372 



THE INDIA RUBBER V/ORLD 



[August i, 1905. 



rapidly and well ; they make a good shoe, and make it in end- 

 less varieties, using 112 different trademarks. 



The system, parts, and tools used are very much like those 

 common to most factories of the kind. Here one meets an old 

 friend, a complete stranger in other parts of Europe— the 

 wooden last; they have two last turning machines and can 

 keep the supply equal to the demand. The shoe rack used is 

 very short, holding eight shoes; here again a departure is 

 made from the universal custom ; the short racks are loaded to 

 the tune of six on a small hand car, rolled into the varnish 

 room, at the foot of a long incline, and carried into the vulcan- 

 izing chambers, rack by rack. There are no tracks in any part 

 of the shoe factory. The vulcanized goods are once more 

 packed on to the carts and at the e.xpense of much strength 

 and labor are brought back to the making room, or rather its 

 end, which is the packing room. They make nearly all the 

 light styles made in America; they make blacks, white, and 

 tans, an endless variety of tennis goods in all colors and prices, 

 and a really tine and high priced calf shoe with rubber sole. 



At the other end of this room part of the cutting is done, the 

 balance being done in a room adjoining. Two power cutters 

 are used ; they work rather slowly, but are good machines and 

 no workman can ever lose a finger or hand in their use because 

 stock, table, and die are withdrawn after each stroke. No hand 

 dies are used, and all hand cutters use water on their blades 

 and much of it is slopped about. These men and boys are 

 quite expert and work rapidly and the prices paid for piece 

 work are very low. The methods of stock handling are a reve- 

 lation and require much time, but I am getting too lengthy. 



I found two machines used for cutting out frictioned stock 

 by means of a quick running hand knife, which did a whole lot 

 of work in a very short time. During my rambles I unfortu- 

 nately kicked the larger part of the top on one of my shoes, 

 and as I was bewailing my hard luck, for I was miles from my 

 hotel and had a whole day's tramping about the factory ahead 

 of me, when the gentleman with me said. " We will fix that," 

 and passing through a door nearby, I was in a full fledged 

 leather shoe shop and in ten minutes my top was sewed on in 

 good shape, and so I discovered that they had a leather shoe shop 

 where all the high priced calf skin shoes were made, as well as 

 the cheapest tennis. Then another afternoon I was tempted 

 into a doorway and up a flight of stairs, and I fell upon another 

 surprise, a fully equipped knitting mill with 30 machines turn- 

 ing out double threaded net for shoe making, and two thread 

 doubling machines; all the net made here is of the double 

 threaded variety. I naturally looked for a spinning room next, 

 but have not yet found one, and I was told upon inquiry that 

 they actually bought the thread used. 



The shoe department is under the charge of an English gen- 

 tleman named Chapman, who has been here now 22 years. A 

 strange sight to an American visitor is the bottle of wine 

 within the reach of each girl, and nearly every man comes to 

 work morning and afternoon with the neck of a quart bottle 

 protruding from some pocket or the other. 



An entire new shop for the manufacture of pneumatic tires 

 has been built. It is all ready for operation with the exception 

 of some electrical machinery Which is now due. As soon as 

 this is installed they will have largely increased facilities for the 

 making of an auto tire which is already making a name for it- 

 self in this country of automobiles. 



All kinds of rubber hose are made, entirely by hand work. 

 Garments and mechanical supplies, belting and surgical goods, 

 and in fact a little of all that is made in rubber is here pro- 

 duced. A duplicate steam plant and engine are always ready 

 for use in case of an accident to the regular plant. The loca- 



tion is a fine one, about lyi miles from Montargis. A special 

 branch runs in to the works from the railroad track, and a 

 basin capable of holding a half dozen large barges connects by 

 a private canal to the large canal which passes not far from the 

 works ; the yard is dotted with large trees, a nice garden is 

 kept there, and all in all the place is a very pleasant one. The 

 works are in a place called Langlee, as already stated, while 

 after a few moments' walk one finds a small comely village 

 called Verines, part of the commune of Chalette ; one or two 

 other villages are scattered within easy reach. 



Not taken within the grounds is the old home of the Ilutch- 

 insons known as " Le Chateau," a handsome building with sta- 

 bles and a park, a garden, and a small pond. Non use has 

 caused the building to become a little dilapidated and since a 

 year or two its lower floor has been used as a storehouse. In 

 the interior are many handsome mural paintings by the Count- 

 ess of Loyaute. who married one of the Hutchinsons, and so 

 fall to common uses the homes of the magnates when once 

 they lay aside the cares of life. 



As the noon hour whistle sounds, the pump in the corner of 

 the yard is at once surrounded with a bevy of men and women 

 each holding in hand a bottle half full of red or white wine, 

 with water so as to increase the quantity of liquid but not the 

 strength. Hundreds pour out of the gate, and here one can 

 spend a few moments to good advantage, for here is a line of 

 small merchants at hand and ready for business. The first one 

 is a large red faced woman with a cart loaded with newspapers. 

 It is astonishing to see the number who stop here to buy or 

 take a paper. Then come cold meats and sausages, fruits and 

 vegetables — among the latter great bundles of asparagus ; va- 

 rious knick-knacks, ribbons, laces, combs, pencils, etc., and 

 finally the wine merchant, selling from his cart either by the 

 glass or by the pint or quart, red or white wine. The operatives 

 all seem happy and contented, but the pay is very small when 

 viewed from American eyes. There are many old people, com- 

 fortably ofT, who still come in daily, pretend to work, and do 

 draw their pay. Some of these are so slow that they fail to 

 move to let themselves pass. 



I think, Mr. Editor, that this must be the El Dorado of rub- 

 ber men ; perhaps I had better qualify that and say rubber tire 

 men. Ninety-five per cent, of the fiacres in Paris are pneu- 

 matic tired, and these number away up into the tens of thou- 

 sands ; autos of various kinds are numberless. On Friday of 

 last week took place the great race at Clermont-Ferrand. On 

 the Sunday preceding, autos of all kinds began going through 

 Montargis, and day and night until Friday morning the howl 

 and thump of the auto was music to the ear of the rubber man. 

 On Wednesday a count was made of these passing my hotel 

 between 7 .\. m. and 6 r. m. and it was 362. 



A day or two ago I heard a rattle and a thump, and through 

 the window near me came the fumes of vile gases, so sweet to 

 the nostrils of the lovers of the machine; in the yard before 

 me a huge racing machine had come to anchor ; a machine 

 which without trouble makes its 115 kilometers [=71^ miles] 

 an hour. It has come here as an appendage of the works and 

 is to make genuine endurance tests of the Hutchinson's " pneu. ' 



I have given you, Mr. Editor, for the benefit of your readers, 

 just a few of the things I have seen and the impressions they 

 have made upon me. My journey among rubber people, now 

 in the beginning of its fifth month, has been a continual round 

 of pleasure and surprise, and as most of those seen are readers 

 of the " best rubber paper in the world " (quotation from one 

 of the best known manufacturers of Europe), I hope they will 

 accept through this medium my thanks for the endless cour- 

 tesies extended to the rambling alasion m. stickney. 



