May 1, I913.J 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



423 



THE RUBBER TRADE IN BOSTON. 



By ci Rcsidciil Corres/'Oiidciit. 



GENERALLY speaking, business is hardly up to normal for 

 this season. Various causes are suggested, but the principal 

 one seems to be that the rubber business is in few respects dif- 

 ferent from others, and that all lines are marked by conservatism 

 in buying. To be sure, the tire business is the exception. With 

 thousands of new automobiles going into commission, and tens 

 of thousands being put in order for summer service there is 

 necessarily a pressing demand for tires, and the factories are 

 working overtime in their endeavors to catch up with their orders. 



But even in the tire business there are some signs of a letting- 

 up in the demand, and this is not unwelcome to the over-ta.xed 

 factories. The marked decline in crude rubber prices has been 

 quite thoroughly published, and one effect has been that many 

 users of cars are delaying the purchase of extra tires, hoping 

 that the less cost will reduce the selling prices still further. The 

 views of manufacturers' agents here, however, are to the effect 

 that as the rubber now being put into tires was bought at higher 

 prices, it is not at all probable that any saving will be available 

 to the retail purchaser for some months to come. 



There is a little better business doing in mechanicals, and 

 druggists' goods are going well. Garment manufacturers are 

 busy, but there is not quite the usual activity of the spring season. 

 In footwear the tennis demand is good, but rubber boots and 

 shoes are dull. Retail stocks were carried over, and therefore 

 these will be available for next season's trade, while those who 

 have had only moderate stocks, and have cleaned them well up, 

 seem to realize the risk of ordering early, and fewer than usual 

 are expected to take the advantage of the extra five per cent, by 

 placing heavy orders previous to the time limit for securing this 

 discount. 



The trade extension trip of the Boston Chamber of Commerce 

 has not met the wide and hearty enthusiasm which was hoped. 

 Originally it was expected that there would be at least eighty 

 who would participate. Instead, less than half that number were 

 listed for the tour, which started on the "Metapan" on Thursday, 

 the 24th ultimo. Among the reasons given for this falling off 

 from the expected number were mainly the expense of the trip, 

 the long-required absence from business and the uncertainty of 

 commercial conditions, owing to changes in the tariff, trust prose- 

 cutions, etc. Several prominent business men who had at first 

 signified their intention of making the trip, later decided it in- 

 advisable to do so. The rubber business is represented by Edward 

 T. Smith, of the Iroquois Rubber Co. of Buffalo, who goes as 

 the accredited representative of the United States Rubber Co. 



* * * 



Ira F. Burnham. president and treasurer of the Stoughton Rub- 

 ber Co., with Mrs. Burnham, started April 9 on a trip to the 

 Pacific Coast. While this is essentially a pleasure trip for Mr. 

 Burnham, he will probably call on several of the principal jobbers 

 of rubber goods with whom the company does business. 



Back of Mr. Burnham's desk at the office is a framed motto, 

 or axiom, or proverb, or maxim — call it what you will — which is 

 so self-evident and suggestive that your correspondent copied 

 it for reprinting here, simply as missionary work. It says : "Xo 

 one ever got a dividend out of a quarrel." 

 ^ * * 



The Marlboro Rubber Store at Marlboro, has been purchased 

 from Mrs. Barnard by William G. Riecke of Southboro, who 

 will hereafter run the business. M. W. Weeks, who has been 

 managing the store for some time, will, for the present, continue 

 at the store. He is showing his friends a handsome gold watch, 

 a present from Mrs. Barnard in appreciation of his faithful 

 conduct of the business. 



* * * 



The case of Geo. A. .Mden & Co.. which would seemingly be 



in the jurisdiction of James Munroe Olmstead, referee in bank- 

 ruptcy for Suffolk County, because the firm's business head- 

 quarters were in Boston, has been transferred elsewhere, be- 

 cause of the residences of the members of that firm. The pro- 

 ceedings will be heard in Norfolk County, because George E. 

 Alden lives in Wellesley, in that county. .Xrthur W. Stedman 

 lives in West Roxbury, Adelbert H. Alden in New York. Fred 

 W. Dunbar in Montclair, N. J., and J. Frank Dunbar in Wake- 

 field, Mass. 



* ♦ * 



Mrs. Robert Dawson Evans, widow of the well-known rubber 

 man, who gave $300,000 in 1911 to pay for a memorial building 

 for her husband, the same to be an extension of the Boston 

 Museum of Fine Arts, has increased her generous gift to $825,000, 

 in order that the memorial may be handsomer and more com- 

 plete in its appointments, and enlarged by an additional building, 

 S3 feet wide and 109 feet long. This will be a lasting and impos- 

 ing memorial to the late Mr. Evans. 



* * * 



The Springfield (Mass.) Rubber Co. had a fine exhibit at the 

 Industrial Exposition in that city early last month, its booth 

 being a center of attraction from the opening to the closing hours. 

 Rubber in all states, from the Para biscuit to the finished prod- 

 ucts, was exhibited, and a working demonstration of making 

 rubber boots and shoes kept people interested. The demonstra- 

 tion was in charge of John J. Hawkins, of the United States 

 Rubber Co., who was busy showing, explaining and answering 

 questions, as the boots and shoes were being made \)p from the 

 various parts which were cut out at the mill of the Boston Rubber 



Co. of Maiden. 



* * * 



The Monatiquot Rubber Works Co., of South Braintree. Mass., 

 celebrated their third anniversary on April 19, and invited the 

 town people to be present in order that the progress of the 

 concern might be noted. The large number of guests who at- 

 tended and the intelligent interest shown was very gratifying 

 to the company officials. The mills were kept in operation and 

 the visitors had an opportunity to see a batch of "Squantum" 

 going through process. Those who had attended were shown 

 the additions of the year, namely, three new brick buildings 

 and a reinforced cement dam, besides alterations in the older 

 buildings which have brought them up to modern efficiency. 

 In addition there is under construction a brick storehouse. At 

 the conclusion of the inspection, souvenirs were presented to the 

 ladies and their escorts. In the evening the company gave a 

 dinner and a theater party to the various officers and department 

 heads. 



THE RUBBER TRADE IN CHICAGO. 



By a Resident Corrcst'Ondciit. 



THE tariff is not seriously disturbing the rubber trade in 

 Chicago. Rubber men here, as a rule, are too busy to think 

 about what effect the tariff will have. 



Rubber hose is about the only line that is not flourishing; but 

 this is not worrying the dealers any. The sun is becoming hot 

 and almost every day commuters may be seen loaded up with 

 seed catalogues, or gardening implements and packages of seeds, 

 and this means that the garden is in the making, and that the 

 garden will have to have water, and the owner of that garden 

 will have to have hose. A feature which should have a bearing 

 on this trade was a story published in one of the Chicago dailies. 

 This was to the effect that Hull House, a social settlement, had 

 arranged with owners of vacant real estate to have the free 

 use of this space for the use of the working people of this city. 

 This vacant property is to be tilled and cultivated, and there is 

 no doubt that rubber hose will be wanted for the irrigation of 

 those lots. Of course this is a minor matter, but it will help the 

 hose trade in local circles. 



