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THE INDIA RUBBER V/ORLD 



[June i, 1901. 



PERSONAL MENTION. 



The city of Memphis gave an enthusiastic welcome to 

 President McKinley and the members of the government ac- 

 companying him, on April 30. One of the committee of recep- 

 tion and entertainment, who met the visitors at the railway 

 station and accompanied them in carriages to the point where 

 the public exercises took place, was Mr. H. N. Towner, of the 

 Memphis rubber trade. 



= Mr. O. C. Barber, of the Diamond Rubber Co. and the 

 Diamond Match Co., is credited with having brought about the 

 formation of the new combination in the cereal food trade — 

 The Great Western Cereal Co., with $3.000,000 capital — of which 

 he is chairman of the board of directors. There has been talk 

 of its consolidation with the American Cereal Co., known as the 

 cereal "trust." 



= Mr. Arthur W. Stedman, of George A. Alden & Co. (Bos- 

 ton), has been elected president of the Brookline Automobile 

 Club. 



= Mr. Isaac L. Rice, president of the Consolidated Rubber 

 Co. (New York) was among the witnesses invited to testify be- 

 fore the United States Industrial Commission during their 

 recent sitting in New York. 



= Mr. F. B. Rickaby, who has lately gone to Akron, Ohio, to 

 represent Reimers & Co., underwent an operation for appendi- 

 citis on May^9, which, while thoroughly successful, will un- 

 doubtedly lay him up for two or three weeks. A bit of hard 

 luck lor him personally, as he is making an excellent record in 

 that field. 



= Mr. George Whitney, president of the National Union 

 Bank, Boston, who died at his home on April 29, was for ten 

 years a director in the Boston Belting Co., and his loss will be 

 severely felt in both business and social circles. 



=Colonel Harry E. Converse, of the Boston Rubber Shoe 

 Co., who went to the front during the war with Spain, re- 

 eently entertained in Boston some of the officers with whom 

 he was associated in the service, including Major General S. B. 

 M. Young, who has since distinguished himself in the Philip- 

 pines. 



COTTON DUCK COMBINATION. 



Plans are under way for forming the United States Cotton 

 Duck Corporation, probably under a New Jersey charter, with 

 a capitalization mentioned at $26,100,000, to take over the pres- 

 ent Mount Vernon- Woodberry Cotton Duck Co. and several 

 outside mills. It is reported that the cash needed for financing 

 the merger of these companies has been underwritten by a 

 syndicate of New York and Baltimore capitalists, who will take 

 the preferred stock on a basis of 95. 



STANDARD RUBBER PLANT SOLD. 



At the trustee's sale of the Standard Rubber Co., at Cam- 

 pello, Mass., on May 22, at auction, the land (2.33 acres), 

 buildings, and the greater part of the machinery, including 

 the electric light equipment, were purchased by T. E. Eustis, 

 who is interested in the rubber clothing trade, at No. 19 Co- 

 lumbia street, Boston. The Standard Rubber Co. assigned 

 some months ago to Robert B. Baird, as trustee, and at a 

 creditors' meeting Charles W. Leonard was named as a co- 

 trustee. 



MODEL RUBBER CO. (WOONSOCKET, R. 1.) 



At a meeting of the stockholders on May 22, the directors 

 were authorized to sell or lease the company's rubber shoe plant, 

 which has been idle since the beginning of the year. It is an- 

 nounced that it has been decided to lease the plant to Herman 

 Clarke, Charles P. Russell, C. V. N. Radcliffe, and their asso- 

 ciates, all of New York. The lease will be for two years, with 



option of purchasing the mill within that period, and it is un- 

 derstood that the lessees will soon start the factory, there being 

 in hand already a considerable number of orders. Herman 

 Clarke was general manager of the Empire State Rubber Co. 

 (New York), incorporated in Virginia in 1897, with $1,000,000 

 capital authorized, to operate the rubber factories at Setauket, 

 L. I., and to deal in rubber goods. There is now being formed 

 under Delaware laws a corporation to be known as the Empire 

 Rubber Shoe Co., with $50,000 capital, with the above three 

 named persons to be president, secretary, and treasurer, re- 

 spectively. 



RUBBER TRADE NOTES FROM CHICAGO. 



BY OUR REGULAR CORRESPONDENT. 



NOW that the season 1899-1900 is ended, it is possible to 

 mark up the record made in rubber footwear. It is rea- 

 sonably certain that in the middle west, and territory of which 

 Chicago is the jobbing center, though all the firms have not had 

 quite the same experience, somewhat more footwear went into 

 consumption than in the previous season. 



March having been a very bad month in this vicinity, brought 

 the retailers' stocks generally pretty low, which was fortunate, 

 for April proved to be the dryest month ever recorded for Chi- 

 cago. 



The very heavy April snow storm which swept over the coun- 

 try from Ohio to the seaboard gave Chicago the go-by entirely. 



The filling-in orders which came from the retailers have prob- 

 ably enabled the jobbers to carry over rather less stocks than 

 they did the year before, though there are considerable excep- 

 tions to this lule. 



One very well posted gentleman stated it as his opinion that 

 the stocks carried over are very heavy, and more than they were 

 a year ago. One very important and noticeable factor is the ma- 

 terially decreased use of rubber footwear in the cities within the 

 last few years. Beyond doubt this is largely brought about by 

 the heavier shoes now worn, particularly by the women, but 

 this would hardly account entirely for it. It is more than likely 

 that it has become largely a fad to do without them. It is well 

 for the trade as a whole that the country consumption increases 

 as the city consumption decreases. 



In anticipation of an advance in price on April i, the job- 

 bers booked prior to that date very heavy orders for the com- 

 ing season — heavier than for some years past. Indeed, it is 

 believed by some that the retailers have generally over-bought. 

 But contrary to expectations a further discount of 5 per cent, 

 was made on April i, and orders have been very light since 

 thii date. 



Trade in mackintoshes is very light, more so even than is 

 usual for the season. The very dry April before referred to 

 curtailed the business materially. 



The bicycle and vehicle tire trade is excellent, and very much 

 better than last year. It is very evident that the bicycle has 

 settled into place as an article of very necessary use, and each 

 year will doubtless show a healthy growth. 



All April being dry, and the last week of it exceedingly hot, 

 gave to the garden hose business a great stimulus. The deal- 

 ers and manufacturers have had so far the best season for some 

 years, and stocks in first hands have been almost wiped out. 

 As one representative of a large Eastern manufacturer puts it, 

 the trade has been immense. In other departments the me- 

 chmical rubber trade is very fair, and there seems to be quite a 

 volume doing in good belting. 



The Empire Rubber Manufacturing Co. have moved to a very 

 desirable location at No. 248 Randolph street. 



