570 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



[August 1, 1913. 



been calling for a number of girls to whom permanent em- 

 ployment will be furnished in the various departments of 

 the plant. 



THE RUBBER TRADE IN SAN FRANCISCO. 



(By a Resident Correspondent.) 



IF each of the automobiles sold to residents of this state 

 beginning with February of this year averaged $2,000 in 

 value, then there would have been spent for automobiles 

 during that time $36,000,000. No matter what other depart- 

 ments of the rubber trade may be doing, it stands to reason 

 that the tire business on this coast is good. There does not 

 seem to be a great deal of activity in regular mechanical 

 lines, but the demand for tires goes on without abatement 

 and seems to be growing all the time. The duality of trade 

 conditions indicates that the quietness in the mechanical 

 branch must be of a temporary nature. There is money in 

 the state, as is shown by the activity in automobile sales, 

 but new projects of development, investments of capital, and 

 the like, to cause renewed activity in the mechanical depart- 

 ments, are lacking for the time being, owing to the general 

 conditions throughout the country which have affected cap- 

 ital — the tariff, the currency banking bill, etc. 

 * * * 



The American Rubber Manufacturing Co., whose factory 

 is situated at Emeryville, California, and whose offices have 

 heretofore been located on Beale street, near Market, has 

 taken fine new quarters at 408-410 Mission street. Here it has 

 the first floor and basement of a recently erected concrete build- 

 ing, 45 by 113 feet in dimensions. This firm is doing a good 

 steady trade, and has found it necessary to acquire bigger ware- 

 rooms and salesrooms in order to handle the increased business. 

 It has recently taken on the Hoyt Short Lap Leather Belt line, 

 and has also undertaken an agency for the new Perkins Rubber 

 Heel. This heel is being manufactured at its Emeryville factory, 

 and is proving a good seller. The inventor is Wm. Perkins, a 

 man well known to the rubber trade on this coast. He has made 

 a heel which shows many marks of superiority to the regular 

 rubber heel, and believes that it is going to be a success. 



R. H. Pease, Jr., treasurer of the Goodyear Rubber Co., 

 returned from his visit to Europe some weeks ago. He was to 

 start on July 22 for a motor car trip to Portland, accom- 

 panied by A. B. Watson, assistant treasurer of the company, 

 Mrs. Watson and Mrs. Howell. They expected to make the 

 run to Portland in four or five days. Mr. Pease will remain 

 in Portland indefinitely, taking charge of the business there. 

 Mr. Watson, however, expects to return in a few days, by 

 rail. Mr. R. H. Pease, Sr., reports that business is keeping 

 up as well as at this time last year, altho there is still room 

 for improvement. 



• * * 



B. H. Pratt, Pacific Coast manager for the Fisk Rubber 

 Co., states that the double pneumatic tires which are being 

 used on trucks are doing very well on this coast. Here the 

 test is severe, because automobile trucks are bought with the 

 idea of increasing the speed of delivery, and the roads are in 

 many instances rough and not kept in good repair. The 

 pneumatic double tire, however, seems to be better for the 

 auto truck — for cars having a carrying capacity of from one 

 to two and a half tons — than solid tires. 



H. E. Argus, who had charge of the Pacific Coast mechan- 

 ical department for the Diamond Rubber Co., has resigned 

 his position, and will leave shortly for Akron. He has been 

 with the Diamond company for 16 years, and has been in 

 San Francisco with the firm during the past eight years. 



W. G. Rigdon has just returned from his Eastern trip in 

 the interests of the Gorham-Revere Rubber Co. This com- 

 pany reports a steady business in all branches, but an ex- 

 ceptionally lively trade in tires. Mr. Gorham is in San 

 Francisco now, and is planning a campaign which will bring 

 in plenty of business for all departments. 



J. E. Newerf, manager for the northern California territory 

 of the W. D. Newerf Rubber Co., reports that Miller tires 

 are holding their own with excellent results on this coast. 

 The fast road race in which many automobilists participated, 

 between Los Angeles and Sacramento, showed not only the 

 resisting qualities of the Miller tire, but also what an im- 

 provement has been made in all tires, to stand the present 

 day tests. 



Mr. Dodge, of the Western Belting and Hose Co., has re- 

 turned from his six months' visit to Los .Angeles, where he 

 went to see that the branch store in that city got well estab- 

 lished. 



The Western I. & A. L. Purchasing Corporation, of Los 

 Angeles, has changed its name to the I. A. L. Tire Co. 



The Frontera Hardwood Rubber Co. has recently been 

 incorporated at Tacoma, Washington. 



THE RUBBER TRADE AT TRENTON. 



(By a Resident Correspondent.) 



■"PHE fire which on July 2 destroyed one of the buildings of the 

 •^ Woven Steel Hose and Rubber Co., of Trenton, New Jersey, 

 has not seriously interfered with the filling of that company's 

 orders, shipments being made with reasonable promptness. Plans 

 are under way to replace the burned building with others of im- 

 proved construction which will afford more than double the floor 

 space. The line of Squirt Hose for locomotives which this com- 

 pany has lately added to its manufactures is meeting with favor, 

 in the Canadian market as well as here. This steam hose em- 

 bodies the same ideas that have made so increasingly popular the 

 "Protector" brand Woven Steel Pneumatic Tool Hose put out by 

 this company, which also includes among its products Auto- 

 mobile Brake Lining and Friction Rings for automobile clutches. 



John S. Broughton. of the United and Globe Rubber Co., is 

 president of the company; Karl G. Roebling, treasurer; J. R. 

 Kelson, vice-president and general manager. 



The Mercer Rubber Co.'s plant is one of the busiest in this 

 section of the country; orders for garden hose, fruit jar rings 

 and fire hose keeping the operatives working day and night. 

 Fruit jar rings are a specialty with this concern, millions of 

 rings having been made during the past six months, the most 

 successful half year in the history of the company. This concern 

 has made big shipments of late to Mexico. 



Every local rubber plant is rushed with business these days. 



DEVELOPMENT OF MEMPHIS, TENNESSEE. 



Those whose ideas of Memphis are mainly associated with 

 cotton in its various forms, would be struck by the artistic 

 "Views of Memphis," a copy of which (through the courtesy 

 of Messrs. Towner & Co., of that city) has reached The India 

 Rubber World. Memphis has much to be proud of, with its 

 magnificent park system, its unequaled driveways and its 

 boulevards. It has also high class residences with private 

 grounds. Progress on a more extensive scale than that achieved 

 by other cities with a population of 130,000, is shown by 

 the handsome booklet received. One of the features of the 

 city is constituted by its manufacturing districts, which are 

 rapidly growing. 



Should be on every rubber man's desk — The Rubber Trade 

 Directory of the World, 1912. 



