August i, 1905.] 



THE INDIA RUBBER \?VORLD 



371 



JOTTINGS BY AN AMERICAN IN EUROPE— 111. 



T 



'O THK Edu'or of The India Rubber World; I am 

 writing in Montargis, one of the most beautiful and 

 most interesting cities of middle France. Were your 

 readers not such a serious, busy lot, I would like to 

 tell them about this quaint city. It is modern and it is old, 

 full of nooks and corners which one comes upon unexpectedly 

 and with surprise ; its people and their habits are quite pecul- 

 iar and one sees strange sights and sometimes hears voices 

 coming as it were from the ground, or the water ; of this latter 

 element the city has a quantity and it is put to all uses except 

 that of a beverage. But I am forgetting that yours is a trade 

 journal and that your subscribers expect something at least 

 leaning towards the rubber industry. 



One sees too little in the trade journals about the French 

 ru'^ber factories, for there are a large number of them and 

 many are very interesting. There is but one, however, which 

 really makes boots and shoes, in addition to its other products, 

 and that is the very important concern known as the Ktab- 

 lissements Hutchinson. A few lines about this plant may in- 

 terest your readers for various reasons. It differs somewhat 

 from all other factories; it makes things which many impor- 

 tant factories prefer to buy; the name " Hutchinson " is an 

 American name; the factory was founded and for years owned 

 and managed by Americans ; its trademark is distinctly Amer- 

 ican, and consists of the eagle and stars familiar to all Ameri- 

 cans on the United States shield. 



But not only is our proud bird ground into the mud on the 

 shoes of French people, but it does what all Americans should 

 expect it to do : it soars above the whole country surround- 

 ing the factories, for it stands with outstretched wings on the 

 pinnacles of two of the towers surmounting the principal 

 building, and by its attitude seems to be bidding defiance to 

 those who place it on the bottoms of shoes. It does even bet- 

 ter than this, for from the Hutchinson pneumatics it throws 

 mud and dirt at all who get within its reach. Our poor bird 

 serves many ends on this continent. In Hamburg he graces 

 the wine cards of a so-called " American bar," and in most of 

 the cities it has become the sign of the pseudo Yankee institu- 

 tions where liquid mixtures are compounded under American 

 names but which few would recognize as of American invention. 



In the early days of the now great industry due to the work 

 of the immortal Goodyear, a Mr. Hiram Hutchinson had in 

 hand the old New Brunswick Rubber Co. ; later he built the 

 Newark Rubber Co., the present factory at the canal being of 

 his construction.! In 1853 he came to Paris and looked about 

 for a place to found a new rubber factory and selected the 

 place now known as Langl6e, in Chalette, near Montargis, 

 about three hours' ride from Paris. The location is a beautiful 



*No. I of this correspondence, published in The India Rubber World, May 

 I, 1905, related to the rubber works .it il.-irburg a, d Llbe.and No. II, in the June 

 I issue, to the rubber industry in Sweden. — Thi- Editor. 



tThe deposition of Hiram Hntchinson, taken in the city of Paris in iSs-j, before 

 the United States consul there, in the suit of Horace H. Day v. Isaac Hartshorn 

 and Daniel Hayward, in the United States circuit court at Providence, Rhode 

 Island, contains this statement: 



" I have been engaged in the manufacture of India-rubber constantly since 1835 

 — from that time to 1S43 in New Brunswick, New Jersey ; from 1843 to 1S53 in 

 Newark. New Jeisey; and largely engaged since 1845. I was president of the 

 Newark India Rubber Manufacturing Co. from its incorporation in 1S46 to 18^2." 



It may be added that the occasion of Mr. Hutchinson's going to Kuropc was 

 his purchase, in connection with Mr. John C. Henderson, a New \'ork merchant, 

 of the rights under Goodyear's vulcanization patent for the continent,— The 

 Editor. 



one, near several communes which furnish a great number of 

 work people, and near a canal which gives an abundant water 

 supply. One of the reasons causing this selection was the 

 granting by some one of the perpetual right to take a certain 

 amount of water for power purposes. This now gives them 

 about 40 HP. through the two old turbines. Hiram Ilutchm- 

 son, Sr., the founder of the company, died in 1869, but previous 

 to this time he had formed a company known as Hutchinson, 

 Poisnel & Co., and Alcazar, his oldest son, had been taken into 

 the firm. 



Alcazar succeeded his father but in 1872 Mr. H. P. Moor- 

 house came over from the United States as the representative 

 of other heirs of Hiram, and so it came about that on January 

 I, 1873, the firm took on the name of A. Hutchinson & Co. Mr. 

 Moorhouse was with the company until 1883. I believe Mr. 

 Alcazar Hutchinson died about 1889, after which the company 

 was managed for a while by his family. For reasons which do 

 not concern us, the company liquidated in 1900, when the 

 present company was formed. Not a Hutchinson remains in 

 it. The two older generations have passed on ; of the younger, 

 one is in America and one here in France. Mr. H. P. Moor- 

 house lives in Paris as the European representative of several 

 important American concerns. 



Most American rubber people know Mr. Moorhouse, and I 

 believe all the Europeans do and, therefore, I need not refer to 

 his geniality, his good nature and kindness to such Americans 

 as he may meet in Paris. He lives beautifully with his two 

 daughters, the eldest of whom is the widow of our late friend, 

 Charles L. Johnson, of the Candee and United States Rubber 

 companies, and she too, has a hearty welcome for her Amer- 

 ican friends. She is mentioned here because she is a direct de- 

 scendant of the Hutchinson family through her mother, who 

 was a daughter of Mr. Hiram Hutchinson, Sr. 



The technical director of the new company is Mr. Gustave 

 Bouguillon, one of the best known rubber men in France. 

 Through his energy and skill the company is assuming its old 

 place at the head of the French rubber industries. Its boot 

 and shoe business is its chief feature. Much of the machinery 

 is very old and out of date, and as compared to American 

 methods moves very slowly; its mill room is a wonderful dis- 

 play of ingenuity, not of that sort which is generally welcomed 

 by manufacturers, but of the kind that seeks curves where 

 straight lines would be better, according to my ideas. One 

 small row of machines is parallel to the driving shaft, while by 

 far the largest number are at right angles, each one connected 

 to a main line by bevel gears. The noise is great, and I think 

 the useless friction greater, but it has the advantage of being 

 able to make repairs without stopping the main line. 



I note these things, Mr. Editor, because they seemed strange 

 to me, and I was told the plan was the best. The world was 

 not made in a day, neither can a rubber plant be remodelled in 

 a day and be kept at work too, but the process has begun and 

 made great headway. A new engine room has been built and 

 equipped with as good engines as could be desired. The shoe 

 room is the place, however, that is of interest. In fact, some 

 of our younger men would give it all of their attention, not be- 

 cause it would be necessary, but because in no other place in 

 the world can be seen such a neat, well dressed, pretty set of 

 girls, and their nationality adds something which cannot well 

 be described, but which a Frenchman calls chic. They work 



