298 



THE INDIA RUBJbER WORLD 



[June i, 1906. 



RUBBER INTERESTS IN EUROPE. 



THE CONTINENTAL COMPANY'S EMPLOYES. 



DURIXC, the latter part of April Ilerr Director Adolf 

 rrin/.horn, of the Continental- Caoutchouc- and Gutt«- 

 percha Co. (Hanover, Germany), invited the company's em- 

 ployes to meet him one noon, and gave them a strong talk. 

 He began bj' enumerating and giving the amounts of the 

 various company funds for the support of sick workmen and 

 the widows and orphans of former workmen, and stated that 

 the board of directors intended to increase these still further. 

 He said that 160,000 marks were now set apart for the sup- 

 port of widows and orphans, which would allow each widow 

 200 marks a year. The total sum paid out to or for the 

 workmen, on account of sickness, injuries, life insurance 

 premiums, etc., had amounted to 1,052,093 marks within the 

 last five years. At the end of each jubilee period (25 years) 

 each employe receives 500 marks. 



Director Prinzhorn then went on to say that the workmen 

 were not regarded as so many people on the paj* roll, but 

 that the managers took a personal interest in them, and had 

 their interests at heart. He deplored the strike attempted 

 early in March, which might have cau.sed great suftering to 

 thousands of families ; for the company were determined to 

 shut down the works, rather than yield to the strikers. He 

 declared, moreover, that the company would alwaj-s refuse 

 to have any dealings with their employes through outside 

 mediators. Within a year, however, he said that the work- 

 men would be invited to attend a meeting for the purpose of 

 discussing the general management of the compan}-, where 

 misunderstandings would be cleared up, though the manage- 

 ment would strongly disapprove of the workmen conversing 

 with newspaper reporters on these matters. With nearlj' 

 4000 employes in the works, the management recognized 

 that mistakes and misunderstandings would sometimes arise; 

 and the}' would be grateful to any workmen who should tell 

 them when anything went wrong anywhere. 



THE BRITISH RUBBER MANUFACTURERS. 



The annual report of the India Rubber Manufacturers' 

 Association for the year ending December 31, 1905, which 

 has been printed, shows that the conference to which manu- 

 facturers in other countries were invited for the purpose of 

 di.scussing difficulties experienced in connection with the 

 supplj' of crude rubber, failed to be held in London in Octo- 

 ber, although favorable responses had been received from 

 the United States, Canada, German}', Russia, and Italy. "It 

 was found impossible to hold a conference in October, " says 

 the report, "owing to unforseen circumstances which de- 

 layed the attendance of Mr. Ivins, the president of the Gen- 

 eral Rubber Co., of New York. It is felt very essential that 

 Mr. Ivins, representing the largest purchasers of rubber in the 

 world, should be present at any conference held." It is not 

 mentioned, by the way, whether further steps toward such 

 conference will be held. The association was addressed dur- 

 ing the j-ear by Mr. P. J. Burgess, of the Federated Malay 

 States, whose visit^ England in the rubber interest is men- 

 tioned elsewhere in this issue. In Ma}-, 1905, a resolution 

 was passed committing themembersto the issue of advanced 

 lists on mechanical goods. During the year the members 

 manufacturing cycle tires held meetings with the result of 

 agreeing upon guarantees and some other matters. As a re- 

 sult of discussion within the association, The Rubber Trade 



Mutual Insurance Co., Limited, was established, with good 

 prospects. The membership now embraces 22 rubber manu- 

 facturing companies. The officers elected for this year are : 



Chaimiaii . — OswM.n G. MoSF.i.EV. 



Vice Chairiiiaii. — J. V.. Hoi'KIN.sox. 



Goicial Coximitlcc— R K. BirlKV, R- Kcci,es, V. W. Ingk.^m, 

 W. H. HENni.;R,soN, Puii.u' H. Lockiiart, G. C. Mandlehicrg, 

 F. Pec.i.eu, James Tinto. 



Treasurer. — Iksws K Ba.xTER. 



Secretary. — F. B. KnoTT, Manchester. 



AUSTRIA. 

 Prices are higher in Austria on elastic webbing goods 

 such as garters, hose supporters, and the like, due to the 

 continued high cost of rubber and cotton, though it is 

 claimed that manufacturers have not succeeded yet in secur- 

 ing prices commensurate with the increase over the former 

 cost of materials. Opposition to the new prices is reported 

 to come from the wholesalers rather than from dealers and 

 consumers. Guvimi- tuid Asbest- Zeitiaig (Vienna) suggests 

 an agreement among the rubber manufacturers for the pur- 

 pose of making the advance on goods of this class uniform — 

 a condition which docs not now exist. 



TURKEY. 

 In a report by the commercial expert attached to the Ger- 

 man consulate at Constantinople, it is stated that Russian 

 rubber shoes have almost crowded out of the Constantinople 

 market the .American article. Inquiries in proper quarters go 

 to show that some mistake has been made, as the sale of 

 American rubbers was never so brisk in Constantinople as 

 now, and much more trade could be done if more credit was 

 given. The German rubbers are also selling well. — The Jndia- 

 Rubber Journal. 



GERMANY. 



Frankfurter Gummiwaren-Fabrik Carl Stockicht A.-G. 

 [See The India RuBiiEK WdRi.i), December i, 1905 — page 

 78] has declared a dividend of 5 per cent, on the business of 

 1905. The capital stock is to be increased from 1,500,000 

 marks to 2,100,000 marks [=$499,800], the new issue be- 

 ing taken by a syndicate at 103. 



GREAT BRITAIN. 



The golf ball manufacture carried on hitherto by Hutchi- 

 son, Main & Co., at the Springvale works, Cowlairs, Glas- 

 gow, Scotland, has been transferred to Hutchison, Main & 

 Co., Limited, registered at Edinburgh in April, with a 

 capital of ^100,000 [=$486,650]. The public was not asked 

 to subscribe. This is the company against which an unsuc- 

 cessful action was brought lately by the patentees of the 

 Ha.skell ball. 



=Johnson & Phillips, Limited, Old Charlton, Kent, have 

 been elected members of the Cable Makers' Association, and 

 their standard wire will in future bear the official labels 

 authorized b}' the association. The company report that 

 the cable gear and equipment which they supplied for a new- 

 cable steamer now under construction in Japan for the 

 government of that empire has been successfully installed. 



= The Rubber Co. of Scotland, Limited, at Stirling, are 

 mentioned as having made a rubber conveyor belt 20 inches 

 wide and over iioo feet in length, for use in conveying gold 

 ore in a South African mine. 



=W. T. Henley's Telegraph Works Co., Limited, recently 

 laid a 20-pair telephone cable across the Tagus river, in 

 Portugal, for the Anglo-Portuguese Telephone Co. 



