462 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



[June 1, 1913. 



THE RUBBER TRADE IN CHICAGO. 



By a Resident Correspondent. 



'T'HE most noteworthy feature in the rubber trade is the ac- 

 •* tivity noted in the mechanical line. Almost every dealer in 

 the Chicago market reports business in this particular branch of 

 the trade as active. Many of them say they arc working their 

 factories night and day in the effort to keep up with their or- 

 ders. Another line that has been fairly active is rubber cloth- 

 ing, but it has been a poor season for rubber shoes. Garden 

 hose has had a good season, far better than last year, which was 

 a wet year; and many people put off buying garden hose until 

 it got so late that they concluded to do without. The tire busi- 

 ness has also been good, and all houses report an increase in 



sales. 



* * * 



The Salisbury Co. held its annual meeting recently. All of 

 the old officers were re-elected. The annual report showed one 

 of the best years that concern has had. Its wholesale business 

 showed an increase of more than 56 per cent, over that of a year 

 ago. This remarkable increase was attributed to a large con- 

 tract received from the Rumely Co. for a special patented belt. 

 * * * 



E. F. Lindley, of the Raven Mining Co., is spending a good 

 deal of time on the road. After returning from a trip of in- 

 spection of the company's mines he left for an eastern trip, froi» 

 which he has just returned. 



William E. Barker, manager of sales of the United States 

 Rubber Co., visited the local offices of the company about the 

 middle of May. R. F. Spencer, comptroller of that corporation, 

 visited the local offices during the first part of May. 



* * * 



Dealers in local rubber circles are greatly incensed by the in- 

 creasing number of "fly-by-night" rubber coat concerns which 

 are springing up over the "loop" district and which have done a 

 great deal of injury to the- legitimate rubber coat business. 



These unsavory companies generally use old-established and 

 well-known rubber names, in order to mislead the people, who, 

 naturally, seeing a famrliar 'hame on the store front and in the 

 advertising, assume that the store is connected with the well- 

 known company bearing that name — or, bearing one so similar 

 that the ordinary purchaser would not notice the difference. It 

 is stated that both the Goodrich and the Goodyear companies 

 have brought court proceedings against these people, but have 

 so far been unable to get any redress. 



Another feature of the situation that makes it possible for 

 these illegitimate concerns to thrive is the fact that the papers 

 of large circulation seem to be willing to accept their ad- 

 vertisements. 



The way these concerns operate is what hurts the legitimate 

 trade. They rent a store in close proximity to a legitimate 

 house, usually on a short-time lease — say, a month or two, or 

 sometimes longer. They then load up their show windows with 

 good-looking coats and advertise ridiculously low prices for 

 their goods. Of course the nature of the show attracts atten- 

 tion, and once a prospective buyer is in the place the salesmen 

 almost lock the store rather than that he should get away. In- 

 deed, a very small percentage of them ever get away without 

 making a purchase. Of course after the coat is worn through 

 one good rain the purchaser discovers that it leaks like a sieve, 

 and some of the cheaper kinds all but fall apart. By the time 

 redress is sought the firm has moved away, and frequently the 

 buyer goes into the legitimate concern close by and raises 

 trouble, and it is with difficulty that he is convinced that he did 

 not buy the coat in the latter place. 



An incident which recently occurred serves to illustrate their 

 operations. A msn who was a close personal friend of an offi- 



cial in one of the large local rubber concerns received a present 

 of a coat bought in one of these will-o'-the-wisp stores. His 

 wife was going to treat him to a mild surprise and purchased 

 the coat as a birthday present. The gentleman in question went 

 tc his friend and asked him what he thought of the coat. After 

 closely examining it the rubber dealer stated that his house sold 

 the same coat for $S. The owner then stated that his wife had 

 paid $12 for it. He found where the coat was purchased, went 

 to the store and tried to recover his money, but naturally did 

 not succeed. 



How to get rid of these pests and save the legitimate dealer 

 from injury is a problem which remains to be solved. Local 

 dealers would welcome any plan which would curtail, or better 

 still, eliminate, these objectionable concerns. 



A law similar to that put in operation in Minnesota recently 

 would be one way in which some relief could be obtained. This 

 law prohibits any firm from misrepresenting its goods in any 

 advertisement. If the local rubber dealers would get together 

 and petition their legislators to secure legislation of this sort 

 it would tend to minimize this evil. 



THE RUBBER TRADE IN RHODE ISLAND. 



By a Resident Correspondent. 



A L.ARGE new addition to the administration building is being 

 ■**■ constructed at the plant of the Revere Rubber Co. on Val- 

 ley street, Providence, that will be up-to-date in every particular. 

 A refrigerator system is being installed which will complete 

 the cooling system for the warehouses where the product of the 

 plant is stored. A large force of workmen is engaged in com- 

 pleting the battery of new boilers which are being installed. The 

 entire establishment is being operated day and night, ten hours 

 to each shift, and the management reports that it is finding great 

 difficulty in caring for its constantly increasing orders. 



The demand for solid tires for motor trucks continues to in- 

 crease with great rapidity, so much so that the capacity of the 

 plant is imable to keep pace with the demands made upon it. 

 The orders on the company's books for solid tires are reported 

 as being very much ahead of the number for pneumatics, due 

 to the sudden big demond for motor trucks for delivery and 

 heavy w-ork. 



* * * 



The wire drawing department at the factory of the Xational 

 India Rubber Co. at Bristol is to be enlarged, because of the 

 increased business. .-X room 40 by 60 feet, east of the present 

 wire drawing room, is to be equipped with several of the finer 

 wire drawing machines. A new roof has been put on the build- 

 ing and concrete floors are being laid, so that when completed it 

 will present a very modern appearance. A new smoke-stack is 

 also being installed. 



* * * 



Woiild-be thieves entered the plant of the Air Lock Rubber 

 Co., 42 Thurston street, Pawtiicket, a few days ago, but were 

 evide;itly frightened away before they could steal anything, as 

 nothing was missed from the premises. A pedestrian passing 

 the plant heard noises inside that attracted his attention and he 

 notified the police. It was found that a side window had been 

 entered, but no one was found in the building. 



* * * 



The .•\tlantic Xational Rank, of w-hich .■'i. T. Baldwin, of the 

 Walpole Rubber Co., is a director, and which was recently 

 closed by order of the Comptroller of the Currency, is declared, 

 in the report of Bank E.xaminer Schofield, to be insolvent, and 

 Receiver Curtis has been instructed to liquidate as soon as 

 possible. 



Percy W. Gardiner, who was one of the committee of investi- 

 gation into the affairs of the Consumers' Rubber Co. in January, 

 1912. is president of the .Atlantic National. 



