218 



THE INDIA RUBBER ^VORLD 



[April 



1901 , 



ited, advise The India Rubber World that, on account of 

 commencing the new season in rubber footwear with the same 

 list prices as used last year, they and some other companies in 

 Canada, do not mtend issuing illustrated catalogues at this 

 time. 



RUBBER BOOT AND SHOE PRICES. 



There has been no development in the trade of late to point 

 definitely to the course to be pursued by manufacturers in regard 

 to prices after this date. It was regarded as probable that even 

 the United States Rubber Co. had not agreed upon prices 

 prior to the directors' meeting held in New York on March 28. 

 Whatever decision was reached at that meeting is expected to 

 be in the hands of the jobbers on the date of the publication of 

 this paper. 



RUBBER SHOE FACTORIES CLOSED. 



The factories of the Boston Rubber Shoe Co. have been 

 quite active ofl ate. About the middle of March a number of 

 bootmakers who had been laid off for several weeks returned to 

 work. Notices were posted toward the end of the month, how- 

 ever, of a shutdown, which, it is understood, is to last two 

 weeks. Most of the other factories will be closed for the same 

 period. A two weeks shutdown began at the factory of the 

 National India Rubber Co. (Bristol, R. I.) on March 31. The 

 " Alice " and Millville factories of the Woonsocket Rubber Co. 

 closed at the same time. President Colt saying that he thought 

 the shutdown would not last over a week or so.==The Law- 

 rence Felting factory (Millville, Mass.) has been closed for some 

 time. A son of the late Manager Bowes, whose death is re- 

 ported in this paper, has been placed temporarily in charge. == 

 The factory of the Model Rubber Co. (Woonsocket, R. I.) is 

 reported by the local newspapers to be closed indefinitely. 

 CANADIAN RUBBER SHOE TRADE. 



At a meeting of the manufacturers in Montreal, it was deter- 

 mined to extend the season, which began on March 25, to April 

 10, 1902, " from the desirability," according to the Canadian 

 Shoe and Leather Journal "of having the season here com 

 mence a little later than that of the United States." The dis- 

 count to retailers is 25 per cent. ; for specified orders given 

 prior to August i, and to be delivered prior to November i, 

 special discount, 2^ per cent. Fall dating shall be from No- 

 vember I ; cash discount, 6 per cent, prompt, 10 days, and 5 

 per cent, for 30 days. Interest allowed for prepayment, 7 per 

 cent., and charged on past due accounts, 7 per cent, per annum. 

 GOSHEN RUBBER CO. (GOSHEN, INDIANA.) 



An inventory and appraisement were filed in court on March 

 7, whereupon an order was issued continuing The Elkhart 

 County Loan and Savings Association as receiver, and requir- 

 ing a sale to be made of the property after twenty days' notice. 

 It was understood that a reorganized company would bid in 

 the stock and machinery with a view to reestablishing the 

 business at once. 



FOSSIL FLOUR CO. 



The main office has been removed from No. 229 Pearl street 

 to Bass River, Nova Scotia, in order to facilitate the shipment 

 of " Fossil Flour" on orders, which of late have been coming 

 in from the rubber trade on a liberal scale. The mining of this 

 material cannot be carried on in winter, but it is proposed to 

 begin work vigorously on April i, and to make shipments as 

 rapidly as possible. Customers are reminded that slightly more 

 time will be required for getting answers to their letters than 

 while the office was in New York. 



RUBBER AT PARA AND MANAOS. 



The Consumers" Rubber Co. (Cleveland, Ohio), who are 

 advertisers in our pages of " metallic flexible tubing," advise 

 The India Rubber World that a new price list has been de- 

 cided on, and they invite requests for the same. 



< « ' I 'HE government of Amazonas has decreed a law," says 

 J- the Brazilian Review, published at Rio, "that is now 

 being carried into effect, and must, like all artificial restraints 

 on trade, prove highly prejudicial to the real interests of the 

 state itself. Designed to injure Para by depriving that city of the 

 great transit trade in rubber, it is likely to react on the rubber in- 

 dustry itself and give rise to a still further fall in prices. The 

 advantage of concentrating the export trade at one center, at 

 Para, is evident, as competition was always certain to secure 

 the best possible prices for producers. With two markets, the 

 second at an enormous distance from the coast and with un- 

 certain telegraphic communication with foreign markets, com- 

 petition by buyers is certain to suffer. The decree we refer to 

 obliges all rubber from the state of Amazonas to be landed at 

 Manaos, packed in cases, and reshipped at a special wharf un- 

 der government inspection." 



According to the South American Journal : " All steamers 

 with rubber from the interior upriver of the state of Amazonas 

 are obliged to unload their rubber in Manaos. The effect of 

 this is that steamers owned in Para bringing cargoes of rub- 

 ber, for example, from the Alto Puriis for Para are obliged to 

 unload in Manaos, have the rubber weighed, the duty to the 

 state paid there, the rubber sorted, and prepared and boxed in 

 Mandos. Steamers thus lose ten, twelve, perhaps twenty or 

 more days. The Amazonas Steam Navigation Co. refuses to 

 take any cargo of rubber for Para from the state of Amazonas. 

 All this is crippling business just at a time when things are 

 bad, any way you can look at it." 



A report to The India Rubber World from Para states : 

 " In consequence of the Manaos usurpation of the trade in 

 Amazon rubber, business here for the time being is restricted 

 to Islands kinds and transit rubber from the adjoining repub- 

 lics, which latter the Manaos government has not dared to in- 

 terfere with." 



Manaos remained at a disadvantage with respect to com- 

 munication with the outside world, after Para became supplied 

 with cable connections, and the laying of a cable up the Ama- 

 zon, which was done a few years ago by the Amazon Tele- 

 graph Co., Limited, an English corporation, was expected to 

 do great things for Manaos, coupled with the fact that the 

 latter city is nearer than Para to the center of the rubber pro- 

 ducing district of to-day. The working of the cable has been 

 so often interrupted, however, that is has been of little benefit 

 to the trade, and its operation to dale has resulted in loss to 

 the company. During the fiscal year ended June 30, 1900, the 

 company's revenues were £li^,^^^^ 17s. \d., with expenses of 

 ^39,996 15^. 5(/. At the sixth annual meeting, on February 6, 

 the directors were authorized to issue additional debentures, 

 not to exceed ^150,000, at 6 per cent, interest, to rank in all 

 respects in priority to the existing issue of /2oo,ooo. 



A Para correspondent of the South American Journal (Lon- 

 don), under date of March 9, wrote: "I have just been in- 

 formed that the governor or government of Amazonas [at 

 Manaos] is now in treaty with an American syndicate for a loan 

 of $2,000,000, and in exchange for which he is going to concede 

 a difference of 15 per cent, to the syndicate for all the rubber 

 they ship, on the duties paid to the state of Amazonas. This 

 will practically give a monopoly of the rubber business for the 

 state of Amazonas to the American syndicate." 



The latter information has also been communicated officially 

 to the government at Washington by the United States consul 

 at Para — Mr. K. K. Kenneday— who, by the way, recently has 

 been on leave of absence to this country. 



