136 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



rjANUARV I, 1903: 



above noted, was made on tlie motion of Receiver Gunn, and 

 against the contention of the attorneys for Mr. Place that the 

 court had no jurisdiction, their client's suit having been filed in 

 another court. 



RUBBER TRADING CO. (NEW YORK). 



Mr. William T. Bairu has issued a circular letter to the 

 trade, as follows : 



" I beg to announce that after nearly thirty years' service 

 with the New York Belting and Packing Co., and with the 

 Mechanical Rubber Co. since its organization, I dissolved my 

 connection with these companies on December i in order to 

 assume the presidency of the Rubber Trading Co. In addi- 

 tion to my other duties, I have for many years purchased all 

 the crude rubber used by the above mentioned companies, and 

 with the knowledge and experience thus acquired, I have de- 

 cided to enter the crude rubber business and have assumed the 

 management of the Rubber Trading Co., jointly with my bro- 

 ther, Mr. Robert B. Baird, who has been actively connected 

 with the crude rubber trade for the past twelve years." 



At a meeting of the shareholders on December 11 the capi- 

 tal ol the company was increased to $50,000, which amount, it 

 is stated, has been fully paid, in cash. 



MR. REIMERS RETIRES. 

 The copartnership firm of Reimers & Co., crude rubber mer- 

 chants. No. 67 Pine street. New York, ceases on this date by 

 the limitation of time, and the business will be continued at the 

 same address under new articles of copartnership by Poel & 

 Arnold, Mr. Hermann Reimers retiring. The capital of Heil- 

 but, Symons «& Co. (Liverpool), as special partners, will remain 

 in the firm. Messrs. Frank Poel and Charles H. Arnold, the 

 new general partners in the firm, have long been connected 

 with the house and enjoy a wide and favorable acquaintance 

 with the trade. Mr, Arnold hitherto has represented the house 

 in Boston, but hereafter will be found at the New York office. 

 Mr. Reimers began his connection with the house in May, 1876, 

 at which time the business was conducted under the name of 

 E. Marcus. The style of the business was changed subsequently 

 to Charles Loewenthal, Charles Loewenthal & Co., Reimers & 

 Meyer, and, on January i, 1900, to Reimers & Co. Mr. Reimers 

 retires to enjoy a respite from business in travel in Europe, after 

 a quarter of a century of unremitting work which has brought 

 a liberal measure of success. -^-=The Boston office of Poel & 

 Arnold will be in charge of E. E. Wadbrook. 



NOT READY TO ADOPT METAL HOSE. 

 Apropos of a report that the fire department of Pittsburgh, 

 Pennsylvania, would substitute metal hose for the rubber suc- 

 tion hose now used to connect fire engines with hydrants, Mr. 

 A. H. Leslie, director ot the Pittsburgh department of public 

 safety, advises The India Rubber World : " While there is 

 a section or two of the metallic suction hose for fire engines 

 on exhibition at Speck-Marshall Co.'s office in this city, we 

 have not been considering its adoption, as it is yet an experi- 

 ment and rather expensive." The cost of the metal hose is re- 

 ported to be $12.50 per foot — double the cost of rubber, or more. 

 It is claimed that only 8 feet lengths would be needed, whereas 

 10 feet of rubber would be needed, besides which the metal 

 hose is so much more durable as to make it, in the end, cheaper 

 than rubber. 



STANDARD LUGS FOR RUBBER TIRES. 



Mention has been made already in The India Rubber 

 World of the standardization of steel channels for rubber cat- 

 riage tires, to the mutual advantage of everybody concerned. 

 A similarly desirable result has attended the movement in 

 progress for sometime past in the direction of adopting a 



standard method of spacing lu^s and of detecinining the num- 

 ber of them to be used in rims for single tube tires. The Na- 

 tional Association of Automobile Manufacturers has adopted 

 as its standard the following regulation : " For rims 26 and 28 

 inches in diameter, five lugs placed 25 degrees, 98 degrees, and 

 180 degrees, on each side of the valve; for rims 30, 32, 34, 36, 

 and 38 inches in diameter, eight lugs, placed 25 degrees on 

 each side of the valve, then 40 degrees and 50 degrees alter; 

 nately." This action has been taken after correspondence 

 with various tire makers, and its object is to avoid the incon- 

 venience resulting from attempting to fit a tire to a rim de- 

 signed for a dilTerent number of lugs than are contained in the 

 tire. 



AUTOMOBILES AT MADISON SQUARE GARDEN. 



From the interest manifested by exhibitors and the trade in 

 the third annual automobile show to be opened on January 17 

 at Madison Square Garden, New York, it is probable that this 

 will prove the most extensive and successful exhibition of 

 motor vehicles and accessories yet held in the United States. 

 Practically all the available space has been allotted and not 

 only will the leading American manufacturers be represented, 

 but also a number of foreign concerns. The manufacturers of 

 rubber tires have arranged to be prominently represented, in- 

 cluding — 



The Consolidated Rubber Tire Co New \'ork. 



Diamond Rubber Co Akron, Ohio. 



Firestone Tire and Rubber Co Akron, Ohio. 



G & J Tire Co Indianapolis, Indiana. 



The B. F. Goodrich Co Akron, Ohio. 



Goodyear Tire and Rubber Co Akron, Ohio. 



Hartford Rubber Works Co Hartford, Connecticut. 



International Automobile and Vehicle Tire Co New York. 



Metallic Rubber Tire Co New York. 



CONSOLIDATED RUBBER TIRE CO. (NEW YORK). 

 The protest of this company — which is a New Jersey corpo- 

 ration — against the amount of state taxes assessed against it 

 in Ohio was overruled in a decision by the secretary of state 

 announced on November 26. The company sought to have 

 the assessment reduced on the ground that the greater part 

 of its assets consists of trade marks and good will. The 

 secretary of state holds that the value placed upon good will 

 and trade marks must be computed as part of the actual valua- 

 tion of the company's property, and that a proportionate share 

 of this must be allotted to the company's manufacturing plants 

 in Ohio. As many other foreign corporations have claimed a 

 similar exemption, the new decision will have the effect of 

 largely increasing the revenues of the state of Ohio. 



THE STATUS OF THE GRANT TIRE PATENT. 

 The fact was reported in the last India Rubber World 

 that the United States supreme court had denied the applica- 

 tion of the Rubber Tire Wheel Co. for a writ of ceriiorart \o 

 bring before it for review a decision of the United States cir- 

 cuit court of appeals for the sixth circuit, in the case of that 

 company against The Goodyear Tire and Rubber Co.. respect- 

 ing the validity of the Grant patent on solid rubber tires. This 

 fact has been widely regarded in the trade as definitely settling 

 the litigation on this point, as if the refusal of the supreme 

 court to review the decision rendered at Cincinnati in May last 

 had the effect of sustaining that decision. It appears, however, 

 that an absolutely final disposition of the matter has not yet 

 been reached. It will be remembered that decisions favorable 

 to the Grant patent have been rendered in more than one 

 United States circuit court in other jurisdictions. If an appeal 

 should be taken from one of these decisions to the appellate 

 court in the appropriate circuit, and such decision should be 

 affirmed in that couit, the situation would exist of the Grant 



