336 



THE INDIA RUBBER ^VORLD 



[August i, 1901. 



FIRE DEPARTMENT SUPPLIES IN NEW YORK. 



THE fire commissioner of New York, John J. Scannell, on 

 June 28, was indicted by the grand jury, after an investi- 

 gation extending over ten days, into the methods pursued in 

 purchasing fire hose and other supplies for the fire department 

 of New York city. There were three indictments. Commis- 

 sioner Scannell is charged in two with wilful neglect of duty 

 in evading the law and with defrauding the city. He is 

 charged in the third with conspiring with William L. Marks 

 to evade the law and defraud the city in the purchase of fire 

 department supplies through Marks. Marks is charged with 

 conspiracy to demand and obtain money from firms engaged 

 in manufacturing fire department supplies. The indictments 

 allege that the crimes charged were committed on January 5, 

 189S, and continuously thereafter until the finding of the in- 

 dictments. Several months ago the city comptroller. Bird S. 

 Coler, through whose office all bills against the city must pass, 

 expressed the belief that irregularities existed in regard to the 

 supplying of fire hose and the like, since which time he has in- 

 vestigated the matter in detail, with the result that on June 19 

 the facts were placed by the district attorney before the grand 

 jury. Representatives of the various supply firms were sub- 

 poenaed to appear, and Messrs. Scannell and Marks given an 

 opportunity to make statements, which they did. The supply 

 men, including hose manufacturers, testified that, under the 

 present city administration, they had been unable to sell any 

 goods except through William L. Marks as agent ; that they 

 charged their regular prices to Marks, who collected a higher 

 price on each article from the fire department ; and that they 

 would have been pleased to sell to the city at the prices 

 charged to Marks. The grand jury evidently was impressed 

 with the idea that the handsome profits shown to have been 

 made by Agent Marks were divided with the head of the fire 

 department, Messrs. Scannell and Marks were placed under 

 bonds to await trial, the date for which has not yet been fixed. 

 Marks, by the way, does business as the Powers Manufacturing 

 and Supply Co., at No. 302 Broadway, New York. 



A GERMAN FACTORY FESTIVAL. 



THERE was a celebration recently at the works of the 

 Berlin- Frankfort India Rubber Co. which proved most 

 enjoyable to all who participated. The occasion was the pre- 

 sentation of medals of honor awarded by the German emperor, 

 and bestowed by Herr Hartmann, a member of the imperial 

 trades council, to two foremen in the factory, Herrn Ludwig 

 and Gebert, who have each been employed there continuously 

 for 35 years. After the address by the imperial councillor, 

 listened to by entire factory and ofl^ice personnel, a response 

 was made, in behalf of the medalists and of the whole estab- 

 lishment, by Director Emil Spannagel, who closed by offering 

 a " Hoch " to the emperor, which was responded to heartily 

 by all present. There was then a presentation of gifts by the 

 management to the two decorated gentlemen and also to Herr 

 Schepke, the chief machinist, who has been with the company 

 for 30 years. An address made by a representative of the em- 

 ployes, Herr Vassel, who paid a well received tribute to Director 

 Spannagel and his associates, who, he said, deem it of great im- 

 portance to give no cause for a change in the list of employ6s, 

 thereby assuring the loyalty of the latter. He mentioned that 

 Herrn Bonatz, of the office force, and Miiller, foreman of the 

 proofing department, had each recently completed 25 years of 

 employment, and had been granted an extended vacation, with 

 pay. Herr Hagelsieb, of the ofl^ice force, has been with the com- 



pany for 34 years. The official program having been concluded 

 the employes devoted the evening to recreation, including boat 

 parties on the river Spree, after which the party was photo- 

 graphed in a group. 



EXPORTS OF AMERICAN RUBBER GOODS. 



THE total exports from the United States of goods classed 

 as "Manufactures of India-rubber" during the first 

 eleven months of the fiscal year beginning July i, 1900, up to 

 the end of May, were: 



(<z) Not separately reported prior to July i, 1899. 



The number of pairs of rubber footwear exported was 1,396,- 

 597, against 673,961 pairs for the same period last year, and 

 425.574 pairs in eleven months of 1898-99. 



Exports of reclaimed rubber during the same months were 

 in value as follows: 



1898-Qg. 1899-1900. igoo-ol. 



$343,261 $445,766 $386,396 



DISTRIBUTION OF RUBBER EXPORTS. 



The manufactures of India-rubber exported from the port of 



New York during the four weeks ended June 25, 1901, were of 



the value given below and were destined as follows : 



Great Britain. .$30,729 Central Amer. 907 Philippines... 911 

 Germany 11,064 Cuba 6,855 Australia 4.956 



France 3,580 British W. Ind. 



Belgium 240 Danish W. Ind. 



Holland 845 Haiti 



Switzerland.... 142 San Domingo. 



Italy go Argentina .... 



Austria 1,I74 British Guiana. 



Hungary 302 Brazil 



Norway 335 Chile 



Sweden 4.29'i Ecuador 



Denmark 2,123 Colombia 



Russia 122 Peru 



Newfoundland. 368 Dutch Guiana 



Me.xico 5.059 Venezuela.... 



833 New Zealand. 



20 Tasmania 



74 China , 



I longkong. . . . 



Japan 



British E. Ind. 



British Africa. 



Egypt 



318 



12 



12 



1,192 



664 



67 

 I,i6i 



Total . . . 



528 May 1-28 



18 April 3-30. . . 

 505 



5.620 

 103 



879 



1,550 



3.951 



247 



310 



33 



592. "57 

 70,216 

 86,060 



Some other exports during the same period were : 



India rubbi:) Cement. — To Hamburg (40 barrels), $1000 ; Antwerp 

 $301 ; Cuba $45 ; total $1346. 



India-rublier Thiead. — To Hamburg §2591 ; Rotterdam $500 ; Mar- 

 seilles §150; Havre $1320; Antwerp $2952 ; total $7513. 



Dress Shields. — To Great Britain $14,671 ; Germany $7345 ; Other 

 Europe $1200 ; Australia $1588 ; Other countries $74 ; total .?24,878. 



Clothes Wringers. — To Great Britain $4001 ; Germany §2248 ; Aus- 

 tralia $836; New Zealand $1567; Denmark S708 ; Belgium .$1806 

 Holland $390 ; Other countries $46 ; total $11,602. 



Reclaimed Rubber. — To Liverpool $11,911 ; Glasgow $6117 ; Leith 

 $4863 ; Havre $3147 ; Hamburg S2600 ; Genoa $1178 ; total $29,816. 



Rubber goods, as a rule, do not seem to be affected by the 

 recent changes in the freight classification on western railways, 

 which will result practically in an increase in rates on many 

 kinds of merchandise. One change, however, does relate to 

 rubber scrap. Instead ot a minimum weight of 24,000 pounds, 

 as hitherto, 30,000 pounds is now named as the minimum for a 

 carload, as a basis for charging freight. 



About half the police force in Chicago, according to a local 

 newspaper, now wear rubber heels. The same paper says that 

 restaurant keepers encourage waiters to wear rubber heels, 

 because of their being enabled to walk more quietly. 



