300 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



[June 



1902. 



MR. FLINT AND THE NEWSPAPERS. 



THE RUBBER FILLED GOLF BALL. 



UP to ten years ago the newspapers gave but slight atten- 

 tion to the rubber business. When, on the afternoon of 

 March 30, 1S92, a report was wired from Trenton, New Jersey, 

 of the incorporation of the United States Rubber Co., with 

 $50,000,000 capital, there was scarcely a newspaper man in New 

 York who knew where to hunt for the big " story " suspected 

 to be involved. The signers of the incorporation papers were 

 bankers and others who had no connection with the rubber 

 trade ; in the trade itself there was no name recognized gener- 

 ally as representative; and in such rubber stores and offices in 

 the city as the reporters chanced to visit in search of informa- 

 tion there really was nothing known about the United States 

 Rubber Co. Hence, the first published accounts of the new 

 •' trust " were so mixed with fiction as to be regarded by many 

 rubber men outside the combination as a hoax, concocted to 

 " fill space." 



But in time the new company took shape, on a bigger scale 

 than anything before known in " industrials," and editors came 

 to regard it as being of value as a source of news. Reporters 

 were constantly on the lookout for what the "rubber trust" 

 was doing, or about to do, and their work became greatly 

 simplified when a man was found who was really "in the 

 know " — who welcomed the news gatherers, and seldom failed 

 to reward them with a "statement." For years no newspa- 

 per seemed able to distinguish between this "trust" and 

 other interests in rubber, and so every inquirer for rubber 

 news went straight to Charles R. Flint; every turn in the 

 " market " or other movement in the trade was recorded with 

 some reference to Mr. Flint; until this name became linked 

 in the public mind with the control of rubber in every stage 

 from the tropical forests to the sale of overshoes in the re- 

 tail stores. 



He was widely described as the " rubber king." If a man in 

 Europe wanted $1,000,000 to exploit rubber in South America 

 or Africa, he sailed to New York to ask Mr. Flint for it ; and 

 the same thing was done by an Italian who found a new rub- 

 ber yielding shrub in Mexico, and by every discoverer of a 

 new " substitute," or inventor of a rubber tire, or promoter of 

 a new company for planting rubber. Mr. Flint was summoned 

 before state and national legislative committees when they 

 wanted to know about the " rubber trust." When a rubber 

 manufacturer wanted to borrow money, or capital was wanted 

 to start a new factory, the first question asked by the capitalist 

 approached, was how the matter was regarded by the man 

 whom the New York Press once named "Charles Rubber 

 Flint." 



It was advertising of the most valuable kind, and advertising 

 that was obtained at small cost. In fact, the frequency with 

 which Mr. Flint's name got into print led to the suggestion in 

 the minds of some, that Mr. Flint must have employed a " press 

 agent." But every newspaper man who obtained an interview 

 with that gentleman became, for the time being, his press agent. 

 Had any reporter abused Mr. Flint's confidence, however, that 

 source of information would thereafter have been closed to 

 him. News gathering at best is not easy work, and it is natural 

 that the reporter who is helped in that work should show his 

 appreciation; had Mr. Flint been of a diflferent temperament, 

 nothing of an unpleasant nature might have been written about 

 him, but his name would have appeared less prominently in 

 the reporters' work. By the way, it may be that reportorial 

 access to Mr. Flint's office has been facilitated by the fact that 

 his confidential secretary was formerly a capable New York 

 journalist. 



' I 'WO crack amateur golfers, after a recent tournament at 



^ Lakewood, New Jersey, expressed themselves in favor 

 of the " Haskell," the new rubber filled ball. Walter J. Travis, 

 who won the championship at Lakewood, said : 



" After a trial extending over several days, and under differ- 

 ent atmospherical conditions, I became convinced that under 

 calm weather conditions, there was a slight difference of about 

 five yards in favor of the rubber filled ball from the tee. With 

 an iron, a half or three-quarter shot, with the filled ball accom- 

 plished the same as a full shot when a Gutta-percha ball was 

 used. With the wind, however, a Gutta-percha ball had the 

 advantage, against it, its rubber rival had the better of the argu- 

 ment. 



" Where the filled ball had made itself felt, however, is with 

 the short players, who, before it was introduced, were minnows 

 as compared with whales. With their short, jerky forearm 

 swing, however, the filled ball has worked wonders, so much so 

 that they can almost hold their own on long courses, with the 

 far reaching men of the first rank. The slashing, brilliant 

 long players I don't think gain anything with a filled ball, ex- 

 cept that it requires less effort." 



Findlay Douglass said that he was using the new ball be- 

 cause he had not played much during the winter, and had not 

 had enough practice to get into his customary swing. " When, 

 however, I am properly limbered up, I am sure that I can drive 

 as far with a Gutta ball as with the new innovation. When one 

 is on his game and full of confidence there is a great charm as 

 well as satisfaction in hitting the ball as hard as one's power 

 will permit. With the Gutta ball one adds several yards to his 

 drive, with the filled ball the difference is trivial. Further- 

 more, the feel, to say nothing of the sound at the moment of 

 impact, is not to be compared. In my opinion, a naturally long 

 player does not derive any material advantage by using a rub- 

 ber filled ball." 



On the heels of a recent suggestion from The India Rub- 

 ber World's English correspondent that the Haskell golf ball 

 does not appeal to the British, comes the news from London 

 that the first and second places in the amateur championship 

 games were both won by players using Haskell balls. 



RUBBER NOTES FROM EUROPE. 



THE death is reported of Robert Wild, works manager of 

 B. Cohen, Newtown Works, a large mackintosh manu- 

 facturer at Manchester, England. Mr. Wild had been engaged 

 in the rubber industry for forty-six years, in Great Britain and 

 Germany, besides going at one time to Russia to start the plant 

 of the Moscow Rubber Co. In the latter work he was assisted 

 by his sons — Walter Wild, now works manager of the Liver- 

 pool Rubber Co., Limited, and John Wild, now engaged with 

 the Pneumatic Tyre Syndicate, Limited, of Birmingham. 



= A cover of fabric and rubber for an air ship 85 feet in dia- 

 meter, the largest ever made in Germany, is now being manu- 

 factured by Franz Clouth, at his rubber works at Coln-Nippes. 



= The Victoria Rubber Co., Limited (Edinburgh, Scotland), 

 declared dividends, for the last business year, of 5 per cent, on 

 the preference and 2>^ per cent, on the ordinary shares of their 

 capital stock. 



BRITISH PACIFIC CABLE. 



The new cable steamer Colonia, built for the Telegraph Con- 

 struction and Maintenance Co., Limited, sailed May 8 from 

 England for Vancouver, carrying the cable to be laid in the 

 Pacific from that port to New Zealand. 



