June i, 1905.] 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



295 



JOTTINGS BY AN AMERICAN IN EUROPE— II. 



T'O THE Editor of The India Rubber World : A letter 

 from me on a Swedish rubber factory may be out of 

 place after the very able article* published by you not 

 long since on the Swedish rubber industry, emanating 

 from the pen of your English correspondent. I am charged to 

 convey to you the congratulations of the people here on your 

 very able and correct article; it is something of a surprise here 

 how so much that is so true was obtained. 



This letter, like most of my writings, will be a rambling sort 

 of an affair, for I shall probably mix up information received 

 and impressions made upon me. For the first time in my life 

 have I played the part of an interviewer and, pencil in hand, 

 have asked any one to answer certain questions for publication. 

 If the results warrant I may yet become a scribe. It has been 

 my privilege to go through most of the rubber shoe factories of 

 the world, and you know, Mr. Editor, that apart from details, 

 one factory is very much like another. One finds a little dif- 

 ferent arrangement of machinery, perhaps, now and then, or a 

 machine in use in one place not to be found in another, but on 

 the whole one must be very familiar with the art to note these 

 dilTerences. 



But some days spent about the works at Malmo have been 

 the source of surprise. Here is a factory but a few years old, 

 making shoes which are finding a market in France, Belgium, 

 Germany, and far away China, and making them from self ac- 

 quired knowledge, the only person who knew anything about 

 the art being an Austrian shoemaker who had worked in Aus- 

 tria and Germany, but who knew nothing more than the put- 

 ting together of the various parts used in the make up of the 

 shoe. This is shown by many devices never before seen in any 

 other factory by your correspondent. 



I am now writing about one of those small factories with big 

 names — Aktiebolaget Svensk-EngelskaGummifabriken — locat- 

 ed in Malmo, Sweden. Of the five rubber factories in the land 

 four make rubber shoes, but the one under consideration is the 

 only one of these four in which the fact is recognized that a 

 manager has all he should care for, if he makes shoes alone. 

 This company has the word " English " (E>tgelska) as part of 

 Its name, but that is simply as a recognition of the fact that an 

 Englishman was to furnish the brains to start and develop a 

 general rubber business. 



The company was founded in December, 1899, with a capital 

 of 400,000 kronen, or roughly, $109,000. The business man re- 

 ferred to was the present manager, Mr. Aug. F. R. Warnholtz, 

 a young man without any knowledge of the business, and the 

 technical director, a Mr. William MacDonald Mcintosh. A 

 year and a half was taken to put up the buildings, install the 

 machinery (most, if not all of which, was a second hand lot of 

 English make), and to make a collection of samples. This be- 

 ing done the problem of shoe making, which was after all to be 

 the main feature, was attacked. Whatever the results were, 

 the month of May, 1901, saw this infant industry in the hands 

 of a young man, inexperienced as a rubber nurse at any rate. 



The Engtlska had disappeared from the field, if not from the 

 name. Perseverance and will resulted in such wonderful suc- 

 cess that in 1903 their shoes took a gold medal at Helsingborg, 

 and silver ones at Hamburg and at Walwick, Holland, the 

 highest in each case in the class. The quality of their product 

 is good, and the cost of manufacture such that they have en- 



• The India Rubber World, November i, 1904 — page 41. 



tered the large European market with success. This is not 

 strange, for in their works are devices unknown in others, and 

 ways of doing things strange to me at least. And then the 

 wages paid are so ridiculously small. The women average 55 

 cents a day, and the men from 84 to 98 cents. They work 10 

 hours a day — from 6.30 in the morning till 6 at night, with 1% 

 hours nooning. As the machinery does not stop until i, and 

 then for only 10 minutes for general oiling, many work on 

 through the noon hour. The production has been 5000 pairs 

 per day, about one quarter more than any shoe factory in the 

 land, but is now being forced up to 6000 pairs. 



It was with much fear that 1 came here with a machine. It 

 is true that it was in use in every land in the world where shoes 

 are made, but the famed Helsingborg works had been unable 

 to master it, even with an expert operator from the United 

 States. When the operator came away the machine stopped, 

 and after a four years' residence in Sweden came back to its 

 home. But in these works, young and lusty, the machine is 

 running, and so will any other machine or appliance whether 

 native or foreign that will facilitate labor, reduce cost, or give 

 better work. You see, Mr. Editor, that I am an enthusiast. I 

 try to see all the good there is in a man and then bring it into 

 focus. 



Here is a factory that has never used any lasts but those 

 made of aluminum ; they are cast right in the works, and are a 

 great success here ; of course, lasts used in Europe are all of 

 cast iron, and the comparison is an easy one to make, for the 

 weights cannot be compared. The model is made of wood, 

 then the patterns and core boxes are made of aluminum ; and 

 hundreds of lasts are made, one just like the other. No trouble 

 is found in their use ; they are made thick enough to stand 

 the hammering and knocking about they get. 



A four roll calender just built from their own designs shows 

 some novelties; each and every roll is adjustable from one 

 hand wheel at the side of the machine. A device on the feed 

 side automatically takes care of the net ; it gives every foot of 

 it the proper tension, and prevents the curling of the edges of 

 the fabric where cut. One of the fabrics used is being patent- 

 ed in Europe and is not only labor saving but saves much in 

 cost of the raw material ; they use automatic presses for dieing 

 out their stock. This works rapidly and well and no man has 

 ever had a finger pinched or hand jammed on one of them, 

 and they were designed here. 



The mechanical engineer is a young man trained as a gun 

 maker in Austria. He was in the employ of our government 

 at the gun shops in Washington and at the proving grounds at 

 Sandy Hook, (New York), some ten years ago. Soon after 

 that he became identified with the rubber business, and is now 

 devoting his time to shoes. 



1 want to use this space for a moment longer for personal 

 purposes, and then I am through. In one of its recent numbers 

 this valuable Journal saw fit, in the absence of anything of im- 

 portance I presume, to print a rather flattering notice of the 

 writer. After a fews days' loitering about the plant I was one 

 day politely asked by Mr. Ridderborg.the treasurer of the con- 

 cern, to translate a lot of Russian correspondence he had. As 

 good fortune would have it, I had with me my Russian vade 

 mecum, and I worked out the problem. It was no easy task, 

 as letter by letter I had to work out the puzzle. But I suc- 

 ceeded, and gave the results to my new found friend. He 



