Ai'RiL 1. 19131 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



THE RUBBER TRADE IN RHODE ISLAND. 



By a Resident Corresfoiidcnt. 



JAMES VV. FRANKLIN, superintendent of the boot and shoe 

 departments of the National India Rubber Co., at Bristol, has 

 had a long term in the service of rubber concerns in his home 

 town. While he is a young man in appearance, he has served in 

 various capacities in the National India Rubber Co.'s factory and 

 the Byfield Rubljer Co.'s factory — now the plant of the Con- 

 sumers' Rubber Co. — for 32 years. 



Not only is Mr. Franklin well known in the rubber business, 

 but he also has a wide acquaintance in political circles, having 

 been at one time a member of the Rhode Island General Assembly. 

 He has also held many offices in Bristol, including that of Town 

 Councilman, and he feels a proper pride in the fact that he was 

 never defeated in a political contest. 



In fonner days when the National India Rubber Co. — now 

 employing 1,300 hands — was known as the National Rubber Co. 

 Mr. Franklin, as a boy, procured employment in the packing 

 department at the modest wage of 75 cents a day. Since then 

 he has worked upward step by step until he is now the directing 

 superintendent over nearly 1,000 hands. Serving his apprentice- 

 ship in the rubber industry, sweeping the floors and putting 

 things in order in the department in which he worked, he soon 

 showed an aptitude for a more responsible position and before 

 he attained his majority he was in charge of the packing depart- 

 ment at night, continuing in this position for several years. When 

 a vacancy existed he was appointed day foreman of the packing 

 department, eventually being promoted to the position of assistant 

 superintendent. 



When the Byfield Rubber Co. — later merged with the Con- 

 sumers' Rubber Co. of Bristol — was organized, Mr. Franklin 

 became its superintendent, remaining there for about three years, 

 or until 1898, when he was recalled to the factory of the National 

 India Rubber Co. A native of Bristol, Mr. Franklin has had a 

 wide experience in the rubber business and his knowledge of the 

 vulcanizing of rubber is considered to be the best in Bristol. 

 During his employment in the National India Rubber Co.'s fac- 

 tory he has seen the shipments of footwear increased from 14,000 



pairs of shoes to 30,000 pairs of shoes a day. 



* * * 



John T. Pales, for j-ears connected with rubber factories in 

 Newport, died of pneumonia at the Rhode Island Hospital, 

 Providence, March 3. He was born in Pelham, Massachusetts, 

 in 1842 and entered a mill at East Amherst at an early age. In 

 1893 he went to Newport as overseer of the Goodrich Manufac- 

 turing Co., and in 1896 was made superintendent of the Nar- 

 ragansett Web Co., remaining in that capacity until the company 

 was moved to Providence in 1902. Of late years he was engaged 



in the insurance business in Providence. 



* * * 



The annual shut-down of the Alice Mills and the Millville 

 mills of the Woonsocket Rubber Co. for the taking of an in- 

 ventorj' of stock and also for the making of needed repairs took 

 place the latter part of March. The shut-down was for a shorter 

 period than in the rubber mills in other places. .At the .■Mice mill 



1,400 hands were afltected while at the ^lillville mill 600 were idle. 



* * * 



Manager LeBaron C. Colt, of the National India Rubber Co. 

 of Bristol, who has been in the West for a month, returned 

 March 5. Mr. Colt went to Denver for a rest. He returned much 

 improved in health. 



* * * 



William D. Newbold, aged 56, died March 2 at his home in 

 Bristol, after an illness of three days of bronchial pneumonia. 

 He had lived in Bristol the greater part of his life. Mr. New- 

 bold was formerly a rubber bootmaker in the factorj- of the 

 National Rubber Co. and in the factory of the Boston Rubber 

 Shoe Co., at Maiden, Massachusetts. He retired from active 

 work several years ago. 



A new engine, boilers and other fittings are being installed at 

 the International Rubber Co.'s plant at West Barrington. The 

 company has many orders ahead and in order to keep up with 

 the rush of business the plant is running night and day. The 

 engine is larger than the one that it is replacing and, it is expected, 



will take care of the needs of the plant for some time to come. 



* * * 



.Mbcrt C. Luther, a veteran of the Civil War and for years an 

 an employee of the National India Rubber Co. of Bristol died 

 March 13 at his home on Cottage street, Bristol, as a result of a 

 fall on the street. He was 82 years old and was a native of 



Warren. 



* * * 



The factory of the National India Rubber Co. of Bristol closed 

 down March 29 for two weeks for the annual stocktaking. The 

 mill will resume work .\pril IS. It employs about 1.600 hands. 



* * * 



Walter R. Reeves, foreman at the Washburn Wire Works, 

 Phillipsdale, makers of rubber insulation, was painfully injured 

 at the plant recently when his right hand was drawn between 

 the rolls of a machine. Mr. Reeves was able to free himself from 

 the machine just in time to prevent a more serious accident. .■Vs 

 it was, the thumb and forefinger of the right hand were injured. 



THE RUBBER TRADE IN CINCINNATL 



By a Resident Correspondent. 



DL.Sl.XFSS activity is steadily maintained and little or no 

 ■'-' complaint is made by local rubber interests on trade con- 

 ditions. Weather conditions in this section, however, are re- 

 sponsible for some decrease in activity in rubber footwear 

 trade, but on the whole retail distribution has been measuring 

 up to the average. Rubber clothing dealers report a good trade, 

 as there seems to be a growing demand for rubber clothing. 



* * * 



Rubber shoe manufacturers and jobbers are at sea over a 

 bill introduced in the Ohio Legislature now in session, known 

 as the "Pure Shoe Bill." While its provisions are par- 

 ticularly directed to leather footwear, yet local jobbers see 

 a "'sleeper'' in the proposed law which would bring rubber 

 footwear under its operation, and consequently jobbers have 

 joined the local manufacturers in their campaign to defeat the 

 measure. The bill has been introduced by Senator Potting of 

 Akron, who comes from one of the principal rubber footwear 

 manufacturing centers of the country. The bill, if it passes, 

 will compel all manufacturers of footwear in the State to 

 stamp the products turned out by them if substitute products 

 have been used. It is claimed by Ohio manufacturers that if 

 the proposed law is enacted it would practically eliminate the 

 Ohio concerns from competing with outside manufacturers, as 

 the former's cost of production would increase to a point where 

 they could not compete with manufacturers in other states. 



* * * 



The Ohio State Pharmaceutical .Association has joined forces 

 with manufacturers of druggists' sundries in an endeavor to 

 bring about a revision of the postal laws, so that it is made 

 clear what articles may and may not be sent through the mails 

 by druggists. Resolutions have been drafted by a committee of 

 the association and will be forwarded to the postmaster general. 



* * * 



The shock shifter hub, invented by John Muir, of London, 

 England, will shortly be given a try-out in this city. Mr. Muir 

 has been in this city for several days, and has arranged with the 

 Taxicab company to fit the device on one of its cars. An axle 

 company has also decided to give it a test. Instead of pneumatic 

 tires, solid rubber tires are used. The road shock, according to 

 the inventor, is reduced to a minimum. Mr. Muir is here pri- 

 marily to interest manufacturers of solid rubber tires in organ- 



