July i, 1905.] 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



355 



AFFAIRS OF THE UBERO COMPANIES. 



RUBBER INTERESTS IN EUROPE. 



THIC receivers for the Ubero Plantation Co of Boston, Jere- 

 miah Smith, Jr., and Hugh W. Ogden, on June 13 filed 

 with the clerk of the United States circuit court in Boston 

 their first report on the condition of that company. It is al- 

 leged that the company has been grossly mismanaged, and 

 that the otticials have been lax in attention to its affairs. The 

 net cash receipts from investors, to April i, 1905, appear to 

 have been $571,037.02. The books show no other receipts — from 

 plantation earnings, for example. There was paid to the La 

 Puerta companies — in consideration of lands purchased and al- 

 leged development work — $280,426 ; other work on plantation, 

 $46,000; commissions on sale of shares, $98,717 ; running ex- 

 penses, $1 15.000. All these payments are claimed to have been 

 extravagant, in view of the small amount of work done, the 

 receivers considering that the sale of the plantation would 

 realize practically nothing for the investors. The receivers ask 

 for authority to bring suit against the various parties to whom 

 money has been paid, with a view to recovering something for 

 the shareholders. [The details of the organization of the Ubero 

 Plantation Co. of Boston appeared in The India RuiiBF.R 

 Wdrld. May i, 1905 — page 278.] 



• • • 



A SUIT in equity having been filed in the supreme court at 

 Boston, Massachusetts, by the receivers for the Ubero Planta- 

 tion Co. of Boston against (i) the Old Colony Trust Co. (Bos- 

 ton), as trustee. (2) La Puerta Plantation Co. (an Indiana cor- 

 poration), and (3) William D. Owen, to determine title to 

 certain lands in Mexico, an answer has been filed by the Old 

 Colony Trust Co. The agreement under which the Ubero 

 Plantation Co. of Boston purchased the land from La Puerta 

 Plantation Co. was that the trust company would hold the 

 deeds until the property was paid for, the consideration being 

 $750,000, but in the event of the payments not being completed 

 within a certain time, the Ubero company should be entitled 

 to only so much land as the money actually paid would pur- 

 chase on the basis of $300 an acre. No land has ever been 

 conveyed to the Ubero company, although the date fixed for 

 the final payment under the contract was July i, 1904. and the 

 suit has been brought to have the title transferred. The trust 

 company make answer that service should be made upon W. 

 D. Owen and La Puerta company and that they are indispen- 

 sable parties to the suit. It appears that the Massachusetts 

 court has no jurisdiction over La Puerta company, which is an 

 Indiana corporation and never had a place of business in Mas- 

 sachusetts, and the plaintiffs have been equally unable to get 

 service on Owen, who is supposed to be in Europe. The Old 

 Colony Trust Co. contend that it might operate very unjustly 

 against them if they were compelled to transfer land to the 

 Ubero company, since La Puerta company and Ofitn might 

 later have cause for action against them. It is reported that 

 La Puerta Plantation Co. will set up the claim that they cannot 

 be compelled to give title to the Ubero company for the reason 

 that the latter has not complied with the terms of its contract 

 in relation to making payments. 



* * -» 



An order discharging the Union Trust Co. as receiver for the 

 Ubero Plantation Co. of Indianapolis was entered in the supe- 

 rior court at Indianapolis on June 7, on the motion of Judge 

 Ulric Z. Wiley, vice president and acting president of the com- 

 pany, through his attorney. Judge Carter, in granting the mo- 

 tion, said the court was satisfied that the company had no 

 debts and was solvent, having assets in excess of capital stock 

 liability, and in a condition to continue its business. 



GREAT BRITAIN. 



MICHELIN Tyre Co., Limited, with ;{;6o,ooo [=$291,990] 

 capital, was registered in London May 11, 1905. to adopt 

 an agreement with Michelin et Cie. (Clermont-Ferrand. France) 

 and William Warne & Co., Limited (London), and to carry on 

 the business of manufacturing and selling Michelin tires and 

 other tires and accessory goods. The board embraces Messrs. 

 Andre and Edouard Michelin, and also Mr. James Burbridge, 

 managing director of the Warne rubber works. 



=Callender's Cable and Construction Co., Limited, report a 

 profit for the last business year of ^57.065 [ = $277,707], enabling 

 dividends to be paid of 5 per cent, on the preference and 12^ 

 per cent, on the ordinary shares. The company have had cable 

 laying contracts in India, the Malay States, Siam, Australia, 

 and South America, in addition to their home trade, and are 

 planning to secure work in Egypt. 



=Mr. H. L. Terry, F. I. c, of Manchester, England, whose 

 name in the past has been connected chiefly with rubber in- 

 terests, has recently been elected an Associate of the Institu- 

 tion of Mining and Metallurgy, in London. It is understood 

 that despite this entry into a new sphere of work, Mr. Terry 

 retains his interest in and connection with the rubber industry. 



GERMANY. 



Herr Louis Hoff, of the Vereinigte Gummiwaaren-Fabri- 

 ken. Harburg-Wien, has just terminated a six weeks' vacation at 

 Carlsbad. Herr Franz Stingl, the other director of the rubber 

 works, had previously returned from a five weeks' stay at Neu- 

 heim, where, an India Rubuf.r World correspondent writes, 

 " an American doctor is fixing up hearts in great shape." 

 AUSTRIA-HUNGARY. 



Kabei.fabrik Actiengesei.lschaft (Pressberg and Vien- 

 na), with a capital of 2,400,000 kronen [ = $487,200] reports an in- 

 come during the business year 1904 of 1,410,805 kronen. The 

 dividend rate was 7 per cent., the same as in 1903. Orders for 

 cables were executed for the Austrian and Hungarian govern- 

 ments and for various municipjlities in those countries, in ad- 

 dition to orders from Germany, Spain, Belgium, and Russia. 

 The company's new factory in Vienna was opened in May, and 

 the ofl^ices removed to that place. 



DENMARK. 



The rubber reclaiming firm " Dansk Afvulkaniserings Akti- 

 eselskab," F. Mariendalsvei 47, Copenhagen, has executed a 

 lease of its works for 10 years to its former general manager, 

 Mr. Albert Theilgaard. The power of attorney held by him in 

 conjunction with Mr. Ivnappe has been cancelled. Mr. Theil- 

 gaard will personally manage the enterprise under the firm 

 name "Albert Theilgaard, Dansk Afvulkaniserings Aktiesel- 

 skab." K. Theilgaard and Alfred Knappe have been granted a 

 joint power of attorney. 



FRANCE. 



Thk technical director of the Etablissement Hutchinson, the 

 great rubber factory in central France, Monsieur Bouguillon, 

 has received from President Loubet the decoration of the 

 Legion of Honor as a recognition of eminent services to the in- 

 dustries of France. 



= A correspondent of The India Rubber World in Paris 

 reports itieeting there Messrs. Charles H. Taylor and Edgar R. 

 du Mont, of the New York agency of the Harburg and Vienna 

 India-Rubber Co., Mr. du Mont being accompanied by his wife. 

 On June i Mr. A. M. Stickney, of the Wellman Sole Cutting 

 Machine Co. was registered at the Grand Hotel de la Porte, 

 Montargis, France. 



