52 



THE INDIA RrjBBER V/ORLD 



[November i, 1902. 



ALLAN MAGOWAN, RUBBER SUPERINTENDENT. 



ONE of the oldest superintendents and owners in the rub- 

 ber business to-day is Allan Magowan, of Trenton, New 

 Jersey, who was born in the north of Ireland, of Scotch- English 

 stock, and came to this country when but a child. His first ex- 

 perience in rubber work dates back to 1850, when he was em- 

 ployed in the factory of the New England Car Spring Co., at 

 Thirty-third street and Third avenue, New York. He worked 

 there for four years and then took a position in Trenton in a small 

 factory which had formerly been owned by the pioneer rubber 

 manufacturer of Trenton— Jonathan H. (ireen, " the reformed 

 gambler."* Green having failed to make his rubber venture 

 profitable, the factory was purchased by Garret Schenck and 

 Hiram P. Dunbar, who started in the manufacture of mechanical 

 rubber goods, the late veteran superintendent, Henry Joslin, 

 being in charge. Mr. Magowan was then an active and capable 

 young man and a great admirer of Abraham Lincoln, and a 

 prominent member of one of the ante-bellum clubs known as 

 the " Wideawakes." 



In 1859 Mr. Magowan went to Richmond, Virginia, to work 

 for John J. Fields, the founder of the New Jersey Car Spring 

 and Rubber Co., who had sent machinery 

 there and set it up in the old Tredegar 

 Iron Works for the manufacture of patent 

 rubber carsprings. Jacob D. Joslin was 

 superintendent of this Richmond factory. 

 Mr. Magowan worked until the outbreak 

 of the civil war put a stop to the supply of 

 rubber and other materials, and Mr. Fields 

 and Mr. Joslin went north to avoid be- 

 ing drafted into the Confederate army. 

 Mr. Magowan, however, having an invalid 

 wife, was not able to leave and was impress- 

 ed by the Confederate government to make 

 insulated wire for torpedoes and field work. 

 The rubber covering was made largely 

 of old carsprings ground fine, and boiled 

 up in spirits of turpentine. A great many 

 army blankets were also made for the gov- 

 ernment of this same reclaimed rubber. 

 As Mr. Magowan had a couple of braid- 

 ing machines he was able to make several 

 miles of insulated wire, which was used in signaling during 

 battles. Dr. Morris, who had charge of the Southern telegraph, 

 also induced Mr. Magowan to build a machine for drawing 

 wire, by giving him a competent machinist, and with a force 

 of ten slaves he made a great deal of it, the long pieces being 

 used for telegraph work and short pieces for rivets. 



In spite of the fact that Mr. Magowan was employed by the 

 Confederate government he had never been asked to take an 

 oath of allegiance to it, nor had he been questioned as to his 

 sympathies. As he was at heart a strong Union man and 

 working because he was obliged to, he could not forbear to 

 strike one blow for the Union, and he therefore punctured 

 with a sharp nail every piece of torpedo fuse that passed 

 through his hands. As this fuse was covered with Gutta- 

 percha the insulation was thus ruined and the torpedoes would 

 never have exploded had the electric current been turned 

 through the wire. Alter the battle of Antietam Mr. Magowan 

 with his invalid wife was able to get a letter to the secretary 



ALLAN MAGOWAN 



of war, who gave him a permit to go north under a flag of 

 truce during an exchange of prisoners. After reaching Phila- 

 delphia his wife died and he took her to Trenton for burial. 

 He then went into a factory there and was employed at mak- 

 ing swords. 



In 1865 Bramble & Sinclair had a small factory in Paterson, 

 New Jersey, of which Henry Josselyn was the superintendent, 

 where they made mechanical rubber goods. Here Mr. Ma- 

 gowan worked for a short time, when Mr. J. J. Fields having 

 moved his machinery from Richmond, Virginia, to Jersey City, 

 he accepted a position with him. In 1867 he accepted a posi 

 tion as superintendent of the Boston Car Spring Co., owned by 

 George and Hiram P. Dunbar, the factory being at R.ixbury. 

 Mass. The lines of goods manufactured were carsprings and 

 specialties in mechanical rubber goods. Two years later he 

 accepted the position of superintendent of the Whitehead 

 Brothers Rubber Co. in Trenton, remaining with them until 

 1S80, when the Trenton Rubber Co. was incorporated, Frank A. 

 Magowan, Spencer M. Alpaugh, Gardner Forman, and Allen 

 Maqowan being equal owners. A few years later the same 

 company started the Empire Rubber Co. for the manufac- 

 ture of rubber carriage cloth. They afterwards bought the 

 factory of the Star Rubber Co. and moved 

 the machinery of the Empire works there. 

 Later the same four purchased the plant 

 of the Hamilton Rubber Co. and started 

 there the Eastern Rubber Co. 



This wasthe high tide of Allan Magow- 

 an's prosperity. Hid he sold his interests 

 at this time he would probably have real- 

 ized half a million dollars. The financial 

 troubles of his son, Frank A. Magowan, 

 however, and the wish to assist him as 

 much as possible, induced Mr. Magowan 

 to sacrifice all of his holdings together 

 with $50,000 worth of life insurance. 

 Again a poor man, Mr. Magowan with 

 two of his sons, Joseph H. Magowan and 

 John T. Magowan, built a small plant and 

 incorporated the Modern Rubber Manu- 

 facturing Co., the business being the manu- 

 facture of rubber matting and small mold 

 work. This factory was burned Septem- 

 ber 24, 1902, and is now being rapidly rebuilt. 



Piirsonally, Mr. Magowan is an extremely quiet, modest, old- 

 fashioned gentleman, of quiet tastes and unimpeachable integ- 

 rity. He has the respect of all who know him and the cordial 

 hope that the reconstructed Modern Rubber company will be 

 all that he may wish it to be. 



ANOTHER MISTAKE CORRECTED. 



• Green, after his reform, wrote a book, " An Exposure of the Arts and M iser- 

 ies of Gambling," which was published in Cincii n:ili in 1843, as a warning to 

 others. 



THE able Portland (Maine) Press ^■x^?,, in its issue of Oc- 

 tober 10: "It has long been the impression that the 

 raw rubber of Para was superior in quality to all kinds of 

 African rubber and it has been asserted that this superiority 

 was due to the finer quality of the milk of the Hevea from 

 which most of the Brazilian rubber is extracted. The Lan- 

 dolphia is the vine from which all the rubber obtained in the 

 Congo Free State is taken. It is now certain, however, that 

 this supposition is erroneous." At the same rate of progress 

 in mastering the subject of rubber and its sources, the editor 

 of the Press may be able to announce next year that the best 

 of all rubber may be obtained from the common house plant 

 known as a " rubber tree." 



