22 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



[October i, 1904. 



RUBBER INDUSTRY IN MASSACHUSETTS. 



THE eighteenth annual report of statistics of manufactures 

 of Massachusetts, issued by the bureau of statistics of 

 labor of that state, covers the year 1903, in comparison with 

 which figures are given for the preceding year. These reports 

 are not presented as a complete census of Massachusetts in- 

 dustries, but comprise only those establishments from which 

 detailed statements actually have been received. The percent- 

 age of factories reporting, however, is so great as apparently to 

 justify the conclusions drawn as to relative industrial condi- 

 tions in the state, comparing one year with another. Under 

 the head " Rubber and Elastic Goods " details are given in re- 

 gard to 47 establishments, from which reports have been re- 

 ceived annually for some time past, and Tiiii India Rubber 

 World has summarized, in the table herewith, the figures not 

 only in the current report, but in the preceding returns back to 

 1900. The result is to show a steady advance in the Massachu- 

 setts rubber industry. 



The item of "Capital devoted to production " may require a 

 world of explanation. Under the system employed by the 

 Massachusetts bureau of statistics, the term " capital " does 

 not relate to the amount of share capital of a company, but to 

 the actual value of assets as reported by a company, on the 

 same basis, year after year. The amount is variable, therefore, 

 even where no change has been made in the amount actually 

 invested in a business. For instance, the showing of assets in- 

 cludes cash and bills receivable, and value of raw materials 

 and manufactured stock in hand at the date of making the re- 

 port for any given factory, and these items are especially vari- 

 able. 



The statistics of wages paid do not include the compensation 

 of officers, clerks, or other salaried persons. The "average 

 yearly earnings " are arrived at by dividing the total amount of 

 wages paid by the average number of employes. 



It is apparent, from the computations made by the Massa- 

 chusetts bureau, that the increase in the value of products in 

 rubber industry since 1900 has been much greater than in 

 the total industries in that state. In other words, starting 

 with the value of products of all rubber factories in Massachu- 

 setts in 1900, as shown by the United States census, and con- 

 sidering the general average of increase of production since, as 

 estimated by the Massachusetts bureau, the /o/'<7/ rubber goods 

 production in 1903 would have worked out at a little over 

 §40.000,000. As a matter of fact, however, the 47 rubber fac- 

 tories reporting — and believed to represent 80 per cent, of the 

 total rubber goods production in the state — show products for 



THE RUBBER INDUSTRY IN MASSACHUSETTS 



1903 of a value exceeding $48,000,000. On the other hand, the 

 machinery and metal trades make a much smaller showing in 

 actual results for 1903 than the result obtained by estimating 

 by averages. 



A NATIONAL RUBBER CENSUS NEXT YEAR. 

 The United States census bureau, which now has become a 

 permanent establishment, instead of having to be reorganized 

 every ten years, is planning a census of manufactures next 

 year, on the idea that the development of the country's indus- 

 trial resources makes desirable accurate information regarding 

 the leading lines of production oftener than once in ten years. 

 Schedules of inquiries will be mailed, therefore, to all manufac- 

 turers in the more important branches, including India-rubber, 

 before January i, and after that date the mail canvass will be 

 supplemented by the work of special agents in the field. With 

 every schedule is given the pledge of the census bureau that all 

 answers will be held absolutely confidential. No publication 

 will be made of the census reports disclosing the names or 

 operations of individual establishments, the information being 

 used only for the statistical purposes for which it is given 

 Manufacturers may answer fully the list of inquiries with the 

 assurance that nothing will be divulged. 



RUBBER HORSESHOES AND OTHERS. 



(( 



Details. 



Establishments reporting 



Owned by private firms 



Number of partners. . . 



O wned by corporations 



Number of stockholders 



Owned by industrial combination. 

 Capital devoted to production. . . . 



Value of stock used 



Value of goods made 



Average number wage earners. . . . 



Smallest number during year 



Largest number during year 



Total wages paid 



Average yearly earnings 



Average days in operation 



Proportion of business done, com 

 pared with capacity 



1900. 



47 

 22 

 46 



24 



1,052 



I 



$14,062,929 



$16,917,786 



$31,123,230 



10,685 



8,662 



12,109 



l4 485,9f'i 



$4'9 84 



269.96 



65.32 



47 

 20 



44 

 26 



1,195 

 I 



$15,894,533 



$17,494,983 



$32,613,253 



11,044 



9.784 



12,648 



$4,910,405 



1444-62 



269 81 



68.91 



1903 



TWO million kegs, containing 100,000,000 horseshoes, 

 are used annually in the United States and Canada, 

 approximately speaking," said S. L. Martin, who represents an 

 iron manufacturing concern of the east. "That was about the 

 number used last year, and all the hue and cry about rubber 

 shoes and automobiles is raised in the face of a constantly in- 

 creasing sale of horseshoes. 



" As a matter of fact, the use of rubber horseshoes, which is 

 confined almost altogether to the large cities, is a help to man- 

 ufacturers. The sale of old fashioned shoes goes on increasing, 

 and in addition to that the manufacturers have an opportunity 

 to make the steel portion of rubber shoes. All so called rub- 

 ber shoes have a rim of steel in them, and it is usually of bet- 

 ter metal and gives the manufacturer a wider berth for profits 

 than the old fashioned shoe. 



"There is a class of people, though, who write essays against 

 rubber horseshoes and decry them in every possible way, but 

 like most persons who oppose progress, they stand in their 

 own light and of course cannot see." — Louisville Courier- 

 Journal. 



The following estimate is put out by the Fibre Cushion 



Horse Shoe Co., Inc. (New York) : " There are about 17,000,000 



horses in the United States, and the 



annual consumption of horseshoes in 



jqp this country is over 96,000,000 sets 



(384.000,000 horseshoes)." 



47 

 17 



37 



29 



1,260 



I 



.913,817,419 



819,073,505 



$43,99!), 474 



12,065 



9,544 



13.095 



$5,471,349 



$448.52 



284.94 



74-77 



47 

 16 

 36 

 30 



1,314 



I 



$12,907,312 



$20,031,456 



$48,597,297 



12.479 



13.095 



13,459 



§5. 674. 595 



$454 73 



289.39 



75.83 



C. H. Hanson, one of the largest 

 manufacturers of rubber stamps and 

 stencil goods in the country, began 

 business in Chicago in 1865, adding 

 rubber goods at a later date. He has 

 been for a number of years consul for 

 Denmark in Chicago, for a district con- 

 taining many Danish Americans, and 

 has just been reappointed to this posi- 

 tion, in addition to which King Christ- 

 ian of Denmark has conferred upon 

 him the decoration of Knight of Dan- 

 neborg. 



