March 



t9°3-] 



THE INDIA RUBisER V/ORLD 



203 



HIGHER PRICES FOR RUBBER GOODS. 



' I ^ HE t7?<w«/z' -?i'//««_^ commends to the German rubber trade 

 ■^ serious consideration of a report that the British India- 

 Rubber Manufacturers' Association, at a meeting held in Man- 

 chester on January 9. resolved that an advance of lo per cent, 

 should be made on prices of mechanical rubber goods, and 

 quotes also the circular of The B. F. Goodrich Co. (Akron, 

 Ohio), withdrawing all prices, and announcing that new prices 

 will be subject to change without notice, owing to the unset- 

 tled condition of the rubber market. The fact that such action 

 has been taken in foreign markets is evidence, to our contem- 

 porary, that German manufacturers must take a similar stand, 

 and it suggests that when an advance is made, it should be a 

 substantial one, lest it should soon prove insufficient through 

 a still further advance in crude rubber prices. The Gummi 

 Zeiiung regards it as significant that an American firm has 

 been the first in this instance, in all the world, to start the price 

 advance, since the American trade has been regarded hitherto 

 as disposed to hesitate to the last moment to adopt such mea- 

 sures. 



THE DEMAND FOR RUBBER SHOES. 



DEALERS at Cleveland, Ohio, interviewed by the Leader, 

 of that city, doubted that so many rubber shoes are 

 worn in Buffalo, though that is a " wetter" town than Cleve- 

 land. Their estimates varied from 30 to 50 per cent, of the 

 men, and from 50 to 90 per cent, of the women, who visited 

 their stores, as wearers of rubbers. They were agreed, how- 

 ever, that " people are coming back to rubbers again ; no shoe 

 fit for a woman or man to wear is capable of keeping out the 

 slush that Cleveland has experienced lately." 



More rubber footwear is sold in Buffalo, New York, accord- 

 ing to a shoe dealer in that city quoted by a local newspaper, 

 than in any other city of its size in the United States. He says 

 that during three months, beginning with the middle of De- 

 cember, 99 per cent, of the people who enter his store wear 

 rubbers — not now and then, but every day. The reason is that 

 there is snow or ice on the streets constantly during these 

 months, and rubbers are worn as a protection against slipping 

 as well as for keeping the feet dry. The same merchant says 

 that this fact interferes with the sale of leather shoes to a ma- 

 terial degree, for the reason that rubber prevents leather goods 

 from wearing out. 



A Boston merchant is reported in the Boot and Shoe Record- 

 er as expressing the opinion that a good demand for rubber 

 shoes — such as has existed this winter — is a great help to the 

 retail trade generally. It is because so many people who enter 

 a store to buy a pair of rubbers — something they are obliged 

 to have — linger to make other purchases. But for the rubbers 

 they would stay away from the stores, and anything that brings 

 possible customers within reach of the salesmen is welcomed as 

 a means of pushing trade. 



AMERICAN WOOD TIRES IN FRANCE. 



THE American consul-general at Paris (Mr. John K. Gowdy, 

 reports: " American wood tires for bicycle wheels, etc.) 

 made of rock maple, with a core of beech, are much appreciated 

 in France on account of their great strength, combined with 

 lightness. The machines used by the trick performers, who 

 jump down 10 feet onto a bicycle, are always provided with 

 American wood tires. Two years ago these tires were im- 

 ported, ready made, from the United States, but the demand 



for them has become so great that it has become necessary for 

 the Franco-American Wood Tire Co. to erect a factory, with a 

 iSohorsepower electric engine and patent American machin- 

 ery, at Mery-sur-Oise, a few miles from Paris. The wood used 

 is, of course, still imported from America." 



ADVERTISING "BOSTON" RUBBERS IN EUROPE. 



OUR English contemporary concludes a report of the 

 eighth annual International Shoe and Leather Fair, in 

 London — at which many of the exhibits of rubber shoes, heel 

 pads, etc., were of American origin, in the following style : 



" But the hit of the Fair was th° card which was given out 

 indiscriminately to every passerby of the stands exhibiting the 

 Boston Rubber Shoe Co.'s goods. It was the picture of a bird 

 clinging to the bars of a cage and looking toward an Impres- 

 sion of the Boston Rubber Shoe Co.'s trade mark. At the foot 

 of the card is an old-fashioned couple who are gazing with 

 gaping mouth and up-turned eyes in astonishment at the bird 

 who is supposed to be singing the praises of the goods that 

 bear the above trade mark. Also at the foot of the card are the 

 viorAi • Squeeze the card. Even the birds sing the praises of 

 Boston rubbers.' On the reverse side are illustrations of the 

 Boston Rubber Shoe Co.'s leading lines. By pressing the card 

 the bird is made to warble, and continually throughout the 

 evening hundreds of people were making their cards ' sing.' It 

 was a decided novelty, and once again the Boston Rubber 

 Shoe Co. have come out ' on top' in the matter of attractive 

 advertising. 



SOME WANTS OF THE RUBBER TRADE. 



[278] A WESTERN manufacturer desires to know if there 

 ^^ are in use at present any of the following brands 

 on red sheet packing : Dragon, Robin, Meteor, Comet, Jupiter. 

 Or for rubber lined cotton hose, as follows: Marine, Mascot, 

 Sphinx, Alert, Volunteer, Gulf Stream, Marquette, La Salle, 

 Joliet. 



[279] "Will you kindly give us the name and address of 

 some of the European manufacturers of Balata belting?" 



[280] From a Western town : " I should like some informa- 

 tion regarding the cost of a small plant for reclaiming rubber 

 from old boots and shoes and other forms of scrap." 



[281 1 From an Eastern town : " Can you give us the names 

 of firms making magnet machines for reclaiming plants ? " 



[282] From Holland :" We have an enquiry from our agents 

 In the Dutch East Indies, for mechanical apparatus for the 

 manufacture of Gutta-percha from leaves. Can you advise us 

 of the makers of such machines .' " 



[283] From a jobbing house: " Could you Inform us who 

 make a rubber dental cuspidor ? ' 



[284] From another jobbing house: "Can you advise us 

 where we can buy rubber ends for cocoa matting } " 



[285] " Where can we purchase rubber ventilators, such as 

 are used in air mattresses, cushions, pillows, etc. .' " 



The " Diary and Year Book for 1903." issued by the publish- 

 ers of the London India-Rubber Journal, con\.3^\n% the same fea- 

 tures as informer years, besides being more complete in the 

 various departments. In addition to statistical and other ref- 

 erence matter designed for people in the rubber trade, includ- 

 ing a directory of trade marks In the British rubber industry, 

 the volume includes blank pages for counting house or factory 

 memoranda for one year. [Maclaren & Sons, 37, Shoe lane, 

 London, E. C] 



