November 1, 1912.] 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



103 



THE RUBBER TRADE IN AKRON. 



By Our Regular Correspondent. 

 AV/ W . WUCHTER has resigned as general manager of the 

 " • Swinehart Tire and Rubber Co. and John Walsh has 

 liecii elected to till that position. Tlie new board of directors 

 consists of Joseph Dangel, John Walsh, R. A. May, T. E. Bor- 

 ton, Oliver Tomey, William McWeldon, A. C. HofT, A. Polsky, 

 and Dr. E. L. Mather. The new board of directors authorized 

 the sale of $150,000 worth of treasury stock at par. C. O. 

 I'.aughman was re-elected secretary and R. A. May, treasurer. 

 J. W. Cully, of the New York 1)ranch, was given charge of the 

 Detroit branch. A. T. Carnahan has been appointed district 

 manager in charge of Ohio, West Virginia, Kentucky, western 

 New York, western Pennsylvania and eastern Michigan. 



* * * 



The Marathon Tire and Rubber Co., organized for the manu- 

 facture of tires and a general line of rubber goods, have secured 

 land at Cuyahoga Ealls, Ohio, just below the Glen Bridge, and 

 are constructing their lirst building 65 x 300 feet. They expect 

 to commence operations before the first of the year. The men 

 interested in this company are experienced in rubber manufac- 

 turing. The board of directors consists of I. Walter Jenks, of 

 Pittsburgli ; John R. Scott, of Cleveland; C. W. Vaughn, a 

 manufacturer of Cuyahoga Falls; W. F. Ridge, of Akron, and 

 W. H. Jenks, of .Akron. The ofHcers of the company are John 

 K. Scott, president ; W. F. Ridge, vice-president and general 

 manager ; W. H. Jenks, secretary and treasurer. W. H. Jenks 

 has been connected for five years with the engineering depart- 

 ment of the Firestone Tire and Rubber Co., and W. F. Ridge 

 has also had seven years' experience in the pneumatic depart- 

 ment of the Firestone company. Franklin Kesser, formerly with 

 the Hartford Rubber Works Co., and later with the Firestone, 

 is manager of the sales department of the new company. 



* * * 



The B. F. Goodrich Co. have just completed a new route book 

 covering the entire State of Michigan. This has been made 

 from original data, the amount of which is voluminous. It de- 

 velops the fact that many parts of the State are almost impass- 

 able, owing to the bad-road conditions. 



F. H. Mason, first vice-president of The B. F. Goodrich Co., 

 who has made the Akron boys and girls happy by donating 

 parks and playgrounds, has come forward with another fine 

 gift. He has given to the Akron Public Library $2,000, to be 

 used in purchasing books for the school children. The library 

 board will at once equip a room for that purpose. Certainly 

 Akron should appreciate the generous spirit of its many rubber 

 manufacturers. 



* * * 



The Goodyear Tire and Rubber Co. has opened 16 ueu 

 branches in the past 12 months. They are located at Albany, 

 Rochester and Syracuse, New York ; Dayton, Ohio ; Kansas 

 City, Missouri; Denver, Colorado; Newark, New Jersey: Oak- 

 land, California; Omaha. Nebraska; Portland, Maine; Roches- 

 ter, New Y'ork; St. Paul, Minnesota; Spokane. Washington; 

 Salt Lake City. L'tah ; Syracuse, New Y'ork ; Worcester, Massa- 

 chusetts, and Mexico City. Mexico. The company has erected 

 several new buildings in the larger cities to accommodate the 

 increased demand for their products. It is their plan to own 

 all their branch buildings throughout the country. The new 

 Goodyear buildings have been erected in Grand Rapids, New- 

 York, Buffalo. Columbus, Birmingham, Kansas City, Louisville, 

 lyiinncapolis, Memphis, Newark and Philadelphia. The com- 

 pany has 11 branches in Canada. SS in the United States, and 

 with a new field being opened in foreign countries. 



* * * 



The Summit RuWier Co.. which was destroyed by fire March 

 28. 1911, has been rebuilt and has commenced work. The force 

 numbers about 100. including men and women. The company 



at present owns two acres of land and anticipates building 

 another addition next summer. The plant is now located be- 

 tween .Akron and Barberton, and has three railroad lines on one 

 side and a street car line on the other. This is an independent 

 company ard manufactures rubber sundries. The officials claim 

 that they have a large number of orders, which will insure their 

 running for some lime without any further orders. 

 * * •¥ 



Recent additions to the B. F. Goodrich Co.'s plant at Akron, 

 ( )hio. do not appear to indicate any anxiety on their part as to 



New .XliDITlo.N To THE i!. 1-. GuOIjKILU IalIuUV. 



the future of the rubber industry. Although their present floor 

 space is between sixty and seventy acres, this is at the present 

 moment being augmented by the new building here illustrated. 

 This structure of six stories and basement is 270 feet long by 

 157 feet wide. It is of the most modern fireproof construction, 

 the materials used being solely steel, concrete and brick. 



The ofl'.ce staff is growing with the growth of the factory, and 

 a new six-story office building is also in course of construction. 

 These illustrations show the buildings in process of erection, 

 wliile it is stated that, owing to the rapid growth in the -demand 



New Office Building of the B. F. Goodkich Co. 



for Goodrich Wireless and other truck tires, the capacity of that 

 portion of the factory will shortly be almost trebled. In the 

 course of the past five or six years, practically the whole of the 

 plant has been made over, the present buildings being uniform 

 in design, and of modern fireproof construction, with exceptional 

 facilities for lighting and ventilation. 

 * * * 



The various Akron rubber companies are putting forth a 



