June 1. 1913.] 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



481 



THE RUBBER TRADE IN CINCINNATI. 



By a Resident Correspondent. 



■T^llERE has been no lack of demand for all lines in the rubber 

 •^ trade locally. In fact the activity has been such that the 

 local houses are scarcely able to cope with the situation. This 

 is particularly true of the tire business. This branch of the 

 trade has just recovered from the demand for tires resulting 

 from losses in the recent flood in the Ohio \'alley, and the local 

 branch houses have about completed the re-stocking process to 

 meet the demands occasioned by favorable spring weather, when 

 they are confronted with tlie present street car strike. The 

 automobile and motor truck have come to the rescue. Every 

 kind of vehicle has been pressed into service to help out the 

 situation. Vehicles that have been tireless all winter, and some 

 ^hat have been stored away for several seasons, are being used to 

 transport a portion of Cincinnati's 400,000 inhabitants from their 

 homes to their work and business places. In consequence tlie 

 rubber tire people are at this time the busiest persons in the city, 

 supplying the demands. There is also a good demand for rubber 

 footwear for immediate shipment, most of the orders coming 

 ifrom the recent flood district and representing complete stock,^. 



* * * 



It was cheerful news to automobile tire manufacturers that 

 was sent out from Columbus by the Register of Automobiles 

 when it was announced that Ohio's automobile record for 1912 

 had already been passed. With license tags issued to May 10 

 the total reached 63,720, compared with 63,117 for the entire year 

 of 1912. It is predicted that tlic year's business will reach S.i.OOO. 



* * * 



The Lee Tire and Rubber Co. has opened a branch house at 

 Eighth and Main streets. The new branch is in charge of E. M. 

 Henderson as manager. The company carries a large stock of 

 tires and other rubber automobile accessories. 



If the present street car strike continues for any length of 

 time Cincinnati will be the silent city. Since walking has be- 

 come the habit in this city there has been a great demand for 

 rubber heels, and cobblers together with shoe dealers have been 

 obliged to employ extra forces to tack on rubber heels and rulj 

 ber soles. It is estimated that the first two days the strike 

 was in progress over 5,000 pairs of rubber heels were sold; aiul 

 the rubber heel business has come to stay locally, as the strike 

 has been a pronounced educator as to the value of rubber heels 

 and soles. It goes without saying that dealers are makiny 

 every day of the strike count. 



* * * 



H. Bumiller and M. E. Remelin, of the firm of Bumiller S: 

 Remelin, local agents for the Seamless tire and dealers in rubber 

 automobile and motorcycle accessories, were the hosts of about 

 100 motorcycle owners at a recent chicken dinner in the country. 

 This firm has done much to bring the motorcycle into general 

 use in this city and it constantly entertains riders in one fashion 



or another. 



* * * 



The Ohio Rubber Co., operating houses in Cleveland and Cin- 

 cinnati, and dealing in rubber clothing, footwear, belting and 

 rubber sundries is about to branch out in the wholesale line on 

 an extensive scale. This company now occupies a seven-story 

 building at 612-614 Race street, where it has been located for 

 about 20 years, conducting a retail business principally. The 

 company has just entered into a lease for a new seven-story 

 concrete building which is nearing completion at 22S-230 West 

 Seventh street. The company announces that the tremendous 

 growth of its wholesale business prompts it to devote its entire 

 attention to this department. It is the intention of the company, 

 as soon as the new quarters are completed, to close out its retail 

 department which is one of the largest and most complete in the 



state of Ohio. The company's business in this city is in charge 

 of Howard J. Howard, who is general manager of the firm. 



* * * 



A meeting of the Executive Council of the Ohio State Pharma- 

 ceutical Association has been called for the purpose of outlining 

 plans to have the postal laws applying to the trade more clearly 

 defined. Because of the reading of the law druggists are afraid 

 to send certain of their wares through the mails. It is the pur- 

 pose of the meeting to prepare a list and present it to Congress. 



THE RUBBER TRADE AND THE CAR STRIKES. 



"WT'llil.l^ in Cincinnati and adjacent territory recently the 

 ** population, as a whole, has been groaning beneath the 

 imposition of a street car strike because of which for over a week 

 not a car ran in this "City of Distances," the dealers in automo- 

 bile supplies, and particularly in tires, found much to their liking. 

 To begin with, everyone who had a car used it to the utmost. 

 Cars were employed to get the household help and to take them 

 home; cars were sent to the grocery, where the grocer had none 

 of his own or found his wagon service insufficient. The family 

 automobile was used by the head of the household for business 

 purposes to round up his own employes and to help in delivering 

 goods; all of which used up tires and sent the owners of the cars 

 to purchase more, materially assisting the work of tire con- 

 sumption. Obstructions placed in dark nooks of the streets by 



Temporized P.\ssenger Service During C.\r Strike. 



street car sympathizers, slivers from boards, sharp bits of rock, 

 nails and tacks placed where they would be effective, helped the 

 tire business greatly. Of course the auto tire and repair con- 

 cerns got a share of the extra profits, receiving from a quarter 

 to seventy-five cents a puncture per tube, and from three to seven 

 dollars for fixing a casing; but generally tires would be so badly 

 damaged as to require a new supply. 



Again, while forty-six hundred automobiles are registered in 

 and about Cincinnati, the strike caused many a non-motorist 

 to invest in a second-hand car. From this he will get the habit, 

 later buy a new car, and so increase the demand for tires. 



It is not to be wondered at, therefore, if the automobile dealers 

 and the sellers and repairers of rubber tires are able to view a 

 car strike with a very moderate amount of distress. 



The accompanying photograph shows how passenger service 

 in Cincinnati was taken care of during the car strike. It shows 

 a four-ton truck in which chairs have been arranged along the 

 sides, reached by a step ladder from the back. 



