April 



igog.. 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



237 



Scotland's Great Rubber Factory. 



THE factories of the North British Rubber Co., Limited, 

 are, to be sure, situated in Edinburgh, Scotland, and the 

 great industry is Scottish, hut in its beginnings it was 

 American. I had long wished to visit these mills, and when the 

 way opened to go by automobile from London to Edinburgh 

 I was prompt in taking advantage of it. The 400 mile journey 

 over the "Great North road" was a dream ; perfect weather, 

 no dust, lovely scenery, quaint towns and cities, old English 

 taverns, clumsy police traps, friendly cyclists who exposed them 

 — all was new to me and enjoyable from start to finish. Then, 

 too, when we reached the Scottish highlands, and finally entered 

 beautiful Edinburgh, the interest did not cease ; in fact, it was 

 augmented. Of course we visited Holyrood and all of the 

 other historic places, but it is not of these but of the great 

 rubber mill that this story shall treat. 



The factories are very near the heart of the city, and Mr. 

 Johnston, the secretary, and general works superintendents at once 

 made me welcome. To describe in detail the patterns of boilers, 

 the modern power plant, the huge spreader room, the much 

 greater grinding room, or to tell of the size of the various 

 departments — rubber shoes, clothing, -sundries, mechanical goods, 

 and tires — would take far too much space. A few figures as 

 to equipment, however, are pertinent : Number of hands em- 

 ployed, about 4,000; area covered by the works, 8 acres; floor 

 space, 388,77s square feet; daily coal consumption, 120 tons; 

 horse power of engines, 4,000. There are 16 boilers, 25 

 calenders, 77 mixing and grinding mills, 35 vulcanizing pans. 

 75 vulcanizing presses of different dimensions, 32 spreading 

 machines, and 34 rubber washers. There is also a fire brigade 

 embracing chief, captain, two lieutenants, and 35 uniformed men. 



Altogether the great Edinburgh concern is an aggregation of 

 rubber factories, perfectly equipped, modern, successful — a com- 

 pany that markets its goods the world over. In China, for 

 example, the North British "Scales chop" and "Lion chop" mean 

 best quality rubber goods. The story of the beginnings of this 

 great industry and of Henry Lee Norris, however, have never 

 been told in print until now. 



In view of the historic interest attaching to this important 

 rubber factory it seems proper to introduce here a brief sketch 

 of its foundation and progress prepared for the use of The 

 India Rubber World, in the latter part of 1902, by Mr. William 

 Firth, then secretary of the North British Rubber Co., a posi- 

 tion which he had held continuously from the beginning, and 

 from which he retired in 1905, after 48 years' service. The state- 

 ment which follows is precisely as written by the late Mr. Firth : 



MR. FIKTH'S STATEMENT. 



In the autumn of 1855 Henry Lee Norris, of Jersey City, 

 and Spencer Thomas Parmelee, of New Haven, Connccticul, 

 arrived in Scotland for the purpose of working a patent or 

 patents of Goodyear's for the manufacture of India-rubber 

 overshoes and boots. These patents were held by William 

 Judson, advocate, New York. 



These two gentlemen landed in Glasgow and began by 

 searching for a suitable factory. None appearing in Glasgow. 

 they went eastward to Edinburgh, and there found a suitable 

 building which had been erected a few years before as a 

 silk mill at a cost of about £50,000. This they rented, and 

 as it was only partially occupied, they got almost immediate 

 possession. A fine pair of condensing steam engines and 

 boilers therefore were included in the lease, so that shortly 

 after midsummer 1856 they found themselves ready to begin 

 operations. 



The firm was styled Norris & Co., Mr. Norris being gen- 

 eral manager and Mr. Parmelee works superintendent. The 

 other shareholders were William Judson, Benjamin F. 

 Breeden, John Ross Ford, Christopher Meyer, James Bishop, 

 and James A. Williamson, all of New York and neighbor- 

 hood. The company was formed with lao shares each iioo. 



The first parcel of overshoes were sold in August, 1856, 

 to Mr. James Dick, who was then about founding gutta- 

 percha shoe making in Glasgow that resulted so successfully 

 for himself, and, through his munificence, for that city. 



The firm of Norris & Co. existed until 1857, when the 

 first limited liability act in Great Britain came into force, 

 when that firm was dissolved and a new company was formed 

 by the same shareholders and registered (about the first in 

 Scotland) under that act as the North British Rubber Co., 

 Limited. 



The same year saw the extension of the company's opera- 

 tions to the manufacture of belting, hose, and mechanical 

 articles, and also to the manufacture of combined cloth and 

 rubber shoes, a branch which the company introduced and 

 which is now a very important one in the rubber shoe in- 

 dustry. An improvement in the manufacture of rubber 

 belting was patented about this time and has become the 

 standard method. The products of the company kept 

 steadily increasing in volume and in favor and the balance 

 sheet for 1857 was decidedly encouraging. 



In 1858 the three years' lease of the mills was expiring, 

 and the property, having been hypothecated to a bank, came 

 into the market and was bought by the sagacious manager 

 for about one-sixth of its original cost and included in the 

 price the sJ^-acre park so suitable and convenient for ex- 

 tension in which the mills were situated at a very small 

 annual fee. Henceforth the success of the company with 

 careful management was assured. 



Mr. Norris retired from the management in 1S60 and was 

 succeeded by the late D. D. WilHamson, of New York, for 

 five years, when Mr. Norris again took charge till 1871, when 

 he was succeeded by W. E. Bartlett, of New York, who with 

 a board of directors conducted 'the company till his death in 

 M'ay, 1900. 



In 1863 an unfortunate fire took place in the south mill 

 by which it was completely destroyed, and the cast wing par- 

 tially. Fortunately the north mill, where the shoes and 

 waterproof clothing were made, was preserved, and with very 

 litllc delay the damage was repaired and the work in the 



Original Pl.^nt of North British Rubber Co. 



