282 



THE INDIA RUBBER W^ORLD 



[May 



1905- 



NEWS OF THE AMERICAN RUBBER TRADE. 



MECHANICAL RUBBER MANUFACTURERS MEET. 



THE regular meeting of the Mechanical Rubber Manufac- 

 turers' Association of the United States was held on 

 April 6 at the Hardware Club, New York, I'resident B. 

 G. Work taking the chair at 10.30 a. m. The following 

 companies were represented : 



Boston Belting Co., Chicago Electric Hose Co., Combination Rubber 

 Manufacturing Co., Empire Rubber Manufacturing Co., The B. F. 

 Goodrich Co., Mechanical Rubber Co. (Cleveland), New Jersey Car 

 Spring and Rubber Co., Pennsylvania Rubber Co., Republic Rubber 

 Co., Revere Rubber Co., Voothees Rubber Manufacturing Co. 



Mr. J. J. Voorhees, of the Grievance committee, made the 

 following report, which was unanimously adopted : 



Rfsoh-fd, That it is the sense of this committee that, in order to obtain 

 proper recognition from the railroad classification committee, it must 

 present our case in a concise and definite form, giving actual facts cov- 

 ering total amount of tonnage, amount of claims, and average value of 

 each item considered. 



In order to compile such a report, it is proposed to send to each mem- 

 ber blank forms to be filled in, giving the desired information. It is felt 

 that some members would not care to disclose these facts to competitors, 

 and in order to obviate any feeling of this kind, it is proposed to employ 

 a public accountant, such as The Audit Co. of New York, to gather this 

 information from the dilTerent manufacturers and give to the committee 

 the total result of the findings, it being the intention and understanding 

 that the committee will receive no information whatever from the ac- 

 countant regarding the reports received from any individual member, 

 but simply the total of each item. For instance, the accountant's report 

 will show the total amount of belting shipped by all manufacturers dur- 

 ing 1904, the total claims made by all manufacturers, and the average 

 value per pound of belting. Each item of sufficient importance will be 

 covered in the same way, and with such a report your committee hopes to 

 accomplish a definite and lasting benefit to the industry. 



A report having been read from the Specification committee, 

 Mr. Boyd oflered this motion, which was adopted : 



Moved, That the committee's report be accepted, and that they em- 

 body in their report the following : The government is to notify all 

 bidders when tests are to be made; each bidder is to have the privilege 

 of being present when the tests are made, both physical and chemical ; 

 also that the Mechanical Rubber Manufacturers' Association of the United 

 States is to have the privilege of having a representative to witness all 

 tests of mechanical rubber goods that are made by the government. 



Mr. E. H. Garcin moved that the Specification committee be 

 prepared at the next meeting to recommend a uniform machine 

 or machines for testing mechanical rubber goods that are being 

 made to specification. 



The secretary, William Hillman, read a communication in 

 relation to rubber prices from Mr. F. B. Knott, secretary of the 

 India Rubber Manufacturers' Association of Great Britain, and 

 was instructed to make a suitable reply. C.Edward Murray was 

 appointed a member of the Grievance committee to succeed J. 

 Oliver Stokes, and C.C.Goodrich on the Specification com- 

 mittee to succeed J. F. McGuire. 



CHICAGO HAS A RUBBER CLUB. 

 The Chicago Rubber Club was organized on the evening of 

 April 12, at a meeting of which notices had been sent to 27 

 concerns connected with the rubber trade in the city of Chica- 

 go, and it was voted that all the houses responding to such 

 notice within 20 days should be enrolled as charter members. 

 The object of the club is the promotion of more intimate social 

 relations between the members. Any manufacturer or dealer 



in rubber goods in Chicago may become a member by comply- 

 ing with the constitution and by laws and receiving a majority 

 vote of the members present at any regular meeting. The 

 membership fee is $5, and the annual dues $10. Meetings will 

 be held on the second Tuesday of every alternate month, and 

 each member may be represented by any number of proper of- 

 ficers or representatives, though no concern shall be entitled 

 to more than one vote. The officers elected for the first year 

 are : 



President. — D. C. Blanchard, Mechanical Rubber Co. 



Vice President. — Frank E. Miller, Gutta Perchaand Rubber Manu- 

 facturing Co. 



Secretary- Treasurer. — PAUL BlatCHFORD. 



Kxecutive Committee. — John H. Kelly, Republic Rubber Co. ; Frank 

 Henderson, Manhattan Rubber Manufacturing Co. ; E. H. Huxley, 

 Boston Woven Hose and Rubber Co. 



The next meeting will be held on the second Tuesday in 

 June, and from the suggestions made at the meeting reported 

 above it is expected that it will prove interesting and profitable. 



A PACIFIC COAST RUBBER ASSOCIATION. 



The Mechanical Rubber Goods Association of the Pacific 

 Coast has been organized, with headquarters in San Franci'sco. 

 The association has been established for the purpose of promot- 

 ing good fellowship among its members and correcting as far 

 as possible such abuses and annoyances in the mechanical rub- 

 ber goods trade as affect all of its members and do not enter 

 into the competitive features thereof. The firms eligible to 

 become members of the association are those carrying stocks 

 of mechanical rubber goods or representing mechanical rubber 

 goods factories east of the Rocky mountains. The following 

 companies are now represented in the membership, and appli- 

 cations are invited from other firms who may be eligible and 

 have not yet become members : 



Bowers Rubber Co., Boston Woven Hose and Rubber Co., H. N. 

 Cook Belting Co , L. P. Degan Belting Co., Diamond Rubber Co., 

 Dunham. Carrigan & Hayden Co , Goodyear Rubber Co., Gorham Rub- 

 ber Co., Graton & Knight Co.. Gutta Percha and Rubber Manufactur- 

 ing Co., New York Belting and Packing Co., Limited; Pacific Coast 

 Rubber Co., Pacific Hardware and Steel Co., Plant Supply Co , Revere 

 Rubber Co. 



At the first meeting of the association on March 11 the fol- 

 lowing officers were elected for one year : 



President— lo'i^viv V. Selby, western manager Boston Woven Hose 

 and Rubber Co. 



Vice president— \^ . J. GoRHAM, president Gorham Rubber Co. 



Treasurer — C. F. RuNYAN, Goodyear Rubber Co. 



Secretary— G. N. Didion. 



UNITED STATES RUBBER CO. — DIVIDENDS. 



The regular meeting of the board of the United States Rub- 

 ber Co., on April 6, resulted, as had been predicted, in restor- 

 ing the preferred shares of the company to an 8 per cent, div- 

 idend basis. That is, after declaring a fourth quarterly divi- 

 dend of iK per cent, out of the net earnings for the fiscal 

 year ending March 31, a dividend of 2 per cent, was de- 

 clared, making 8 per cent, for the year. The last year 

 in which dividends amounted to 8 per cent, was 1899-1900. 

 All dividends were suspended at one time, and beginning 

 in April, 1904, quarterly dividends were declared at the 

 rate of 6 per cent, a year. After the meeting of the 

 board referred to, a statement of earnings was issued (March 

 partially estimated) of §3,751,776.62, out of which dividends of 

 8 per cent, have been declared, amounting to $1,882,040, leav- 

 ing a surplus for the year of $1,869,736.62. This, it is stated. 



