ANUARY I, 



19°3l 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



125 



THE RUBBER TRADE AT AKRON. 



BY A RESIDENT CORRESPONDENT. 



TO THE Editor of The India Rubber World: The 

 advancing price of crude rubber is being watched with 

 l<een interest by rubber manufacturers in general, but especially 

 so by manufacturers of tires. Solid tire prices dropped so low 

 the past season that the condition of the business was regarded 

 as critical ; and as two-thirds of the solid tires manufactured in 

 America are the product of Akron factories, this city was the 

 center of the storm coming from carriage manufacturers de- 

 manding cheaper tires. The result in some instances was tires 

 of poorer quality, but even this could not entirely solve the 

 problem, for tires of the same quality as before were expected 

 and could not be delivered at the lower selling price. On the 

 other hand, to keep up the standard of quality meant a curtail- 

 ment of business, temporarily, at least. And now the advance 

 in crude rubber values aggravates the situation. Some large 

 contracts were made when the raw material was cheaper than 

 now, but on all new orders and contracts there is a general stiff- 

 ening of prices, from sheer necessity. Crude rubber is not alone 

 in the upward scale. Other material, fuel, freight rates, and 

 labor are costing more. 



" In every contract for supplies which I have made for the 

 coming year I have been obliged to grant an advance in price. 

 To meet the condition prices of manufactured tires and rubber 

 goods in general should be increased from lo to 20 per cent.," 

 said an official of a leading rubber company. Other manufac- 

 turers concur in the proposition that prices must be materially 

 stiffened to meet prevailing conditions. It is the unanimous 

 belief that 1903 is to be a record breaker in rubber manufactur- 

 ing. 



* * ¥ 



The plant of the People's Hard Rubber Co. remains closed 

 and Joseph J. Freeman, of New York, is in charge of the prop- 

 erty. No authorized statement save that the control of the 

 company has passed to new owners by the sale of a majority, if 

 not all, the stock, has as yet been made. Unofficially it is said 

 on excellent authority that a New York broker who is now rep- 

 resented here by Mr. Freeman, was the purchaser. Whether 

 he acted for the American Hard Rubber Co. is not stated, al- 

 though it IS generally believed that he did. An inventory of 

 the People's Hard Rubber Co. property was taken just before 

 the sale, late in November, by R. H. Wright, secretary of the 

 company, and George Pellinger, of the Vulcanized Rubber Co. 

 It was agreed that as a third appraiser. Superintendent A. H. 

 Marks, of the Diamond Rubber Co., should be called if Messrs. 

 Wright and Pellinger failed on any point to agree, which, how- 

 ever they did not. 



The People's Hard Rubber Co. were incorporated in the 

 spring of 1901 with a capitalization of $200,000. Their factory 

 in South Akron was completed and operations begun a year 

 later. It is believed here that the factory will again be oper- 

 ated, though it is considered likely that the old Goodrich plant 

 of the American Hard Rubber Co. will be closed and that by 

 lease or purchase the buildings will go to The B. F. Goodrich 

 Co., whose premises they adjoin. The People's plant is well 

 equipped with modern machinery, and employed 250 people. 



* * * 



The Combination Tire and Rubber Co. are making plans for 

 a reorganization of their company under the same name. 

 Originally incorporated with a capitalization of $100,000, under 

 New York laws, it is now proposed to obtain, instead, an Ohio 

 charter, and fix the capital stock at $30,000. The personnel ot 

 the company will remain the same, with the exception of the 



probable retirement of Thomas Clark, of New York, the presi- 

 dent. The Akron members of the company say they will be 

 marketing tires for the spring trade. 



The Colonial Tire and Rubber Co. have closed a contract 

 with the Oesterreichische Aktiengesellschaft fiir Gummi-Indus- 

 trie. by which the latter will manufacture the Swinehart solid 

 rubber tire at their factory near Vienna, on royalty, having the 

 exclusive license for Austria-Hungary. Negotiations are pend- 

 ing with a rubber manufacturing concern in Germany for a 

 similar license for that country, and Russia will next be visited 

 by the Colonial company's representative. 



Tire and other rubber manufacturers here are not pleased to 

 note the feeling of resentment against the so-called " .American 

 invasion'' which is being agitated in Germany. In the discus- 

 sion of new duty schedules in the German capital it is proposed 

 to make an advance of about 40 per cent, ad valorem in the 

 tariff on imported rubber goods. 



The organization of the Superior Rubber and Manufacturing 

 Co. of Cuyahoga Falls, was completed at a meeting in that vil- 

 lage on December 10. The officers are: W. S. Biiley, of 

 Cleveland, president ; W. J. Hart, of Cleveland, vice president ; 

 E. M. Young, of Cuyahoga Falls, treasurer ; L. H. Whitcomb, 

 of Cuyahoga Falls, secretary. The company will begin with 

 the minufacture of dipped goods and expect to be ready for 

 business before February. Mr. Whitcomb will be in general 

 charge and a practical rubber man will be engaged as superin- 

 tendent. 



Among local manufacturers it is quite definitely understood 

 that Lewis D. Parker, president of the Hartford Rubber Works 

 Co., is to succeed Charles H. Wheeler, resigned, as president of 

 the India Rubber Co. W. L. Wild, secretary of the company, 

 it is understood, is to be the local manager. Their annual 

 meeting will be held in January. 



An explosion of chemicals in the dipping department of The 

 B. F. Goodrich Co. at 5.15 o'clock Friday evening, December 12, 

 caused a fire which, though it at no time seriously threatened 

 the main buildings of the plant, destroyed the interior of a 

 small one story brick building in which it started, and kept the 

 fire crew of the company and a crew of city firemen busy for 

 two hours. The chemicals and benzine used in the dipping de- 

 partment made the blaze a difficult one against which to con- 

 tend, and as the water flowed out of the building burning 

 oils floated upon its surface. Walter Reese, an employe of the 

 Goodrich company, was overcome by the fumes insidethe build- 

 ing and was taken out unconscious. He was not seriously injured. 

 Theclothing of a lad amongthe spectators caught fire from the 

 floating chemicals and he was slightly burned. The fire was 

 extinguished without loss to the plant except in the one depart- 

 ment. 



Betzler & Wilson have had a large holiday trade on fountain 

 pens. The demand for rubber toys also appears to be growing 

 at each recurring Christmas season. The B. F. Goodrich Co. 

 would have been able to sell a great many more of their 

 " Brownies " than they cared to make. 



Akron automobile tire manufacturers plan to be generously 

 represented at the automobile show in Cleveland the week of 

 Febiuary 22. That city is so near Akron that local rubber 

 people will have something akin to a home interest in the ex- 

 hibition. Cleveland is rated as the principal autornobile man- 

 ufacturing city of America. Akron will also be well repre- 

 sented at Madison Square Garden in January, and at the Chi- 

 cago automobile show on February 14-21. 



The outlook for bicycle tires grows more and more hopeful. 

 No great revival of the business is looked for, but inquiries and 

 orders are both more numerous than at this time last year. 



