 

 solid rubber tires, and though he experimented on the 

 plan while in Chicago, it was in this city that the process 

 was perfected. The patent was assigned to the Firestone 

 Tire and Rubber Co., and has been the means of quite a sav- 

 ing to manufacturers in that it prevents loss by manufac- 

 turing tires in certain sizes to suit different wheels. 



The annual meeting of the Aladdin Rubber Co resulted in 

 the old board of directors being chosen again, as follows: 

 James Christy, Will Christy, John Connor, Cassius M. Gil- 

 bert, C. S. Heller. The officers were reelected as follows : 



James Christy, president ; Cassius M. Gilbert, secretary and 

 treasurer ; Sidnej- Connor, assistant .secretary and treasurer ; 

 C. vS. Heller, superintendent. The companj' e.xpect to begin 

 reclaiming rubber by the Heller system bj' February 15. 

 The boiler for the new plant at Barberton has been in- 

 stalled, and only several small machines are still lacking. 



A gratifying evidence of the healthy situation of the 

 bicj'cle trade was found in the receipt the first of the month 

 by the Diamond Rnbber Co. of an order for a carload lot 

 of bic\-cle tires, from the Pacific Coast Rubber Co., of 

 Tacoma, Wa.shington, and Portland, Oregon. This is said 

 to be the first carload lot order for bicycle tires ever sent to 

 the Pacific coast, and the manufacturers will make the ship- 

 ment with the car bedecked with banners and gaj- colors. 

 The Diamond companj' have been doing a large business in 

 bicycle tires, and as achievement has been their argument, 

 the order is taken as a most encouraging sign for the trade 

 in general. 



The rubber induslrj- has built up another here that is aux- 

 iliaiy to it, and is becoming an important factor in the com- 

 mercial world — the manufacture of machinerj' for the manu- 

 facture of rubber goods. Rubber goods have taken on such 

 a varietj' of forms and uses, that it has become necessarj' to 

 manufacture numerous styles of molds. The Williams Foun- 

 dry and Machine Co. is one of the later manufacturers of 

 rubber machinery. It has found it necessarj' to extend its 

 plant, especialU' on account of the demand for automobile 

 and bicvcle tire molds. The conipanj' has installed a new 

 42 inch lathe, weighing 12 tons, to be used in finishing 

 molds, and before that a 26 ton planer. 



On account of present lack of facilities and the large op- 

 portunities for business, the Adamson Foundrj- and Machine 

 Co. are looking for a new location, on which to erect :i inore 

 extensive plant. The main reason of Mr. Adam sen;, the 

 owner of the works, for establishing a new factorj', is that he 

 has a large market for rubber machinerj', and is desirous of 

 giving Iris time more e.xclusiveU' to that work, and of manu- 

 facturing heavj- rubber machinej- to a larger extent. 

 Hitherto the output of the plant has been confined mainly 

 to small machines. The company latelj- supplied the Fire- 

 stone Tire and Rubber Co. with six hydraulic presses, and 

 have since received an order froni the same companj- for a 

 large accumulator, 



A pneumatic baseball is the latest noveltj- in rubber 

 manufacturing. It naturallj- follows the introduction of the 

 pneumatic golf ball, which sprang into such favor last 

 season. The principle of construction is practically the same, 

 except that the baseball is larger, and that it has a leather 

 covering similar to the regulation baseball. The rubber in- 

 terior of the baseball is wrapped with thread and on top of 

 the thread the leather is placed. The pneumatic and regu- 

 lation baseballs are so much alike in appearance that such an 

 expert as "Napoleon" Lajoie, manager of the Cleveland 

 "Nationals," and Pitcher Bernard, of the same club, could 

 not tell the difference after practicing for two hours with 

 both kinds. 



At the annual meeting of the .\kron Rubber Co. made up 

 practicallj" of the same shareholders of The B. F. Goodrich 

 Co. on Januarj- 10, the old officers were reelected : Colonel 

 George T. Perkins, president; George W. Crouse, vice 

 president ; C. B. Raymond, secretary ; B. G. Work, treasurer ; 

 F. H. Mason, general superintendent. 



