August i, 1909.] 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



387 



present plant of the Davol Rubber Co. The business had only 

 become fairly started when Mr. Perkins withdrew, and soon 

 afterward died, and Mr. Davol struck out alone. He kept at 

 it alone until his sons were old enough to share in the business, 

 stea<lily increasing the size of his plant, improving machinery, 

 and making a name for himself and his product, which is now so 

 widely known throughout the business world as the Davol 

 Rubber Co. 



Under his careful guidance the Davol Rubber Co. has grown 

 to be the largest plant of its kind in the world, its product 

 being sold in the markets of every civilized country, and the 

 name "Davol" has come to be the standard of excellence 

 in that line. Up to the time of his last illness, Mr. Davol 

 maintained an active interest in the affairs of the company, of 

 which he w'as president, treasurer and principal owner, the 

 company's stock, with the exception of a very few shares, 

 standing in his name and the names of members of his immediate 

 family. This company as originally started having always re- 

 mained a close corporation. 



Mr. Davol married Mary Eliza Turner, of Providence, who 

 survives him, as do also his two sons, Charles J. Davol, the 

 general manager and one of the directors of the Davol Rubber 

 Co.. and George A. Davol, who is now living in Boston. 



In the business life of the city, Mr. Davol was always an 

 important factor. He was undoubtedly one of the most promi- 

 nent among that passing generation of men who were pioneers 

 in their work, and who gave the city the reputation and standing 

 it has in the business world. He was also well known in the 

 business and financial circles of Boston and New York. He 

 was a director in the Industrial Trust Co., the Phenix National 

 Bank and a member of the board of trustees of the Rhode 

 Island Safe Deposit Co., and identified with many other corpora- 

 tions and institutions, both business and financial. He was a 

 member of the Hope, the Art and the Squantum clubs, though 

 he was seldom seen at either, because of his preference for the 

 <iuietu(le of home life. 



He was of a retiring nature, and cartd little for public life, 

 and many times declined attempts to bring him before the public 

 «ye. His charities were liberal and wide, and always unosten- 

 tatious. A quiet, courteous, kindly and most lovable man was 

 Joseph Davol. The false and insincere bored him exceedingly, 

 but he showed it only by a look of weariness that was more 

 eloquent than a spoken reproof. Some four days before his 

 death, speaking to a close friend he said, "During my life I 

 have not knowingly wronged anyone." That this was an honest 

 claim, all of his friends and associates will testify, and more 

 than all else this stands as the greatest and most enduring 

 of his successes. 



Tribute of the New England Rubber Ci.ub. 

 Where,\s: Our fellow member, director, and friend. Joseph Davol. has 

 passed to the "Great Be,vond" we, the New England Rubber Club, with 

 sorrowful hearts, have framed the following resolutions: 



Rcsohed, That in the death of our friend the rubber trade and our asso- 

 ciation have suffered a great and irreparable loss. Quiet, reserved, genuine, 

 averse to publicity of any nature, he was yet a progressive, able business 

 man, a sane and sound adviser, and one whose aim was to deal justly and 

 generously with all with whom he came in contact. 



Rcsoh-ed, That this expression of our appreciation of the departed be 

 spread upon our records and a co|/y be engrossed and presented to his 

 family. 



GEORGE P. WHITMORE, 

 E. E. \V.\DBROOK, 

 .\. M. P.\UL. 



Committee on Resolutions. 

 J. C. PIEEKEZ. 



Jesse C. Pierrez, of the rubber goods trade in New York, 

 died suddenly of heart disease at his home in that city, No. 387 

 Convent avenue, on July 22, in his fifty-fifth year. Mr. Pierrez 

 was born in Hoboken, New Jersey. For many years he was in 

 the employ of the Goodyear Rubber Co.. after which he engaged 

 in business for himself. He was manager of the Peoples Hard 

 Rubber Co. (Akron, Ohio), and after its absorption by the 



American Hard Rubber Co. he organized in New York the 

 Pierrez Rubber and Supply Co., jobbers of rubber goods, incor- 

 porated October 10, 1904, of which he was the president to the 

 end of his life, with offices at No. 69 Warren street. He leaves 

 a widow, who was Miss .Adeline R. Van Pelt, daughter of the 

 late William R. Van Pelt, for many years superintendent of 

 the New York postoffice. 



E. K. GKIFFIN. 



R. H. Griffin, who died at his home in Philadelphia on June 

 28, in his sixty-ninth year, was a native of Baltimore. When 

 quite a young man he removed with his father to Boston, and 

 was associated with him there in the footwear trade. Later he 

 became identified with the Boston selling agency of the New 

 Jersey Rubber Shoe Co., then under the manageinent of E. B. 

 Preston. Next he was appointed New York selling agent of the 

 same company — a position which he occupied when the New 



The Late R. H. Griffi.n. 



Jersey company was merged into the United States Rubber Co. 

 Mr. Griffin remained with the United States Rubber Co. for sev- 

 eral years. When the New Jersey factory was converted into 

 a bicycle tire plant he took charge of the sale of the new line 

 of production, continuing so until 1900, when he took charge of the 

 rubber department of Weimer, Wright & Watkin Co., large 

 wholesalers of footwear in Philadelphia. This position he held 

 to the end of his life. Mr. Griffin was a most capable salesman. 

 He made friends naturally and easily and seldom an enemy. 

 3VLES A. BELANGEB. 



Jiii.ES Amedee Belanger, the head of Belanger's, Incorporated, 

 died at his home in Bluefields, Nicaragua, on June 11, in his 

 forty-fifth year, after having been in ill health for several 

 months. Mr. Belanger, who was a native of Canada, went to 

 Bluefields at an early age and became associated with an important 

 mercantile house in which a relative was partner. He grew to 

 be the head of the business, and became an eminently successful 

 man of affairs. He was the founder of the banana industrv' 

 in Nicaragua, was influential in developing the goldfields, and 

 latterly took an active interest in rubber culture. He had been 

 British vice consul since 1885. The honorary pallbearers included 

 the local governor, the British consul, the American vice consul, 

 and Mr. Gordon Waldron, of the local rubber planting interest. 

 The death of Mr. Belanger was widely mourned in Bluefields. 

 A fuller sketch and portrait of him appeared in The India Rubber 

 WoRi.ii, March i, 1906 (page 192). 



