February i, 1905.] 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



155 



SOME RUBBER INTERESTS IN EUROPE. 



COMBINATION OF GALALITH INTERESTS. 



AT a special meeting of shareholders of the Vereinigte 

 Gummiwaaren-Fabriken Harburg-Wien, at Harburg a/d 

 Elbe, on December 17, it was proposed by the directors that 

 the company participate in a new company to be formed for 

 the manufacture of Galalith. The Harburg-\'ienna company 

 have been interested for some time in the exploitation of 

 Galalith, in competition with hard rubber, celluloid, and horn, 

 and the directors reported a steady growth in the demand 

 for the material. Addressing the meeting, the managing di- 

 rector, Herr Louis HolT, stated that, after their experimental 

 work in connection with the Galalith manufacture had been 

 concluded in July last, it was found that the prices demanded 

 in Germany for the necessary raw material were too high for the 

 company to pay. They had been buying the raw material- 

 therefore, in Paris, from the Compagnie Frangaise de la Gala- 

 lith. The French Galalith works, however, had not shown a 

 profit, and the question arose whether it would be possible for 

 them to be acquired by the Harburg company at a low price, 

 with a view to the creation of an international Galalith com- 

 pany. One incentive to such action was found in the fact that 

 the proposed new German tariff provides for a duty of 10 

 pfennig per kilogram on crude caseine, while Galalith will have 

 to pay only "i, pfennig per kilo. The intention was to undertake 

 the complete manufacture of Galalith products, in order to fa- 

 cilitate their introduction into the German market. The prop- 

 osition was made to purchase the French works, which are cap- 

 italized at 1.600,000 francs, for 25 per cent, of that sum, equal to 

 320,000 marks, to be paid in shares of the new company. The 

 French works are favorably situated near Paris, on the banks of 

 the Seine. In answer to a question why the French works have 

 not succeeded, in view of the cheapness of their raw material, 

 Mr. Hoflf stated that almost the whole capital had been expend- 

 ed in experimenting before they were ready to market any 

 products. The amalgamation was agreed to. The combined 

 business is to be conducted under the name Internationale 

 Galalith-Gessellschaft Hoff & Co., with headquarters at Har- 

 burg. The Harburg-Vienna company bring into the new 

 company their Galalith business, representing an investment, 

 in round figures, of 1,000,000 marks. A working capital of 

 520,000 marks has been agreed upon, to be contributed in 

 cash by the French and German shareholders, in proportion 

 to their respective interests. The total capital of the new 

 company is 1,840,000 marks [=$437,920]. The directorate is to 

 consist of the board of the Harburg-Vienna company and two 

 members of the board of the hitherto existing French com- 

 pany. In anticipation of the action above reported, the French 

 company, at a general meeting early in December, voted to go 

 into liquidation. 



Articles made of Galalith are now being marketed for a great 

 variety of purposes. It lends itself to manufacture in many 

 difTerent colors and shades. Among the articles listed in the 

 advertisements of manufacturers are the following: Combs, 

 handles for table knives, dessert knives, pocket knives, and 

 razors ; penholders, crayon holders, paper cutters, and letter 

 openers ; scale pans ; stick and umbrella handles ; electric bell 

 pushes, switchboard levers, and other electrical apparatus ; 

 tobacco boxes, cigar holders, cigarette holders ; brush backs, 

 chess men, crochet needles, knitting needles ; inlays and 

 veneering for fine furniture, and so on. 

 GERMANY. 



The Deutsche See-Telegraphen-Gesellschaft (Cologne) is 



to be liquidated, and its system acquired by the Deutsch-At- 

 lantische TelegraphenGesellschaft. The first named company 

 was formed in 1896, with 5,560,000 capital, to establish tele- 

 graph communication between Germany and Spain [the Bor- 

 kum-Vigo line, of 1115 miles, now working] and to acquire 

 from Felten i*t Guilleaume certain concessions for other con- 

 nections. For five years dividends averaging 4J3 per cent, 

 were paid ; there was none in 1902, and only 3 per cent, in 1903. 

 The Deutsch-AtlantischeTelegraphen Gesellschaft was formed 

 in 1899, with 24,000,000 marks capital, to connect Germany 

 and New York by cable, and now has two lines in operation 

 between Borkum and New York, via the Azores, a distance of 

 4142 nautical miles. A fresh issue of capital was made for the 

 purpose of absorbing the company first named. 



= The published statement of last year's business operations 

 of the General Electrical Co., of Berlin (.'\llgemeine Elektrizi- 

 tiiis Gesellschaft). shows a marked improvement. The gross 

 profits were 10.439,000 marks [=$2,484,482], against 6,984,000 

 marks [=$1,662,192] in the preceding year. The number of 

 employes was 27,487. The company declared a dividend of 9 

 per cent, on its share capital [of 60,000,000 marks] and carried 

 large amounts over to reserve funds and to payments to direc- 

 tors and to benevolent endowment funds for employes. The 

 company have established a department for the manufacture 

 of automobiles, in which they have done a large business al- 

 ready. 



= The firm Dr. Heinrich Traun & SShne, formerly Har- 

 burger Gummikamm Co., recently purchased two pieces of 

 real estate to round out the property on which their Harburg 

 factories are located. 



GREAT BRITAIN. 

 The fourth annual dinner cf the empires of the European 

 depot of the United States Rubber Co. (London) was held at 

 the Holborn restaurant, on the evening of January 7, Mr. C. E. 

 Pillinger in the chair and Mr. E. O. Cole, vice chairman. Mr. 

 H. H. Holland, manager of the depot, was the principal guest, 

 and there were present representatives of a number of firms in 

 London and elsewhere with whom the house sustains business 

 relations. The occasion, as in the past, proved a most enjoy- 

 able one to all present. 



AUSTRIA. 



The Prager Gummiwaaren-Fabrik Aktiengesellschaft, at 

 Vysocan, near Prague, has been formally taken over by pur- 

 chase by the Oesterreichisch-Amerikanischen Gummifabrik 

 A.-G., who will continue it in operation, under the manage- 

 ment of C. Ludwig Henkel, as director. The business will be 

 conducted under the style of Prager Gummiwaaren- Fabrik Vy- 

 socan der Oesterreichisch-Amerikanische Gummifabrik Ak- 

 tiengesellschaft. The factory at Prague was founded in 1897, 

 and the company was compelled to go into liquidation some 

 time last year. The liquidator's report showed an excess of as- 

 sets over debts of 25.266 crowns [ = $5129], which was used to 

 pay 10 crowns [=$2.03] on each of the 2500 capital shares. 



SWITZERLAND. 

 J. LONSTROFF, the rubber goods manufacturer of Geneva, 

 has enlarged his works at Carouge materially, and taken on the 

 production of seamless rubber goods, making a specialty of 

 nipples, of which he is reported to be turning out 100 gross per 

 day. No other firm in Switzerland makes these goods. 



ITALY. 

 The firm Pirelli & Co. (Milan) declared a dividend of 8 

 per cent, for the business year 1903-04, being the same rate as 

 for the preceding year. 



