148 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



[December 1, 1912. 



cry" as fast as the building progresses, the heavy machines being 

 put in as soon as the iirst story is completed, and so on through 

 the building. The office building has already been erected, as 

 is also a storage shed, and a two-story boiler house 40 by 68 feet 

 will be built near the main factory. It is hoped that the com- 

 pany can begin work early next year, but it is not expected that 

 the entire plant can be in full operation for three or four months. 

 The enterprise starts under the most auspicious conditions, under 

 the immediate personal management of John S. Patterson, for 

 many years in charge of important departments of the Revere 

 Rubber Co., who has associated with him his son, James M. 

 Patterson; the Appletons, Francis H. and Francis IL, Jr., and 

 other capitaUsts. I understand that the product for the first 



year is already sold. 



* * * 



The completion of the fine new two-story office building at 

 the plant of the American Rubber Co. at East Cambridge has 

 enabled that company to combine its business forces in one 

 building, aijd those portions of the purdiasing, bookkeeping and 

 record departments which were housed inr the Boston office of 

 the company on Essex street liave beeniraoved to Cambridge, 

 where they- occupy the second floor of tliEtnew building. Gen- 

 eral Manager N. Lincoln Greene will have his office in Cam- 

 bridge, but, of course, will continue his Boston office, and will 

 divide his time between the two. The Boston headquarters have 

 undergone several alterations, which will result in more and 

 better facilities for the display of samples and the accommoda- 

 tion of customers. ^ _ * *-*-•- 



So impbftint has growri the' t:ire''dej>artfflenr of the Coiiyefi^' 

 Rubber Shoe Co. that the company' will soon build a three-' 

 « story addition 125 by 65, to accommodate this new branch of 

 the bu.siness. When the xompany. secured the Jocation for its 

 factory, a larger lot, was purchased than was needed at the 

 time, in anticipation of future needs. Now, in addition to making 

 rubber footwear, the company makes two or more patented 

 styles of rubber heels, and has been eminently successful in turn- 

 ing out automobile tires, which have been in such demand that 

 this new addition seems, .aniply justified. 



The Atlantic Rubber Co., manufacturers of mechanical goods 

 and rubberized fabrics, have sold their factory at Hyde Park, 

 and, will seek new and larger quarters where they can double 

 their present force and capacity, being justified in this move by 

 the rapid, increase of their business. Whether they will pur- 

 chase a factory near this city, or will build a concrete factory 

 on land owned by the company, is a question not yet decided 

 upon. Meanwhile they have taken a temporary lease of a factory 

 at Hyde Park, where they will manufacture until the question 



of relocation is settled. 



* * * 



The Metropolitan Raincoat Co., which purchased the plant of 

 the Atlantic Rubber Co., will continue manufacturing under the 

 name of the Hyde Park Rubber Co. Besides the factory build- 

 ings, this concern acquired some of the heavy machinery already 

 in place, which it will utilize in its own enlarged business. 



* ■ * * 



The Intercliangeable Rubber Heel Co., of Taunton, which has 

 been fitting up a factory in what was known as the Field Shop 

 No. 2, has installed nearly all its machinery and expects to be 

 turning out goods by the time this is read. 



A new rubber concern which will locate in Stoughton is the 

 Panther Rubber Co.. which was recently incorporated with a 

 capital stock of $150,000. The incorporators are Frank Bernstein 

 and William Bernstein, of Chelsea, Massachusetts, and Mark 

 Marcus. 



It is stated that the factory recently vacated by the Plymouth 

 Rubber Co. at Stoughton may be taken by the Elwell Rubber 

 Co. for the manufacture of rubber heels. 



THE RUBBER TRADE IN CHICAGO. 



By a Resident Corrcspondciii. 



/"•IIICAGO has among its business houses, representatives of 

 ^^ practically all the large American manufacturers of rubber 

 goods of all kinds. The city's telephone directory contains the 

 names of several hundred wholesalers, general dealers, brokers 

 and others who handle the manufactures of establishments in 

 other cities. Especially long is the list of those who represent 

 the factories making automobile tires. And yet, in all the long 

 array of names of men connected with some branch of the rub- 

 ber business there are not to exceed six or seven who manufac- 

 ture rubber gpods, who actually make any of the articles in 

 which they deal. In very few cities in the world are so many 

 automobiles in use as in Chicago. The demand for rubber tires 

 for the hundreds of thousands of wheels on the machines is 

 enormous. That demand constitutes the basis of a tremendous 

 trade by manufacturers' agents, by jobbers and by an immense 

 number of small dealers. 



^ Tlie question very naturally suggest^ itself: Why is not Chi-, 

 cago making its own automobile tires? Why is the great metrop- 

 o]js which is a leader in so many lines of business willing to 

 sit by and use the output of the factories of other cities, some 

 of which are mere villages compared with itself? Why are the 

 wide-awake men who fear not to grasp the wheels of direction in 

 practically every other manufacturing line of business content to 

 allow Akron, Detroit and other places to occupy the field in 

 connection with tliis one line of trade? 



Does the often-heard statement that labor is higher in Chi- 

 cago than in Detroit and Akron answer these questions satis- 

 factorily? Is labor higher here than in the cities named? Not 

 so far as can be learned from any comparison based on results 

 of inquiry. Again, is it a full explanation of the situation to 

 assert that- tliere is a material difference in the freight rates 

 between ports of importation and points in Ohio and Michigan 

 and the rates between those ports and Chicago? Is it not a 

 fact that the ultimate freight charges on the manufactured ar- 

 ticles from the places of manufacture to this city are more than 

 an offset for any such differences? 



In practically every line of business in Chicago trade is good. 

 Factories of all kinds are running full time ; many of them are' 

 in operation over-time. Manufacturers, jobbers, commission 

 men and retailers are all busy. Collections are good. All re- 

 ports concerning the early holiday trade agree in the statement 

 that never before in the history of Chicago have the demands 

 been so lai'ge for high-grade, high-priced goods as during the- 

 year just drawing to a close. 



Nearly all lines of rubber goods trade in Chicago have shared 

 in the general conditions. Here and there special reasons have 

 operated to lessen the volume of trade and make demand slight 

 compared with that for other manufactures of rubber. The 

 trade in garden hose is a large factor in the rubber goods busi- 

 ness throughout the Northwest and West. In those sections 

 the calls for garden hose are comparatively light. Last season 

 was a very rainy time all over that part of the country. The 

 retailers had comparatively few calls for hose. 



In all other lines of mechanical rubber goods, business is re- 

 ported excellent. Favorable conditions have prevailed through- 

 out the year. Improvement in the tone and the volume of de- 

 mands has increased as the season has advanced. The cement 

 factories all over the West and Northwest are doing a tre- 

 mendous business. That, of course, means heavy calls for the 

 output of the manufacturers of mechanical rubber goods. The 

 paper mills are running at full blast. And there, again, is occa- 

 sion for calls upon the dealers in the required rubber goods. 

 With steel works adding their demands, the jobbers' and manu- 

 facturers' agents are busy. 



Dealers in rubber boots and shoes report a year of most satis- 



