170 



THE IJSDIA RUBBER WORLD 



[February i, 1906. 



TREDAIR RUBBER CO. ABSORBED. 



The suits between the Foster Rubber Co., Tredair Rubber 

 Co., and Regal Shoe Co. (all of Boston), for infringement of 

 patents, have been amicably settled. The Tredair Rubber 

 Co. (incorporated in Maine in November, 1904, with Jiioo,- 

 000 capital authorized) goes out of business altogether. The 

 Regal Shoe Co. becomes b}- agreement one of the large cus- 

 tomers of the Foster Rubber Co., and will carry the "Fos- 

 ter " heels and heel cushions exclusively in all their stores. 

 The products heretofore manufactured by the Tredair Rubber 

 Co. will be supplied to the trade hereafter by the Foster 

 Rubber Co. , and the latter, as owners of both Foster and 

 Tredair patents, state that they will prosecute more vigor- 

 ously than ever their claims and bring suits against all in- 

 fringers. The Foster company are large producers of molded 

 rubber goods, such as rubber heels, heel cushions, soles, 

 crutch tips, and hoof pads. They are patentees of the so 

 called " Friction Plug " specialties, in w-hich a special fabric 

 is vulcanized into the wearing surface of heels, soles, and the 

 like, with a view to the prevention of slipping and giving 

 longer wear. What has been known as the Foster heel cush- 

 ion will now be marketed as the " Foster-Tredair " cushion. 

 It fits inside the shoe, under the heel of the wearer, and is 

 preferred by many to an elastic heel outside the shoe. It is 

 stated that over 500,000 of these cushions were sold last 

 year. 



THE INDUSTRY PROSPEROUS IN TRENTON. 



The past year was a prosperous one for the rubber in- 

 dustry at Trenton, New Jersej-. An estimate made by the 

 True American newspaper places the value of rubber 

 goods made there during 1905 at $6,000,000 — a larger figure 

 than in any former year. Profits, perhaps, were not propor- 

 tionatelj' large, owing to the high cost of materials. There 

 were no strikes during the year ; none of the factories was 

 shut down at any time except for repairs ; most of the fac- 

 tories were run overtime for part of the year ; and there was 

 an increase in the number of employes. Important ad- 

 ditions were made to several factories, and much new ma- 

 chinery was installed, both in the way of extensions and 

 improvements. 



A SYNTHETIC RUBBER FROM OHIO. 

 The Wright Rubber Manufacturing Co. (Mansfield, Ohio), 

 manufacturers of "crude rubber," as a special favor to 

 The India Ribber World have forwarded a small sample 

 of their synthetic gum, with the understanding that it does 

 not go out of the editorial possession. The gum in color is 

 .something like fine Para rubber, but much " shorter, " sug- 

 gesting Ceara rubber in its te-xture. When burned it 

 seemed to the Editor to have a slight smell of rubber. This 

 is not written, however, as an expert valuation of the gum, 

 as the Editor had a slight cold and the office boy, who had 

 none, was unable to detect ^ny such rubber smell. A later 

 communication from the Wright companj- states that the 

 product is the invention of Mr. E. E. Wright, who is the 

 president of the company, and is the result of four years of 

 experiment ; that there is no rubber at all entering into the 

 compound, that it will vulcanize to any hardness ; and that 

 they have recentU' completed a dental plate which has been 

 satisfactory in everj- way. He does not say definitely 

 whether the dental plate was made wholly of his product, 

 or partly crude rubber. 



STANDARD UNDERGROUND CABLE CO. (PITTSBURGH). 

 Tinc annual report presented at the shareholders' meeting 

 on Januarj- 23 showed gross business for i905of $12,997, 124, 

 which was much the largest figure in the historj- of the com- 

 pany. Indeed, the business showed an increase of about 50 

 per cent, over 1904. Out of the net earnings the usual divi- 

 dends of 3 per cent, quarterly were paid, and a liberal charge 

 made for depreciation of plant. Unfilled orders on hand on 

 December 31 and booked up to date aggregate Si, 700, 000. 

 The directors were reelected, as follows : Mark W. Watson 

 (president), Joseph W. Marsh (vice president and general 

 manager), John Moorhead, Jr., John B. Jackson, B. F. Jones, 

 Jr., Robert Pitcairn, J. N. Davidson, William A. Conner, and 

 L. W. Dalzell. 



REVERE RUBBER CO EMPLOYES* " FOURTH ANNUAL". 

 The fourth annual banquet of the clerks and salesmen of 

 the Revere Rubber Co. (Boston), on the evening of Jan- 

 uary- 26, as usual, was well attended and was a thoroughly 

 enjoyable affair. After dinner Mr. Henry C. Pearson, Editor 

 of The Ixdi.\ Rubber World, gave a talk on "A Trip to 

 Central America," with stereopticon views of Nicaragua, 

 Costa Rica, and Panama, including manj' that were of inter- 

 est from the rubber standpoint. The dinner was at the 

 Hotel Esse.x, Boston, 



GRADING OF RUBBER SCRAP. 



The new regulations adopted by the Paper Stock Dealers' 

 Association of Philadelphia, for the grading and packing of 

 various forms of stock traded in by its members, contain de- 

 tails relating to rubber scrap. These involve little change 

 in rules for grading rubber from the practice of the whole 

 trade in recent years, but the list to-day embraces very many 

 kinds of rubber which, a dozen years ago, would not have 

 been available for reclaiming — a fact suggestive of the pro- 

 gress and improvement that have been made in rubber re- 

 claiming. The Philadelphia regulations follow : 



Rubber Boots and S/iors — Must be dry, free from leather, arctic 

 cloth tops, brass nails and brass e3'elets. 



While Rubber. — Must be free of metal, cloth lined water bags, 

 cement and fiber wringer rolls and colored stock. 



Mixed Black Rubber. — Must be soft and pliable, free from fiber, 

 metal floor mats and packing. 



Mailing and Packing. — Must be free from belting, metal and all 

 other substances foreign to rubber. 



Hose. — Mxist be soft and pliable, rubber lined, covered and free 

 from metal. 



Cotlon Jacket Fire Hose. — The lining of which nuist be elastic. 



Mi.red Inner Tubes. — Must be elastic and free from cloth and 

 metal. 



Pneumatic Bicycle and Automobile Tires. — Must be free from 

 wire and dried out rubber. 



Solid Wagon Tires. — Must not contain baby carriage tires, iron 

 or wire. 



Tare. — Tare will not be allowed on rubber scrap of an}' de- 

 scription. 



NEW INCORPORATION. 



Breck Rubber Co. ( Springfield, Mass. ), January 10, 

 1906, under Massachusetts laws ; capital, $5000. James R. 

 Breck, president ; Frank G. Wooden, treasurer ; Charles G. 

 Breck. clerk. These constitute the board of directors. 

 Some time ago the firm of Breck Brothers, dealers in rubber 

 goods, made an assignment to Mr. Wooden, an attorney, and 

 the creditors have agreed to have the business continued as 

 a corporation. 



