Apkii. 



'9°S] 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



227 



RUBBER NOTES FROM EUROPE. 



SUBSTANTIAL GROWTH OF ONE GERMAN COMPANY. 



TiHE Hannovei sche Courrier learns from the management of 

 the Continental Caoutchouc- und Guttapercha-Compag- 

 nie that on December 31, 1903, it had 2741 persons in its employ, 

 which number had on December 31, 1904, increased to 3294. 

 The increase amounts to 553 emplo>6s, or about 20 per cent., 

 within the term of one year. This showing is to be attributed 

 to the increasing demand for the well known "Continental" 

 products, which have become favorably known throughout the 

 world. The company received two Grand Prizes at the St. 

 Louis world's fair — one in Group 19, for balloons, and the other 

 in Group 72. for pneumatic tires. It is a notable fact, says the 

 Hanover paper, that the company's specialty, the "Continental" 

 pneumatic tires, have a large sale, even in the United States, 

 notwithstanding the enormous duty of 45 per cent. The di- 

 rection of the Continental company propose a dividend of 33J^ 

 per cent, for the business year 1904, against 45 percent, for the 

 preceding year. The decrease is stated to be due to the high 

 prices of crude rubber prevailing during the year, and the divi- 

 dend might have been even smaller had the company not suc- 

 ceeded in largely increasing their sales. 



THE FRENCH DUNLOP TIRE COMPANY. 

 At the fourth annual meeting (London, February 21) of 

 shareholders of the Socie.e Franvuse des Pneumatiques Dun- 

 lop, Limited, Mr. Harvey du Cros, chairman of the company, 

 presided. The accounts presented were for the 11 months 

 ended August 31, 1904, owing to a readjustment of the busi- 

 ness year. The net profits were reported at _£22,987, against 

 ;£i6,7iS for the preceding 12 months. The increased profit was 

 reported to be due to a large increase in the volume of busi- 

 ness, which is in the sale of the Dunlop tires m France, which 

 business has been developed with no protection in the way of 

 patehts on the tires — such as the Dunlop company in England 

 had enjoyed — though an advantage exists today with respect 

 to the employment of the Doughty patented machinery. The 

 dividends for the 11 months include 6 per cent, on the pre- 

 ference and 10 per cent, on the ordinary shares. 



THE GERMAN DUNLOP TIRE FACTORY. 



The latest annual report of the chamber of commerce of 

 Hanau, a town with 30,000 population, ten miles east of Frank- 

 fort o/M., contains the following : 



" The city of Hanau having made extensive concessions rela- 

 tive to the transfer of land and the opening of streets, prelim- 

 inary conditions were exceptionally favorable for the newly 

 erected rubber tire works [The Dunlop Pneumatic Tyre Co., 

 G. m. b H.], a branch of the Dunlop Pneumatic Tyre Co., which 

 on October i last commenced manufacturing independently. 

 The inauguration of the plant required a considerable number 

 o( new hands, which, by the end of the year 1905, will probably 

 have increased to a total of about 200. The employes work 60 

 hours weekly and the works close on Saturdays at i P. M. 



" Sales and current prices in the rubber tire industry are gen- 

 erally very satisfactory. A large reduction in price has been 

 made by bicycle manufacturers, which has brought the bicycle 

 within the reach of the financially less favored classes, and the 

 fact, moreover, that the bicycle is rapidly becoming a general 

 means of traffic and a necessity, have favorably influenced 

 the sales of rubber tires, and make it probable that they will 

 continue to show a considerable increase. The most import- 

 ant countries for the export trade of our manufacturers are 

 Austria-Hungary and Switzerland, and conditions in both coun- 

 tries are reported to have slightly improved. However, con- 



sidering the increased demand, and notwithstanding the higher 

 quotations for crude rubber, the prices of tires show a slight 

 decline. In the course of the year covered by the present re- 

 port, several rubber works have, however, either commenced 

 the manufacture of this article, or taken it up again after a 

 temporary discontinuance." 



UNITED STATES RUBBER CO. IN EUROPE. 

 The United States Rubber Co., Limited, was registered in 

 London February 9, with j^sooo capital, to carry on the business 

 of manufacturers of and dealers in India-Rubber and Gutta- 

 percha goods. No initial public issue. The registered office 

 is at 47, Farringdon street, E. C, which has long been the ad- 

 dress of the European dep6t of the United States Rubber Co. 



Henley's telegraph works. 

 In reviewing the last report of VV. T. Henley's Telegraph 

 Works Co., Limited (London), The Financial Ne7vs presents 

 the company's record for the past eight years : 



vjj.p Sli.ircs and Divisible Ordinary Balances 



'"'* • Debentures. Profit. Dividend. Fo^^vard. 



1897 ;^204,34I ^£'25,686 \i% ^^14,789 



l8g8 230,000 30,074 14^ 14,528 



1899 350,000 42>5^I \'i% '8,852 



1900 400,000 58.162 iO% 24,210 



1901 400,000 59,700 20% 26,785 



1902 400,000 55,So8 20^ 25,968 



1903 400,000 38.992 15 ;S 27,585 



1904 450,000 38,264 15 ;« 26,512 



[Tile capital now stands at .^200.000 in preferred shares, at .1J2 per cent: 

 ^200.000 in ordinaiy shares ; with /"50,ooo in 4^ per cent, debentures.] 



The Financial Netus adds: "The financial position is a 

 strong one ; for besides the reserve, amounting to over /135,- 

 000, the undivided balance is more than equal to the payment 

 of 4^ per cent, preference and 15 per cent, ordinary dividends 

 for the new year, showing that there has been no dividing of 

 profits up to the hilt. At the current quotations [/12 icj^. @ 

 £\l for ordinary and £1 7s. @ ^5 12s. tor preferred £•, shares] 

 and allowing for the accrued ordinary dividends, the cumula- 

 tive preference shares ofTer a yield of just over 4 per cent., and 

 the ordinary shares one of nearly 6>8 per cent. Obviously, 

 therefore, Henley's securities are by no means over-priced." 



The directors record with deep regret the death of their es- 

 teemed colleague, Sir Henry Morton Stanley, G. c. b. ; they 

 have elected Mr. Ffinch, c. 1. e., to fill the vacancy. 



telegraph construction and maintenance. 



The accounts for the business year 1904 of the Telegraph 

 Construction and Maintenance Co., Limited, presented at the 

 forty-first annual meeting of the shareholders in London last 

 month, showed net profits for the year of ;/|48,825, after charg- 

 ing the interest on the debentures. The profits were ;£ioS.738 in 

 1903; £99.000 in 1902; and ,£105,695 in 1901. The decreased 

 product for the past year appeared to have been due to the 

 fact that the company's work generally was on a less extensive 

 scale than for several years, although various lengths of cable 

 were manufactured and sundry cable repairing operations were 

 carried out. The company's factories had been well maintained 

 and a portion of the Greenwich factory rebuilt and improved 

 plant introduced. A new cable steamer, the Cambria, of 1955 

 tons, was launched in November. The dividend paid was only 

 15 per cent, on the ordinary shares, against 20 per cent, in each 

 year since 1899. The dividend on the preferred shares is 4;^ 

 per cent, as usual. The company carry forward, however, /102,- 

 484, which compares favorably with the average figures under 

 this heading, although last year the carry forward was£ 120,484. 

 In reply to questions, the chairman (Sir Robert Herbert) 

 said with reference to the possible cable between Denmark 

 and Ireland, which would be put through by the Great North- 

 ern Telegraph Co., that they had heard of no movement with 



