November i, 1904.] 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



41 



THE INDIA-RUBBER INDUSTRY IN SWEDEN AND NORWAY. 



liy Our British Correspondent. 



T\\\'. India-rubber manufacture in Sweden and Norway is 

 quite a modern one. Although the size of the fac- 

 tories will not bear comparison with those of Great 

 Britain, France, or Germany, yet the output of rubber 

 goods has already attained considerable proportions and, 

 looked at from the point of view of the somewhat scanty 

 population of the countries, the progress already attained 

 must be considered as very satisfactory. Of course this feel- 

 ing of satisfaction may not be universal ; it is more than 

 probable that other European rubber manufacturers who 

 have found their erstwhile exports to Scandinavia show a 

 marked decline may only see cause for grumbling in the 

 altered condition of affairs. Be this as it may, however, the 

 strides that have been made are matters of fact, and as it is 

 the object of this article to bear testimony to the existing state 

 of alTairs, there is no need to occupy space by speculations as 

 to how others are affected. To a greater extent, perhaps, than 

 is found in other countries, the Scandinavian works are man- 

 aged by those whose experience has been gained abroad. This 

 is only natural in the case of a country going into a new line of 

 business, and it undoubtedly has advantages in that the direc- 

 torate gets into touch with up-to-date practice elsewhere. From 

 the point of view of the journalist thirsty for information this 

 cosmop61itanisni is of course a great advantage, and those who 

 have not had the time or the mental energy to master the 

 Scandinavian tongues can rely on being able to converse in 

 English, French, or German, and so get out of an impasse. Of 

 course, facility with the better known tongues may not help 

 the visitor to the country in his search for the works. I had 

 much vexation of spirit before finally arriving at a certain 

 galoger-fabrik. After having been conducted by kindly dis- 

 posed persons to various boot shops in the town in which I 

 understood the factory was located, I began todespair of getting 

 my mission fulfilled. After a time, however, I discovered a 

 cabman who knew the place, which proved to be more than five 

 miles away in the country. 



But to get to the more practical side of my communication 

 without further delay, a commencement will be made with 

 Norway, though, as will be seen by what follows, the sister 

 country is by far the more important of the two as regards the 

 output of rubber goods. The principal — one might really say 

 the only — rubber factory in Norway is Aktieselskabet den 

 Norske Galoge- og Gummivare-Fabrik, situated at Mjondalen- 

 Drammen, some 30 miles west of Christiania. By way of ex- 

 planation to the uninitiated I may say that Selskab, in Norwe- 

 gian, as also Bolag. in Swedish, corresponds to our " Limited " 

 company, et being the definite article, which, in the Scandina- 

 vian tongues, is an affix. This works was founded in 1897, the 

 main object, as the name indicates, being the production of 

 rubber boots and shoes. The capital is 400,000 kroner.* The 

 liisponente, or general manager, is Mr. Aug. Fladmark, while 

 the works management is in the hands of Mr. G. M. Hassel. 

 who has had considerable experience of the trade, both in 

 America and England. In addition to galoshes, which are the 

 mainstay of the works, considerable quantities of soles for 

 lawn tennis shoes are made. This pastime has now a consider- 

 able vogue in Scandinavia, though the name is not particularly 

 appropriate, as the courts are nearly always of the asphalt or 

 * One krone^26.^ cents. 



gravel variety. This, of course, is all on the side of the trade, 

 as shoes wear out much sooner on such courts than on grass 

 lawns. There is the less need to go into details regarding this 

 firm, as a special article referring to the works has been already 

 published in The India Ruuber World [September i, 1899 

 —page 355] 



The only other rubber factory in Norway is the Stavanger 

 Gummivare-Fabrik. This is a small concern, making fruit jar 

 rings, engine packings, and sundry mechanical goods. The 

 Aktieselskabet den Norske Remfabrik, of Christiania, manu- 

 factures Balata and leather belting, with which reference we 

 may now pass on to Sweden. 



Here we find five factories, situated respectively at Helsing- 

 borg, Malmo, Trelleborg, Viskafors, and Gislaved ; some par- 

 ticulars concerning each of these, as far as they have been 

 furnished by the respective directorates, will now be given. 



The Helsingborg Gummi-Fabrik Aktiebolaget was commenc- 

 ed as a private concern in 1890, but in the following year was 

 made into a limited company, including the originators, Kon- 

 sul P. Olsson and J. Dunker. The capital was raised to 151,000 

 kroner, and not long afterwards to 1,500,000 kroner, the works 

 in late years having been considerably extended. They are situ- 

 ated in the outskirts of the town, and command a good view 

 of the Danish coast, the sound being at this point only 2^ 

 miles wide. The general manager is Mr. Henry Dunker, a 

 name which might lead one to suppose him of English nation- 

 ality, whereas he is a genuine Swede. Six hundred work peo- 

 ple are employed, 5000 pairs of galoshes being turned out per 

 day, having a yearly value of 250,000 kroner. The engines have 

 an effective horse-power of 450. Though the galosh business 

 is the principal one, the company also make mechanicals, such 

 as railway vacuum hose; also, cycle tires, tennis balls, and 

 painted playing balls. Statistics indicate that of a total export 

 of galoshes in 1902 from Sweden of 289,000 kilograms, 166,000 

 kilograms came from the Helsingborg works. The Swedish 

 exports go to Norway, Denmark, Germany, France, Switzer- 

 land, Austria-Hungary, and the Balkan states. The imports 

 of raw rubber into Sweden in 1902 amounted to 300,000 kilo- 

 grams, of which 193,000 kilos went to the Helsingborg factory, a 

 fact which speaks for itself with regard to the status of the firm 

 in the Swedish rubber world. 



We turn now to Aktiebolaget " Vclox " Gummi-Fabrik, at 

 Trelleborg, a small town in the extreme southeast of Sweden. 

 This company was formed in 1897 with a share capital of 300,000 

 kroner. The managing director is Johan Kock and the manager 

 Albert Holmquist. The number of hands employed is about 

 100, though in the busy part of the tire season this number has 

 to be considerably augmented. The tire trade has declined 

 somewhat of late years from its former importance, and the 

 company has paid increasing attention to mechanical goods of 

 all kinds. A specialty is the covering of the large rollers used 

 in paper mills, and it is understood that they have been suc- 

 cessful in securing the bulk of this trade, which is an increas- 

 ing one in Scandinavia, many of the mills which formerly ex- 

 ported all their wood pulp now making it or at least some of 

 it into paper on the spot. At a large paper mill which I visited 

 in Norway the machine was supplied by Messrs. Bertram's, Lim- 

 ited, of Edinburgh, but the rubber rollers were not of British 

 origin, I understand. In proportion to its population Sweden 



