May 



1902.] 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



263 



RUBBER INDUSTRY IN THE CENSUS. 



CENSUS Bulletin No. 154, issued from Washington, is 

 devoted to manufactures in Ohio for the period cov- 

 ered by the census — the year ending June 30, 1900. Bul- 

 letin No. 157 is devoted to manufactures in New Jersey. 

 From these bulletins is compiled the following details 

 regarding the rubber industry in the two states named — to 

 correspond with the similar information for Rhode Island and 

 Connecticut previously reported in The India Rubber 

 World [December i, 1901 — page 78] : 



OHIO. 



[The tirst column gives the totals for the state, and the secon 1 the tigures for the 

 city of Akron.] 



OHIO. AKRON. 



Number of establishments ig 8 



Total capital $5,gSq,i29 $4,642,896 



Land $306,369 $279,603 



Buildings ,. $624,633 $506,879 



Machinery .. $900,991 $[{24,444 



Cash and sundries $4,157,136 $3,031,970 



Salaried officers and clerks 335 265 



Salaries $305, 44y $233,993 



Average number wage earners 3,505 2,677 



Men 2,576 2,098 



Women 905 574 



Children under 16 24 5 



Total wages $1,281,038 $1,005,405 



Miscellaneous expenses $305,446 $223,697 



Rent of works $3,110 $600 



Taxes . $38,217 $34,556 



Rent of ottices, interest, etc $264,119 $188,541 



Cost of materials $4,757,204 $3,571,677 



* Principal materials $4,650,270 J3, 484. 391 



Fuel and rent of power $106934 ]fS7,3S6 



Value of producls $7,330,104 $5,524,674 



[* Including mill supplies and freight.] 



Of the establishments outside the city of Akron 3 ate cred- 

 ited to Cleveland, 2 to Toledo, i each to Cincinnati, Columbus, 

 and Canton, and the location of 3 is not disclosed. In 1890 the 

 census reported 7 rubber establishments in Ohio, with 658 

 wage earners, and products valued at $1,486,777. The increase 

 in value of products during the decade was 393 per cent. Of 

 the total value of rubber products for the state, in 1900, Akron 

 is credited with 75.4 per cent. 



NEW JERSEY. 



Rubber Hose Rubber and 



and Belting. Elastic Goods. 



Number of establishments 7 37 



Total capital $2,208,881 $6,078, 155 



Land $59,320 $195,576 



Buildings $322,567 $584,060 



Machinery $345,888 $1,199,374 



Cash and sundries $1,481,106 $4,099,345 



Salaried officers and clerks 77 261 



Salaries $174,412 $378,013 



Average number wage earners. 776 2,609 



Men 628 2,153 



Women 119 382 



Children under 16 29 74 



Total wages $398,492 $1,150,503 



Miscellaneous expenses $98,906 $409,202 



Rent of works $18,492 



Taxes $13,823 $26,594 



Rent of offices, interest, etc $78,987 $359,481 



Contract work $6,096 $4,635 



Cost of materials $1,870,352 $5,696,006 



* Principal materials $1,836,579 $5,564,427 



Fuel and rent of power $33,773 $131,570 



Value of products $2,800,145 $8,458,274 



[* Including mill supplies and freight.] 



The New Jersey figures do not embrace details relating to 

 twD rubber boot and shoe industries. In this, and in various 

 other cases, to give the details in these bulletins would reveal 

 the state of the business of the firms to the public — which the 

 census bureau is not permitted to do. The final reports of the 

 census, however, will embrace the totals for the United States 

 of the rubber boot and shoe industry. 



The New Jersey bulletin states: "There were 37 establish- 

 ments engaged in the manufacture of rubber and elastic goods 

 in 1900, with 2609 wage earners, and products valued at $8,458,- 



274. In 1890 there were 12 establishments, 926 wage earners, 

 and products valued at $2,135,705. The increase in the value 

 of products during the decade was $6,322,569, or 296 per cent. 

 This increase was greater than is shown for any other manu- 

 facture carried on in the state, excepting leather. In i860 

 there were but 5 establishments reported, i in Newark and 4 in 

 New Brunswick, and the products were valued at $1,303,000. 

 The great increase in this manufacture occurred during the 

 three years between 1897 and 1900, and was caused to some ex- 

 tent by the consolidation of New Jersey companies with com- 

 peting companies outside of the state, but it is chiefly due to 

 the general industrial growth which so largely affected all in- 

 dustries during that period." 



ADULTERATION OF BALATA. 



TO THE Editor of The India Rubber World : Having 

 read in the March issue of your Journal [page 176] an 

 article about the grading of Balata, in which I was very much 

 interested, I take the opportunity of addressing you a few 

 lines on the same subject, which may be, perhaps, of interest to 

 your readers. 



I have been dealing in block as well as in leaf Balata for 

 about ten years, and have noted that Venezuela has exported 

 block varied in quality. There have been exporters who have 

 sent over to Europe mostly good quality, and others whose 

 shipments have not been very carefully selected. It seems to 

 me that Balata has been occasionally spoiled during prepara- 

 tion, and also that it has been wilfully adulterated. 



There are two different ways in which Balata is formed. The 

 one is in blocks of about 10 inches thick and about 50 inches 

 long, and the other in irregular forms not so thick and often 

 broken to pieces. The regular thick blocks have a clean, 

 smooth appearance, while the others have a dark, rough sur- 

 face. It has always been the case that some of these blocks 

 of each size have contained substances which were of a most 

 inferior quality. When such blocks are cut they spring like 

 glass, and can easily be broken to pieces. 



Of this kind of stuff, which does not seem to be a wilful 

 adulteration no large quantities arrive. But there has turned 

 up only during the last year a much more serious adulteration, 

 which, if not suppressed, might became a very serious matter 

 for the whole trade in block Balata. The producers mix more 

 or less large quantities of sand with the otherwise clean and 

 good quality. They take clean white sand, which cannot 

 easily be seen, but which is more noticed by its heavy weight. 

 It makes for the manufacturer a great deal of trouble to clean 

 the Balata, and if it is not done properly the articles manufac- 

 tured will be spoiled. Such sandy blocks contain 10 to 15 per 

 cent, of sand. The sand does not even appear to be on the 

 one side of the block, as might be the case were the sand mixed 

 with the Balata by mere chance in laying it down on the 

 ground. But it is through the whole block; in fact, mixed 

 with the Balata when boiling. As the importers in Europe 

 have to make heavy allowance for such adulterated Balata, it is 

 to be hoped that steps will be taken in Venezuela to stop this 

 practice. gustav f. hubner. 



Hamburg, April 11, 1902. Broker. 



Bogus Rubber Trees. — E. S. Van Court, in a report on La 

 Zacualpa rubber plantation, in the state of Chiapas, Mexico, 

 writes that a tree known locally as the " guarumbo " grows 

 profusely in that region, and greatly resembles the rubber tree. 

 He says : "I am told that by means of this tree an English 

 corporation was swindled out of _;^6oo,ooo in the state of Oax- 

 aca." 



