276 



THE INDIA RUBBER ^VORLD 



[June i, 1902. 



RUBBER SHOES IN THE CENSUS. 



CENSUS Bulletin No. 171 is devoted to the rubber boot and 

 shoe industry in the United States, during the census 

 year ending May 31, 1900. It appears that the number of es- 

 tablishments reported was 22, against 11 in 1890, and 9 in 1880- 

 The capital employed was $33,667,533, against $I7.79°.970 in 

 1900. The average number of wage earners was 14.391 in 1900; 

 9134 in 1890; and 4662 in 1880. The total wages paid were 

 $6,426,579 in 1900, $3,813,073 in 1890, and $1,469,038 in 1880. 

 The cost of materials used was $22,682,543 in 1900, $[1,650,787 

 in 1890, and $6,023,053 in 1880. The value of products was 

 $41,089,819 in 1900, $[8,632,060 in 1890, and $9,705,724 in 1880. 

 It is noted that, in stating the capital employed, account has 

 been taken of real property and live capital utilized, and not 

 the capital stock of the various corporations. 



.NUMBER OF PAIRS PRODUCED. 



THE RUBBER EXPLOITING COMPANIES. 



Classification. Men's. 



Boots 3,513,421 



Shoes 10,651.684 



Tennis 1,424,448 



Arctics 4,672,862 



Lumbermen's 4,229,899 



Felt boots [47,196 



Various 47. '33 



Women's. Cliildren's. Total. 



303,622 623,009 4,440,052 



16.113,746 4,135,463 30,900,893 



346,744 558,089 2,329,281 



2,003,286 971,613 7,647,761 



9,259 145.418 4.384,576 



412 147,608 



70,608 [1,227 129,058 



Total 24,686,643 18,847,355 6,445,231 49,979,229 



Value $27,160,177 18,165,695 $3,435,448 138,761,320 



Value of other products — custom work and repairing. 2,328,499 



Total value of products $41,089,819 



PRODUCTION BY STATES. 



Massachusetts (6 establishments) .pairs 19,750,961 



Connecticut (5 establishments) 15,375,035 



Rhode Island (6 establishments) 10,090,357 



*Other states (5 establishments) 4,762,876 



Total 49,979,229 



[ * Missouri, I ; New Jersey, 2 ; Pennsylvania, 2.] 



An attempt has been made to report the amount of crude 

 rubber used in the manufacture of rubber boots and shoes in 

 1900, as follows : 



Imiorted from— Pounds. Value 



Brazil , 10,891.367 $9,638,992 



Africa 4,917,281 3,624,442 



Central America 1,858,473 1,304,754 



Asia 17,536 14,580 



Total 17,684,657114,582,768 



Materials purchased in a partiaUy manufactured form cost 

 $7,641,178, or 33.7 per cent, of the total. This item includes 

 reclaimed rubber, felt goods, chemicals, sheeting, and other 

 necessary materials. " It is impossible to estimate the exact 

 quantity or value of reclaimed rubber used in 1900; many es- 

 tablishments included this item with the cost of all other ma- 

 terials; yet the fact that five establishments reported having 

 used 2,971,806 pounds of reclaimed rubber, valued at $337,371, 

 shows it to be an important factor in this industry." 



As wool and felt boots entered in considerable quantities 

 into some of the finished products of the rubber boot and shoe 

 industry, a summary is given of the statistics of this industry 

 as carried on in 1900 by establishments separate and distinct 

 from those engaged in the manufacture of rubber boots and 

 shoes. There were 5 such establishments, employing $2,361,871 

 capital and an average of [400 wage earners. The total value 

 of products was $2,742,745. 



At Vienna, Ohio, an enterprising woman is said to be earn- 

 ing a good support by the manufacture of paper flowers, which 

 she sells in exchange for rubber scrap. 



THE work of organization of the Congo and Sangha Devel- 

 opment Co., mentioned in the last India Rubber World 

 as having been incoroprated in New Jersey to acquire the con" 

 cession of the Soci^te de la Sangha liquatoriale, in the French 

 Congo, has been in progress during the past month, but as yet 

 no further details have becomeavailable for publication. Mean- 

 while, the promoters of the company have been in receipt of 

 samples of rubber produced by the concessionaire company in 

 Africa, which are regarded as the most attractive rubber from 

 that continent ever seen in New York. 



COMPTOIR COLONIAL FRANCAIS BANKRUPT. 

 The Comptoir Colonial Franjais was adjudged bankrupt by 

 the tribunal de commerce de la Seine, Paris, in a decree dated 

 April 7, 1902. This is a joint stock company constituted in 

 Paris in May, 1899, with 9,000,000 francs capital, for objects of 

 colonization and commerce, and particularly the exploitation 

 of Caoutchouc. With headquarters in Paris, at rue des Petit- 

 tes Ecuries, 54, the company conducted trading operations at 

 Pard and Mandos, Brazil ; stations on both sides of the rio 

 Javay, in Brazil and Peru ; at Conakry (French Guinea), and 

 St. Louis (Senegal), West Africa. The company was interested 

 also in the following enterprises, based upon concessions in the 



French Congo: 



Capital. 



Compagnie Franvaise, du Congo francs 3, 000, coo 



Societe de I'Afrique Kquatoriale 2,000,000 



Compagnie de rN'Keme et de I'N'Keni 1.000,000 



Compagnie Frai vaise de I'Oubangui-Ombella 1,000.000 



Compagnie Agricole, Commerciale et Industrielle de la Lefini. i,200,oco 

 Societe Agricole et Commerciale du SetteCaraa i,650,oco 



The companies named here were all formed in 1899, and, 

 together with the Comptoir Colonial Frangais, have been 

 classed together, as is customary with French and Belgian en- 

 terprises, as controlled by one "group" of financiers. Their 

 close connection is shown by several of the directors serving 

 on the boards of one or more companies, while the name of 

 Frangois Nicol appears in the directorate of all seven. Their 

 shares were listed on Brussels bourse, and some of them for 

 awhile were quoted above par, but for some time past no trad- 

 ing has been reported. In the last Inlua Rubber World the 

 Oubangui Ombella company was reported to have definitely 

 given up its concession. The Comptoir Colonial Frangais was 

 already in litigation, and March 12 the proceedings were begun 

 which ended in the company being declared bankrupt. 



The Comptoir Colonial Frani;aise reported the collection, 

 during their first season's work on the Javary (1899 1900), of 

 652,907 pounds of rubber, worth in Europe 2,750,000 francs. 

 They reported having control of 1,235,000 acres of lands. The 

 exports from Patd in their name during the calendar year 

 1900 amounted to i,3,»3.840 pounds. 



NEW USE FOR RUBBER MATTING. 



A NEW rule that undoubtedly will result in the use of con- 

 ■^^- siderable rubber matting has been recently adopted by 

 three large railway systems in the West — the Northwestern, 

 the Union Pacific, and the Southern Pacific. These roads 

 have informed their baggage men that the rough handling of 

 trunks, boxes, and bags must cease. It further provides that 

 the trucks must be provided with a thick pad of felt or other 

 material to lessen the jar when baggage is moved from the car 

 to the truck. Of course a felt pad would soon wear out, and 

 would be a dirty, unsanitary, makeshift at best. Rubber mat- 

 ting is really the only material available, and the day is not far 

 distant when all baggage trucks will be covered with it. 



