13-i 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



[January 1, 1911. 



THE OBITUARY RECORD. 



THE GOODRICH ROAD SIGNS. 



WILLIAM DE FOREST BROWN. 



ALAMENT.\nLE piece of news this month is the report 

 of the (loath by drowning of William De Forest 

 Brown, secretary and treasurer of the Natinnal India Riibhcr Co., 

 near Bristol, Rhode Island, on December 9. Mr. Brown had 

 gone out duck shooting, in a canoe, which encountered some 

 mishap. He gave calls for help, but when several persons re- 

 sponded it was too late, and the last details can only be con- 

 jectured, since Mr. Brown was alone. 



Mr. Brown was a native of Relioboth, Massachusetts, where 

 his mother, Mrs. Amanda M. Brown, now lives, together with 

 several other relatives. His father, who was a manufacturer of 

 cottons, died several years ago. William De Forest Brown be- 

 came employed early in life as a bookkeeper by the Brownell, 

 Field Co., of Providence. About 18 years ago he went to Bris- 



liiE L.xTE W. De F. Bruwn. 



tol as secretary of the Xational India Rubljer Co., which posi- 

 tion he held continuously thereafter. ,-\bout six years ago he was 

 elected also to the office of treasurer of the company, succeeding 

 Colonel Samuel P. Colt. Mr. Brown was at one time private 

 secretary to Colonel Colt — now president of the United States 

 Rubber Co.— and has sustained a close relation to those rubber 

 interests with which Colonel Colt has been identified. He was. 

 for instance, auditor of the brancli stores of tlie United States 

 Rubber Co. throughout the country, conducting this work in con- 

 nection with his duties at the office of the rubber company. 



Mr. Brown was married and is survived by a widow and a 

 daughter, Miss Viola Brown, a recent graduate fmm the New 

 England Conservatory of Music. He was a member of the In- 

 dependent Order of Odd Fellows and of the Order of Wood- 

 men. He was fond of athletics and some time was a director of 

 the Bristol Young Men's Christian -Association. 



The public funeral was held on Deceni1)er 12 at tlie Congrega- 

 tional Church in Rehoboth, after private services at the Brown 

 home in Bristol. The factory of the Xational India Rubber Co. 

 was closed for the day of the funeral, out of respect to Mr. 

 Brown. The pallbearers were Wendell R. Davis, William Mc- 

 Caw, D. A. Pratt, George Schlosser — superintendent of the 

 Woonsocket Rubber Co.— Dr. George Carpenter, and Charles E. 

 Emerson — purchasing agent for the United States Rubber Co. 

 The interment was at the Rehoboth cemetery. 



The body was viewed on Sunday by many citizens, and officers 

 of the Bristol Train of .Artillery acted as a guard of honor at the 

 house of mourning. The interment was at Rehoboth. 



A.\ illustration here indicates the general appearance of the 

 sign posts with which the B. F. Goodrich Co. ( .\kron, 

 Ohio) are marking the main highway from Cleveland to New 

 York city, after which similar posts are to be erected up into 

 Xew England, and eventually throughout the country. While 

 these signs are primarily for the benefit of automobilists. they 

 cannot fail to be of service to the general public, since they are 

 placed every four miles along the main routes of travel, and con- 

 tain information of interest to users of these roads generally. 

 The posts are of heavy creosoted timber, 4x4 inches, and 12 

 feet high. The round metal disk which forms the principal part 

 of the sign is 2 feet in diameter, outside of which is a painted 

 border representing a Goodrich tire and labeled suitably. .Arrow 

 blades point to the names of three towns — the ne.xt town, the 

 next largest, and the ultimate destination, together with distances 

 carefully reckoned. Projecting out from the disk and pointing to 

 the remaining directions are two other blades, with additional 

 details. A tin sign on each post contains explanations of sym- 

 bols painted on the disk as to danger points and the location of 

 repair shops and gasoline supplies. 



The Goodrich Tire Sign Post. 



