860 



THE INDIA RUBBER ^VORLD 



[SEPTEMriER I, 1901. 



HEARD AND SEEN IN THE TRADE. 



" '11 THAT would you do," asked one rubber man of another 

 V V while at luncheon, " if the plan now talked of in Wall 

 street should be carried out, in the consolidation of all the rub- 

 ber factories in the country, as has been done in the steel in- 

 dustry ? " 



"Start a new rubber factory," was the answer. " With all 

 the other rubber mills tied up in one bunch, where no man's 

 individuality could find play in the transaction of business, and 

 with prices governed by agreement, I shouldn't want anything 

 better than to enter the field as an independent, free to deal 

 with a customer as man with man. I could make as good 

 goods as the ' trust," and the only way that they could beat me 

 as to price would be to cut their own prices to a level that 

 would leave no show for dividends for the stockholders." 



" I don't know but you are right," was the first speaker's 



comment. 



* ♦ * 



One of the successful enterprises in which the late John H. 

 Cheever was interested, and, indeed, of which he was the 

 founder, is the Dundee Water Power and Land Co., of Passaic 

 New Jersey. The work done by this company has contributed 

 in no small degree to the industrial development of Passaic, at 

 which point ultimately was concentrated all the plant of the 

 rubber company founded by Mr. Cheever. 



* * * 



Henry F. Herkner tells an interesting story of how the 

 New York Belting and Packing Co., when they were burned 

 out at Nos. 37-38 Park row, in February, 1882. continued their 

 business without interruption. The fire broke out at 10 a. m., 

 and made such progress that nothing was saved but the com- 

 pany's books. A vacant building near by was leased as 

 soon as the seriousness of the fire was appreciated, and by 3 

 P. M., the full office force was at work in the new quarters, sec- 

 ond hand desks having been obtained, an office stove bought, 

 coal borrowed, and a freshly painted sign hung out. The goods 

 due that day from the Newtown factories were unloaded at the 

 new instead of the old quarters, and some of these goods were 

 shipped to out of town customers on the same day. 



* * » 



Five years ago I wrote in this department: "Some day I 

 may tell in these pages the story of a man who bought an inter- 

 est in a new rubber company, then working on a small scale, 

 paying for it with a note for $25,000, which was discounted in 

 bank by the other shareholders. The note was met at matur- 

 ity, out of the profits which had already accrued to its maker, 

 and those profits continued to accrue, until he had actually 

 drawn millions of dollars from the concern, and that without 

 ever having put a dollar of cash into it." Unfoitunately I failed 

 to verify the story, until the possibility of doing so had past, 

 but it has been told to me more than once, and it may not be 

 amiss to state now that it related to Henry F. Durant, who, for 

 more than thirty years, was the partner of the late John H. 

 Cheever, in the New York Belting and Packing Co. 



« * 41 



"Profits in the rubber business in the days when Mr. 

 Cheever was building up his company were far more liberal 

 than now," said a manufacturer to me. " My own sales are 

 probably larger than his were in the days when Mr. Durant 

 was associated with him, but we don't begin to make such re- 

 turns on the capital invested as those pioneers did." 



* * * 



A DEAt.ER in rubber goods in Copenhagen, Denmark, who 

 visited the United States recently, said that American rubber 



footwear was preferred in that market, when the finer qualities 

 were desired. No European manufacturer, he said, had yet 

 succeeded in producing rubber shoes at once light in weight and 

 sufficiently durable, and none so attractive in appearance as 

 thosr; of the best American factories. He mentioned 15,000 

 cases per year as the extent of his trade in rubber footwear, 

 though not all of this is in American goods, and he has about 

 200 customers on his list, throughout Denmark. In other lines 

 his stock is drawn mainly from England, though he is open to 

 buy in any market where suitable goods can be obtained at the 

 best figures. It may surprise some persons to learn that 

 freights on such goods as he buys are heavier from London 

 than from New York. Country dealers in Denmark still have 



to be accommodated with six months' credit. 



* » * 



The dealer above referred to was averse to handling the 

 goods of American firms having their own representatives in 

 Europe. At least he wanted to deal direct with manufacturers, 

 and on equal terms with other European customers. 



* ♦ * 



I HAVE been talking with a man who formerly traveled ex- 

 tensively in difTerent foreign countries for an American house 

 which, though not a rubber house, is credited with distributing 

 abroad a larger amount of American rubber druggists' sundries 

 than any other one concern. It is his testimc ny that, wherever 

 the quality of the best American goods in this line become 

 known, they are preferred to any other, except where a prefer- 

 ence exists for goods in certain forms, and where American 

 manufacturers fail to respect this preference. But so far as 

 white goods are concerned, they are preferred to all others, 

 wherever they are given a proper test. So far as price is con- 

 cerned, this former traveler is convinced that no goods pro- 

 duced in any other country, of equal quality, can be sold at 

 lower prices. He expressed surprise that American manufac- 

 turers did not attempt to cater to the trade, in various English 

 colonies, where the demand for hot water bottles, for instance, 

 is for the English rather than for the American shapes. 



* * * 



An export house in New York has asked me where hard rubber 

 combs could be obtained, bearing a certain trade mark, a copy 

 of which was forwarded by a dealer in Brazil. I assured them 

 that, while the trade mark bore a strong resemblance to that of 

 an American manufacturer, it was not " made in America," but 

 evidently had been produced elsewhere, with a view to aiding 

 in the sale of goods in imitation of an American article for 

 which a good demand existed. 



* * « 



No little interest has been shown lately in the manufacture 

 of rubber oil, although inquirers are secretive as to the uses 

 to which they intend to put it. The old fashioned formula for 

 this work calls for 11 pounds India-rubber, 90 pounds rape 

 seed oil, digested by heat, which, however, is not to be con- 

 founded with oil or rubber. 



* * » 



Gutta-percha from the Philippine Islands was imported 

 into the United States in 1858 to the value of $628, and in 1859 

 to the value of $20. These are the only two instances in which 

 Gutta percha from this source is noted in the United States 



import returns. 



* » • 



The government of Amazonas, at Manaos, has received a 

 steamer, the Cidade de Manaos. with the aid of which it is hoped 

 that the contraband trade in rubber will be checked, if not 

 stopped. ==The Red Cross line has reestablished direct steam- 

 ship connection with Iquitos. 



