September i, 1909.] 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



431 



Contiiiciital f;ictories arc taking more, and then tliere is Japan, 

 which is now manufacturing on quite a large scale. As long 

 ago as last September I was told in the city that there was 

 going to be a big "boom" in rubber shares, and though it was 

 some time in coming, we have certainly got it at last, and half 

 the people you meet are now discussing rubber shares. No 

 doubt, as in the original Kaffir boom, a good many who go in at 

 the high prices merely for a gamble will get bitten, a fact 

 which, of course, says nothing for or against the stability of 

 the various companies. 



THE RUBBER TRADE AT AKRON. 



BY A KESniENT CORRESPONDENT. 



riRE destroyed one of the three main buildings of the plant 

 ^ of the Buckeye Rubber Co. here, on August 12. Mr. S. S. 

 Miller, the general manager, believes that insurance adjusters 

 will find that the loss exceeded $100,000, and may have reached 

 $150,000. The fire was discovered in a room used to store tire 

 fabric above the office, at 4 o'clock in the morning, by a night 

 watchman. It is supposed to have originated from crossed 

 wires. Before the city fire department could get its lines laid 

 the flames had spread over the greater part of the interior. 

 Large quantities of crude and partly compounded rubber, and 

 also other raw materials stored in the building, were totally de- 

 stroyed, constituting the greater part of the loss. The building 

 was used for the offices, for the mill room, and for storage. 

 Employes of the factory were immediately put to work to clear 

 up the debris. Mr. Van H. Cartmell, of New York, president 

 of the company, who came to Akron the day following the fire, 

 says that the building will be rebuilt at once. A small mill room 

 in another building will be used temporarily. C. W. Seiberling, 

 vice president of the Goodyear Tire and Rubber Co., offered the 

 use of the Goodyear mill room immediately after the fire. Mr. 

 Miller says that the company will be able to continue manufacture 

 without serious delay to orders. 



The Buckeye Rubber Co. was incorporated in 1900, under tlie 

 laws of New Jersey, to manufacture tires for the Consolidated 

 Rubber Tire Co. (New York), whose products before that date 

 were made for them at various rubber factories under contract. 

 The loss occasioned by the fire is fully covered by insurance. 

 The total insurance carried on the plant and stock was 

 $380,000. 



A second fire broke out. in the Buckeye factory three days 

 later, on the morning of .August 15. The source, like that of 

 first blaze, was mysterious and incendiarism was suspected. 

 It originated in the storage house adjoining one of the remain- 

 ing factory buildings. Large quantities of crude rubber. PoiUia- 

 nak gum, and lumber were destroyed, as well as valuable pat- 

 terns. Automatic fire doors prevented the spreading of the blaze 

 to the engine room, and firemen kept the adjoining factory build- 

 ing from catching fire. The loss in the second disaster was 

 estimated at $20,000. 



* * * 



What promises to be a development of great importance in the 

 automobile world is the introduction of the tire-making machine. 

 The B. F. Goodrich Co. and the Goodyear Tire and Rubber Co. 

 are now making practical use of such machines for the manu- 

 facture of their best grades of pneumatics. The Goodrich machine 

 was designed by the company's mechanical expert, John 

 Gammeter. Mr. E. C. Shaw, general manager of the Goodrich 

 works, said that .30 of these machines have been installed, cacli 

 prmlucing an average of lOO tires in a day of 21 hours. Each 

 mnchinc can be operated by "one and a fraction" men. By the 

 old process of making tires by hand, a good workman could 

 seldom average more than six tires in a day. The Goodyear com- 

 pany have six machines in operation, each operated by two men. 

 An official of the company said that these machines are capable 

 of making 160 tires each in a day of 24 hours. 



Tlic .Akron Pneumatic Tire-.Making Machine Co. was organized 

 during the last month to manufacture and sell a tire-making 

 machine designed by A C. Squires and J. W. Meeker. The 

 directors of the company are Charles A. Ley, president; James 

 W. Meeker, secretary and manager; M. B. Kuhlke, vice presi- 

 dent; E. T. Williams, and a\. C. Squires. The capital stock is 

 $10,000. Several of the machines are now being built in an 



.\krun machine simp. 



* * * 



The Moore Architectural Engineering Co., of Akron, are pre- 

 paring plans for three new buildings for the Faultless Rubber 

 Co. at Ashland. They will cost more than $100,000, and will 

 increase the floor space of the factory more than 21,500 feet. 

 The buildings will adjoin the present plant and will nearly double 



its capacity. 



* * * 



The United Rubber Co. is the name of the reorganization of 

 the .Maddin Rubber Co., of this city. The business is in 

 practically the same hands as before, and the capital stock has 

 been reduced from $250,000 to $200,000. The officers are : James 

 Christy, president; J. W. Miller, vice president; Sidney Conner, 

 secretary and treasurer, and William W. Wildman, general 

 manager. The reclaiming plant at Barbcrton, Ohio, will be re- 

 tained, and it is the intention of the directors to build a factory 

 for the manufacture of mechanical rubber goods in the spring. 



* * * 



The plants of The B. F. Goodrich Co., the Alkali Rubber Co., 

 and the American Hard Rubber Co., were shut down all day 

 August 7 on the occasion of the annual Goodrich picnic, which 

 was held at Silver Lake, Ohio. The company gave away free 

 tickets to 15.000 people for the outing. It was the largest ever 

 held by the Goodrich. The Diamond plant was closed on July 24, 

 when more than 8.000 persons were entertained by The Diamond 



Rubber Co. at Silver Lake. 



* * * 



The remainder of the $200,000 worth of capital stock of the 

 Swinehart Clincher Tire and Rubber Company has been sold, 

 and James A. Swinehart has sold a large part of his stock to 

 William W. Wuchtcr, formerly superintendent of the Firestone 

 Tire and Rubber Co.'s plant. Mr. Wuchter has succeeded J. A. 

 Swinehart as general manager and replaces B. C. Swinehart as 

 vice president. J. A. Swinehart will continue as president of 

 the company, but will retire from active participation in the 

 manufacture. He was due to sail for England August 29, it 

 being his plan to devote his attention to the European interests 

 of the company in that country and on the Continent. This will 

 necessitate his removing his family abroad. At a directors' meet- 

 ing held on August 23, the personnel of the board was almost 

 entirely changed. All retired except J. A. Swinehart and J. O. 

 Surbey, and five new men were elected — -Frank B. Theiss, first 

 vice president of the First National Bank of Akron; William 

 Byrider, William W. Wuchter. Joseph Dangel, superintendent of 

 the Akron plant of the American Hard Rubber Co., and R. A. 

 May, all of Akron. C. O. Baughman will be retained as sec- 

 retary and most of the old employes will be continued in their 

 present positions. Work has already been started on the con- 

 struction of an addition to the plant, made necessary by the in- 

 creasing demand for the company's product. The directors are 

 also considering the question of adding pneumatic tires to the 



output of the plant. 



* * ♦ 



A RECENT rumor to the effect that the .Mumiiuim Flake Co. 

 was about to change hands arose from a proposition made by 

 Cleveland persons, who, according to Mr. Frank Reifsnider, man- 

 ager of the company, ofifered par for the stock as a part of a 

 proposed reorganization scheme. Mr. Reifsnider said that the 

 directors had decided not to take up the plan and would con- 

 tinue as heretofore. According to the manager's statement, the 

 company has enjoyed prosperous business so far this year, hav- 



