May [, 1901.] 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



245 



RUBBER TRADE NOTES FROM CHICAGO. 



BY OUR REGULAR CORRESPONDENT. 



SINCE the first report, early in the year, of the incorpora- 

 tion of the Western Rubber Shoe Co., to engage in the 

 manufacture of rubber footwear, nothing has been made public 

 regarding the company or its plans. In response to inquiries 

 made of Milton J. Foreman, who is counsel for the new com- 

 pany, and who is also a Chicago alderman, he states for 

 The India Rubber World that the company's authorized 

 capital of §1,000,000 has been paid in, and that a building has 

 been secured for factory use. Mr. Foreman says, however, that 

 they do not propose to begin operations until the present 

 price war is stopped, and the rubber shoe industry can again 

 be conducted on a profitable basis. 



Beyond doubt the volume of trade in rubbers has been in- 

 creased, as compared with past seasons, by the latest cut in 

 prices, but with the United States Rubber Co. passing divi- 

 dends, with one independent manufacture) making the 18 per 

 cent, discount date back to January i, which the "trust" re- 

 fused to do, and with the jobbers of another manufacturer 

 offering an extra discount of 5 per cent., it would seem that 

 the decision of the projected Chicago rubber shoe company to 

 postpone entering the trade is justified. 



It is quite apparent that the use of heavy soled women's 

 shoes has caused a smaller demand for rubbers in Chicago. 



Trade in rubber clothing in the territory of which Chicago 

 is the jobbing center has been certainly far from satisfactory 

 during the past season. It has been little belter with rubber 

 footwear. It has been a case of " trade waiting on the weather," 

 without the weather clerk being responsive to the wishes of 

 the jobbers. 



In druggists' sundries and specialties trade is fair, and 

 Messrs. Lord. Owen & Co., wholesale druggists, and Messrs. 

 A. M. Foster & Co., bottle manufacturers (and who also are 

 interested in and take an important part of the output of the 

 Hardman Rubber Co.) who are both rapidly attaining a very 

 commanding position in their respective fields, report a con- 

 siderable distribution of rubber specialties. 



In mechanical rubber lines, business is reported as fairly 

 good. The great farm machinery and implement manufac- 

 turers are busy preparing for a large summer and fall business, 

 which means a heavy consumption of belting and suction hose 

 as well as other goods in rubber. The garden hose season for 

 the retailer is now on, and manufacturers and jobbers are 

 praying for a dry and hot spring and early summer. No won- 

 der the weather clerk becomes perplexed, when such varied 

 wants in the weather line are expressed by the rubber men. 



On account of the backward spring the retailers are not yet 

 selling garden hose. 



The Manhattan Rubber Manufacturing Co. seem to be com- 

 fortably fixed in their new quarters, at No. 105 Lake street, and 

 report already a good business, which is bound to increase, if 

 an able corps of representatives means or counts for anything. 

 The Boston Woven Hose and Rubber Co., in their new 

 quarters, seem likely to be brought more prominently before 

 the buying trade than while in their former rather out ol-the- 

 way location. These people have reorganized their force 

 here, and evidently mean to get an even larger share of the 

 trade of this great manufacturing and distributing center, or 

 know the reason why. 



Of some interest to the mechanical rubber people is the re- 

 cent introduction here of an English invention — flexible copper 

 and galvanized iron tubing for steam, oil, air, water and suction 

 hose. It is very expensive, but is guaranteed for long service. 



and it is claimed has been thoroughly proven by some years 

 service in England. What effect it will have on the use of 

 high grade steam and air hose remains to be seen. 



The Home Rubber Co. (Trenton, N.J.) have decided to open 

 an office in Denver, Colorado. Jay W. Lyon, one of their Chi- 

 cago salesmen, has been promoted to this position. Mr. Lyon 

 is a good salesman and doubtless will secure for his company a 

 good share of the mining trade. 



HOOD RUBBER CO. 'S JOBBERS. 



At a meeting held at the Grand Pacific Hotel, in Chicago, 

 March 6, of the jobbers handling the footwear made by this 

 company, an organization was formed under the name of the 

 Western Association of Hood Rubber Co.'s Jobbers. Mr. 

 Olmstead, of Bentley & Olmstead (Des Moines, Iowa) was 

 elected president, and Edgar Watson, of Roberts, Johnson & 

 Rand Shoe Co. (St. Louis), secretary and treasurer. 



SOME WANTS OF THE TRADE. 



[165] (( T/" INDLY inform us the name of the manufacturer 

 -•-»■ of a rubber for covering the mouth piece of a 

 horse bit. It is a coil of rubber about 5 inches wide, which 

 unrolls so as to cover the bit, and then springs back in the 

 original form. There is stamped on the end of the roll ' J. 

 Stanley Bit Attachment, Patent, 1895.'" 



[166] " We wish the names of one or more rubber manufac- 

 turing concerns that make syringes, pessaries, and the like." 



[167] " Please give us the names of manufacturers of rubber 

 balls and toys." 



[16S] " We should like to have you advise us of parties who 

 manufacture black lead. We do not find any one advertising 

 that article in The India Rubber World." 



The Memphis Evem'itg Scimitar, of April 20, contains a page 

 of well executed portraits of the finance committee who raised 

 $85,000 for the entertainment of the Confederate Veterans at 

 their reunion of May 28-30, an event in which the citizens of 

 Memphis are taking a very lively interest. Among the por- 

 traits are those of Mr. Henry N. Towner, and his son, Mr. Paul 

 Towner, both of the important rubber house of Towner & Co. 

 The same paper mentions Mr. Towner, senior, as a member of 

 the Business Men's Club committee to welcome President Mc- 

 Kinley and party to Memphis. 



There are likely to be some interestingexhibits of crude rub- 

 ber at the Pan American Exposition at Buffalo, which opens 

 this month. Most of the South American republics are to be 

 represented by displays of natural products, of which India- 

 rubber is one of the most important. Rubber is mentioned par- 

 ticularly in the display which is to be made by Bolivia, in 

 which country are the richest rubber forests in the world. 



The exposition of lire apparatus at Berlin, under govern- 

 mental auspices, of which mention has been made already in 

 this journal, will open about May 1 5 and continue until the end 

 of August. Consul General Mason, at Berlin, reports to Wash- 

 ington that the United States seem likely to be very poorly 

 represented. 



The Booth Steamship Co., Limited, has been registered in 

 England, to amalgamate the business of the Booth Steamship 

 Co., Limited, and the Red Cross Line, engaged in the Amazon 

 river trade with New York and European ports. One result 

 will be largely to consolidate under one control the rubber 

 carrying trade from Para, Manaos, and Iquitos. 



