January i, 1905.] 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



127 



SOME RUBBER INTERESTS IN EUROPE. 



ADVANCE ON RUBBER GOODS IN GERMANY. 



A MEETING of rubber goods manufacturers, for the pur- 

 pose of discussing the perplexing condition of prices, 

 was held at Rerlin on December 2. Thirty-one facto- 

 ries were represented by 33 persons. Herr Director 

 HoflE (Harburg n/d Elbe) opened the meeting at 10.15. The 

 condition of the rubber industry and measures for its improve- 

 ment was the subject to be discussed. After a preliminary re- 

 view of the high prices of raw rubber, the necessity of advanc- 

 ing prices of rubber goods was recognized, and the following 

 resolutions passed ; 



For technical articles of soft rubber a commission to estab- 

 lish the minimum prices, was formed, viz.: Vereinigte Gumnii- 

 waren-Fabriken Harburg-Wien, Harburg a/E. ; Franz Clouth, 

 Rheinische Gummiwaren-Fabrik m. b. H., C61n-Nippes; Ver- 

 einigte Hanfschlauch- und Gummiwaren-Fabriken zu Gotha. 

 A.-G.; Hannoversche Aktien-Gunimiwaren-Fabrik, Hanno- 

 ver ; Asbest- und Gummiwerke Alfred Calmon, A.-G., Ham- 

 burg; Aktiengesellschaft fiir Fabrikation Technischer Gummi- 

 waren C. Schwanitz & Co., Berlin. 



For surgical articles of soft and hard rubber a commission 

 consists of Hannoversche Gummi-Kamm Compagnie, A.-G., 

 Hannover-Limmer ; Gustav VVellmann, Hannover-Hainholz ; 

 Leipziger Gummiwaren-Fabrik, A.-G., vorm. Julius Marx, 

 Heine & Co., Leipzig; Phil. Penin Gummiwaren-Fabrik, A.-G., 

 Leipzig- Plagwitz; C. Miiller, Gummiwaren-Fabrik, A.-G., 

 Berlin. 



For gummed stuffs, a commission consists of Vereinigte 

 Gummiwaren Fabriken Harburg-Wien, Harburg, a/E. ; Conti- 

 nental Caoutchouc- und Guttapercha-Compagnie, Hannover ; 

 Mannheimer Gummistofl[fabrik Rode & Schwalenberg, Mann- 

 heim. 



The commissions have the privilege of adding to their num- 

 bers. It is also anticipated that an agreement among the fac- 

 tories on erasing rubber will be formed. In order to come to 

 an agreement with the Verband Deutscher Asbestwerke, G. m. 

 b. H., Frankfurt a/M., negotiations will be entered into with 

 the representative of that organization. — Gummi-Zeiiung, De- 

 cember g. 



A CONSUL ON THE GERMAN RUBBER INDUSTRY. 



The American consul general at Berlin, Mr. Frank H. Mason, 

 reports to his government that the rubber industry in Germany 

 is in a state of depression out of all proportion to the general 

 industrial depression in that country. Not that there has been 

 any decline in the demand for rubber goods of every kind ; on 

 the contrary, there is a steady increase in the consumption of 

 such articles. The critical situation is due mainly (i) to the 

 greatly increased cost of crude rubber and (2) to overproduc- 

 tion, resulting from an injudicious increase in the number and 

 capacity of rubber factories since 1899. A third cause is the 

 fact that during two or three years past several large electrical 

 manufacturing companies, which previously were large con- 

 sumers of rubber supplies, have, in the interest of economy, en- 

 tered upon the manufacture of their own requirements in such 

 goods. In view of the overproduction, manufacturers have not 

 been able to force up the selling prices of their product in keep- 

 ing with the increased cost of raw materials. Efforts made to 

 form a trust or selling syndicate to control the output and fix 

 prices have failed, owing to the refusal of so many manufactur- 

 ers to act in the matter. It is mentioned that such a syndicate. 



or kartel, was readily formed in Austria, where only a few rub- 

 ber factories exist. Mr. Mason reports : "The German rubber 

 manufacturers charge that the high cost of crude Caoutchouc 

 is due almost wholly to manipulation, especially in England, 

 where a few powerful firms are able to control the supply and 

 fix prices for the whole of Europe." It has been urged, there- 

 fore, that the Germany manufacturers should strive to emanci- 

 pate themselves from the English Caoutchouc market by es- 

 tablishing direct relations with original sources of supply. =^^ 

 [It might be pointed out that of the crude rubber imported into 

 the United States during the last fiscal year, 56 percent, was 

 imported direct from Brazil and only 13 per cent, from Eng- 

 land. Yet manufacturers paid practically the same prices as 

 were paid in Germany. There is needed further proof that rub- 

 ber prices are fixed in Liverpool ; indeed, it is strongly asserted 

 there that the "manipulation" is carried on in New York. — 

 The Editor.] 



the sii.vertown company's report. 



The report of the India Rubber, Gutta Percha, and Telegraph 

 Works Co., Limited (London), for the business year ended Sep- 

 tember 30, shows gross profits of £\ 19,010, against ^196,097 for 

 the preceding year, and ^163,725 in 1902. The company wrote 

 off ^21,059 for depreciation against /^46.i5o last year, but that 

 was an exceptionally large figure and the year was one of good 

 profits. The amount carried forward this year is ^52,274 

 against ^56,930 last year. The dividend for the year is 5 per 

 cent., this being the first time that it has fallen below lo per 

 cent. The general business of the company shows an increase 

 when compared with last year; but, unfortunately, the sales 

 have been made on a rapidly rising market for raw material, 

 and the selling prices of manufactured goods have not propor- 

 tionately increased. Moreover, the revenue for the year has 

 been charged with amounts expended on the development of a 

 new business which has not yet reached a remunerative stage. 

 These two causes account for the serious falling ofT in revenue, 

 but the directors think that the revenue for the current year 

 will not be injuriously affected to a like extent. The Dacia and 

 Buccaneer have been employed in cable repairing work during 

 the year, and these two vessels are at present under charter. 

 The works at Silvertown and Persan (France) have been main- 

 tained in their usual state of efficiency, and extensions continue 

 to be made. In April last the board made an issue of /^loo.ooo 

 second debentures, which has increased the yearly interest 

 charge from ^12,000 to ;^I4,250. Following the appearance of 

 the report the quotation of the £\o shares, which as a rule 

 varies little, fell from \%yi to ilYi. but the latter figure indicates 

 how little the market is disturbed by what may be regarded as 

 a mere temporary decline in the company's prosperity. 

 RUBBER INSULATED CABLES FOR CUBA. 



Hooper's Telegraph and India- Rubber Works, Limited 

 (London), on November 19, shipped 470 nautical miles of sub- 

 marine cable, insulated with " Hooper's core " (India-rubber), 

 to be laid by the Cuba Submarine Telegraph Co., Limited, be- 

 tween Cienfuegos and Santiago (420 miles), and for repair work 

 on existing cables in Cuban waters. The first Cienfuegos-San- 

 tiago cable was made at the Hooper works in 1875 3"^ lasted 

 28 years, until last year. In 1881 some sections of deep sea ca- 

 ble remaining at the Hooper works (made in 1873) were spliced 

 into a cable which was laid between Cienfuegos and Santiago, 

 under a twelve years' guarantee. [See The India Rubber 



