42 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



[October 1, 1912. 



two samples, met with so great success that they are now show- 

 ing, for next spring and summer wear, from half a dozen to 

 a score of samples ; while a number of other manufacturers 

 have followed these pioneers. Most of their lines have the 

 molded soles and half heels all in one piece; and these are 

 furnished ready to attach by manufacturers who make a specialty 

 of rubber soles and heels for shoe manufacturers. 

 * * * 

 The A. & A. Rubber Co. of South Framinghani, manufacturers 

 of rubberized fabrics, waterproof clothing and hospital supplies, 

 will greatly enlarge their plant, not only adding to the original 

 factory, but by erecting another structure. The present factory 

 will be so enlarged as to give extra floorage, 150 by 40 feet, in 

 the second story, and the present building will be paralleled by 

 a one-story factory ISO by 60 feet. This second structure will 

 have a false end, so that if further enlargement is necessary, a 

 very considerable lengthening on the land of the company can 

 be made. President Calvert B. Archer is quoted as authority 

 for the statement that with their present facilities, even when 

 working a day and night force, the company is unable to keep 

 pace with its order*, and therefore the enlargement is found 

 necessarv. 



THE RUBBER TRADE IN TRENTON. 



By a Resident Corrcsj^ondent. 

 'T'HE Essex Rubber Co., Inc., has arranged for a creditable 

 *■ exhibit at the International Rubber Exposition, New York, 

 scheduled for the week of September 23-30. The company has 

 planned to have the heads of the various departments of the big 

 local plant in attendance at the exposition during the entire show. 



W. F. Bainbridge will be on hand to greet those men of the 

 shoe trade who will find it possible to visit the exposition. R. H. 

 Phillips and C. C. Tucker will go over from the local factory 

 and in conjunction with S. Y. L'Hommedieu, the manager of 

 the New York branch, will expound the virtues of the Essex 

 automobile accessories and engineering specialties. T Wesley 

 Wright, manager of the shoe findings department of the local 

 plant, is to have charge of the booth which will exhibit "Soft 

 Spot" heel cushions and the "Tred-Lite" rubber heel. 



President C. H. Oakley, who is also the general manager of 

 this concern, expects to spend considerable time in New York 

 during the exposition and will be glad to meet personally in- 

 terested visitors. The Essex Rubber Co. is one of the busiest 

 concerns in this section, the orders which have been piling in 

 necessitating the employment of the working force overtime. 

 The company is not only doing a big business in .\merica. but 

 finds a ready market abroad for its specialties. 



treasurer, and A. Boyd Cornell, secretary of the concerns, will 

 be in attendance at the show. General Murray plans to spend 

 several days at the show as does Secretary Cornell. 



Carl Claus, one of the ablest engineers in tlie rubber business, 

 will attend the show as will also Superintendent Abden Lee and 

 .Assistant Superintendent Frederick Bechtel. 



THE RUBBER TRADE IN RHODE ISLAND. 



By a Resident Correspondent. 

 nPHE wire making department recently started at the plant of 

 •*■ National India Rubber Co., Bristol, has been almost 

 swamped with orders. The day after Labor Day the company 

 began operations on a night and day schedule and added 150 

 men to the working force. 



Frederick L. Dunbar has charge of the wire department under 

 the supervision of Le Baron C. Colt, agent of the compau.w who 

 designed it. 



The wire making is done in a large room formerly used as a 

 calender department in the mill on Wood street. The company 

 has turned out insulated wire for a long time. Recently it de- 

 cided to try wire drawing in its own plant on a small scale, and 

 immediately found itself with a large amount of business on 

 hand. The starting on a night as well as a day schedule is the 

 result. 



It is said that the working force is to be still further increased 

 by at least 200, and that new buildings for this branch of the 

 industry may be erected in the near future. 

 * * * 



An idea of the value of the rubber industry to the city of 

 Providence can be gained from the assessed valuations made pub- 

 lic early in September for the year 1912. The assessed valuation 

 of the property of the rubber companies is $2,111,020, divided as 

 follows: Joseph Banigan Rubber Co., $161,100; Bourn Rubber 

 Co., $147,000; Davol Rubber Co.. $400,000; Goodyear Tire & 

 Rubber Co., $50,000; Mechanical Fabric Co., $336,740; Revere 

 Rubber Co.. $1,016,180. A tax of $1.65 per hundred is levied 

 upon this assessment by the city, and corporations capitalized over 

 $50,000 also have to pay a tax to the state. 



The assessment ag;iinst the Joseph Banigan Rubber Co. shows 

 a decrease of $149,000 ; that against the Davol Rubber Co. an 

 increase of $225,000; that against the Mechanical Fabric Co. an 

 increase of $75,000, and an increase of $926,380 against the Revere 

 Rubber Co. Nothing could furnish a surer indication of the 

 general prosperity of the business in the capital of this state. 



The total assessment against Col. Samuel P. Colt in Providence 

 is $210,100; against Augustus O. Bourn, $113,640. and against the 

 Joseph Banigan Estate, $1,261,520. 



W. J. B. Stokes, head of the Home Rubber Co. and the Joseph 

 Stokes Rubber Co., who recently returned from a European trip, 

 declares that the outlook for a big export business was never 

 brighter. He visited England, Belgium, France and other coun- 

 tries and spent considerable time with his English representatives. 



* * * 



The Crescent Belting plant is a busy place just now. The 

 force is working day and night to keep up with the flood of 

 orders sent in by the "Live Wires" on the road for this concern. 



* * * 



The new stock room of the Empire Rubber Manufacturing 

 Co.'s plant is ready for occupancy. It was built at a cost of 

 $24,000. The old stock room was partially destroyed by the 

 explosion of two giant vulcanizers. 



* * * 



Although the Empire Rubber Manufacturing Co. and Empire 

 Tire Co. and Crescent Belting and Packing Co. will not have an 

 exhibit at the Rubber Exposition, General C. Edward Murray. 



In the city of Woonsocket, where the two plants of the Woon- 

 socket Rubber Co. and one of the American Wringer Co. are 

 located, rates on gas and electricity are to be reduced. The pres- 

 ent rate for gas is $1.20 per thousand cubic feet, and for elec- 

 tricity l!4 cents per kilowatt per hour. A City Council com- 

 mittee is working on the proposition. Hopes for success are 

 based on a promise made by the Stone & Webster Corporation of 

 Boston that these reductions would be made, if it could secure a 

 charter !o merge all its gas and electrical holdings in the Black- 

 stone Valley. This charter was granted at the last session of the 

 Rhode Island Legislature. 



* * * 



Col. Samuel P. Colt, who went to Europe last July, returned 

 to his home in Bristol on Saturday, September 7. He reached 

 New York on the steamship Olyynpic September 5. In a telegram 

 to a Providence paper he explained that while his trip abroad 

 was primarily for pleasure he had also mixed business in. He 

 stated that one of his tasks was an effort to list $10,000000 of 



