29A 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



[May I, igog. 



THE RUBBER TRADE IN SAN FRANCISCO. 



BY A RESIDENT CORRESPONDENT. 



A CONSERVATIVE estimate of the condition of the rub- 

 ^^ ber trade in San Francisco and the Pacific coast is that 

 business is good enough to prevent complaint from any source, 

 but that the rubber houses are not looking forward to an ex- 

 ceptionally busy year for 1909, though they expect to see busy 

 times soon after. The financial condition has been in suspense 

 for so long that it cannot recover sufficiently to make this an 

 unusually big year for the wholesale rubber houses. Out through 

 the interior the retail establishments have been conducting their 

 business along more conservative lines, and have not been ex- 

 tending very much credit to their custoiners. For this reason 

 the customers have not bought so freely, and stocks have not 

 been turned over to any great extent. The retailer cannot and 

 has not ordered as heavily as he might otherwise, for that reason, 

 as well as the reason that he has not been given the extensions 

 of credit that he would get in former years. As the orders for 

 the coming season are mostly in. the rubber houses cannot ex- 

 pect a very great revival until the next season opens, but they 

 all assert that each month of this year has shown an improve- 

 ment and a better tone generally to trade. It has been noticed 

 that this sea.son the mill men have been inclined to patch up their 

 old belting and have bought sparingly of the new. .\nother 

 feature of the trade has been the demand for the cheaper grades 

 of hose of all kinds. 



The Association of .Stationary Engineers of California will 

 hold their state convention in San Francisco this year at the 

 big auditorium, and it will also include a mechanics' fair, con- 

 sisting of machinery and manufactured products of all kinds 

 which will be displayed June 14-IQ. Most of the rubber fac- 

 tories that have agencies in this city will have exhibits at the 

 fair, and the local factories will make some interesting exhibits 

 of mechanical goods. 



Mr. EUert, traveling man for the Sterling Rubber Co., has re- 

 turned froir an extensive trip through the mill country and the 

 farming communities in the Sacramento valley. He found, he 

 said, that there has been so much snow in the mountains that 

 the mills have not fairly opened, although another traveling man 

 with the firm has been securing big orders from other milling 

 districts. In the Sacram.ento valley the floods rather paralyzed 

 things so that the sundry business for this trip was quiet. The 

 Sterling company are now putting out the Seamless Rubber Co.'s 

 "Kantleek" tire inner tubes. 



Mr. McNeilly, of the Barton Packing and Rubber Co., reports 

 that the firm are in a position to gather in some of the big 

 business which he believes is about due. They have recently 

 installed a large press, they are operating a large new mill, and 

 will have a calender running soon. 



Mr, W. O Franklin, who has traveled for many years for the 

 Boston Woven Hose and Rubber Co. through southern Cali- 

 fornia and .-Xrizona. has left that firm and associated himself 

 with the Gladiator Packing and Rubber Co.. of Los Angeles. 

 Mr. Joseph V. Seiby, Pacific coast manager of the Woven Hose 

 company, states that trade conditions are becoming more satis- 

 factory. 



Mr. L. D. Torrey, son of L. L. Torrey, of the Pennsylvania 

 Rubber Co., states that business is good, and that they have 

 bigger orders booked ahead than they have had at any time 

 within two years. Business, he says, has been especially good in 

 tires, as it seems that the automobile business has been re- 

 markably active this year. Business establishments are finding 

 that they have to buy commercial automobiles to compete with 

 others who are getting them. Mr. L. L. Torrey has accom- 

 panied the m.embcrs of the San Francisco Chamber of Commerce 

 on their trip through the farming sections of the San Joaquin 

 valley. 



Mr. Sargent, manager of the Gorham Rubber Co.. reports tliat 

 •business is improving right along, and that collections now are 

 very good. This firm is getting a special show room fitted up 

 for the display of a large stock of fire equipment goods. The 

 company have secured^ a new auto delivery wagon, which makes 

 two they are now using, besides two other automobiles for the 

 use of the salesmen. 



Mr. S. L. Plant, president of tlie Plant Rubber and Supply 

 Co., states that conditions are about normal. Mr. J. L. Plant, 

 father of S. L. Plant, died on .'\pril 6 at his home in Retford, 

 England, of which town he was mayor at that time. 



J. R. Gates & Co., wholesale dealers in drugs and druggists' 

 sundries, at No. 113 Davis street, have been declared bankrupt, 

 and a sale of the stock of the store has been made by the trus- 

 tees in bankruptcy. 



Mr. Ralph, of the Phoenix Rubber Co., reports that this firm 

 have met with continued success. Mr. Kanzee, of the firm, has 

 devised a new rack which has been satisfactory to such a degree 

 that the firm will place it extensively on the market. 



George Sweeney, who is handling the new rubber lines which 

 are being carried by the Eccles & Smith Co., reports that the 

 first month has resulted in a very satisfactory business. 



Fred S. Winslow, the new manager of the Pacific Coast Rub- 

 ber Co., states that they have been working night and day get- 

 ting things in shape and that business has been very good. 



THE RUBBER TRADE AT AKRON. 



P.V A RESIDENT CORRESPONDENT. 



A CONSENSUS of the carload shipments of manufactured 

 •*»■ commodities in and out of Akron each month was taken 

 recently and has just been announced. It was found that the 

 average monthly shipments by the four largest rubber com- 

 panies of the city in tlie latter part of 1908 amounted to 466 

 cars. This estimate does not include "less carload" business, by 

 which a large part of the rubber companies' shipping is done. 

 The total monthly carload shipments for the city was estimated 

 at 11,000 cars. 



.'\t a special meeting of the shareholders of the Goodyear Tire 

 and Rubber Co. on .^pril 12, the capital stock of the company 

 was increased from $1,000,000 to $2,000,000. The preferred and 

 common stock are each increased from $500,000 to $1,000,000. 

 The meeting was formal and most of the shareholders were 

 represented by proxies. Charles W. Seiberling, vice-president 

 of the company, said that part of the new stock will be placed 

 on the market. The expansion of the trade and manufacturing 

 facilities of the company has made the new issue of stock ad- 

 visable. At the same meeting resolutions on the death of Byron 

 W. Robinson, late director of the company, were adopted. 



Mr. H. S. Firestone, president of the Firestone Tire and Rub- 

 ber Co., returning from a vacation trip to the South, pronounces 

 the island of Cuba as the most delightful place in America for 

 automobile touring. Its delights are largely due, he says, to 

 the coral stone roads, built by the United States government 

 and now in a process of extension under the direction of the 

 Cuban government. In company with Mrs. Firestone he toured 

 the island as the guest of James Cousins, of the Ford Motor Co. 



By way of experiment The Diamond Rubber Co. have been 

 trying a double pneumatic tire on one of their trucks. The idea 

 has come into wide notice since the New York Herald equipped 

 Its trucks with imported double pneumatic. Results of the test 

 have not been announced, but it is probable if it does not de- 

 velop that there is an undue amount of chafing between the 

 tires composing the pair, that the Diamond company will take 

 up their manufacture extensively. 



Akron tire manufacturers are little concerned about the pros- 

 pect of a change in the tarifif on automobile tires as contained in 

 the Payne bill, .\ccording to a provision by the senate finance 

 committee the rate on tires is made equal to the 45 per cent. 



