178 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



[February 1, 1911. 



115 It., embraces l2'/3 acres of office floor area, and has an 

 estimated population of 5,000 workers. This building changed 

 owners during the past month, the consideration being reported 

 at $7,500,000. 



FIRESTONi: EBECTS LABGE BIM PLANT. 



The Firestone Tire & Rubber Co. has recently gone into 

 rim manufacture on an extensive scale, according to the an- 

 nouncement of Mr. H. S. Firestone, president of the Firestone 

 Tire & Rubber Co. The new plant, which is said to be elab- 

 orately equipped, is now in operation and making all kinds of 

 automobile, motor truck, and carriage tire rims. It is claimed 

 that the advent of this new Firestone industry will result in a 

 radical saving in the cost of wheel equipment. 



The new rim plant, of which the accompanying picture is an 

 excellent reproduction, adjoins the present tire factory and is 

 equipped with the latest types of machines for rolling, shaping, 

 electric welding, galvanizing, and so forth. It is further pro- 

 posed that on the completion of the new Firestone tire plant, 

 now in process of erection, the present tire factory l)uilding 

 shall be equipped with additional rim machinery, thus giving the 

 Firestone Co. an exceedingly large rim producing capacity. 



Continental company ; the Central district, with offices in Chi- 

 cago, will be in charge of A. I. Philp, now vice president and 

 sales manager of Morgan & Wright; the Pacific Coast district, 

 with offices in San Francisco, will be in charge of Joseph West- 

 ern, secretary of Morgan & Wright. The general headquarters 

 of the United States Tire Co. will be in New York. 



The four manufacturing companies will retain their respective 

 corporate existence, and their officials will not be disturbed, but 

 henceforth everything relating to the purchase or sale of their 

 tires will be conducted through the new organization. As fully 

 three-fourths of the 1911 business already has been written, 

 however, the full effects of the new arrangement will not become 

 apparent until next fall. One of the most immediate steps will 

 be the concentration of the various branch stores which now are 

 separately maintained. Each of these consolidated branches will 

 carry tires made by the four factories concerned. None of the 

 four brands will be sacrificed or pushed to the disadvantage of 

 the other. 



Concerning the proposed plans, J. M. Gilbert said : "The re- 

 organization and concentration is a perfectly logical r-tep and is 

 in line with the best business thought, and, in fact, with the 



NEW FIRESTONE 

 THE UNITED STATES TIRE CO.— A NEW CONSOLIDATION. 



The incorporation of the United States Tire Co., under the 

 laws of New York, with a nominal capita! of $500,000, marks 

 the first step toward a reorganization of four important rubber 

 tire companies — The Hartford Rubber Works Co., Morgan & 

 Wright, The G & J Tire Co., and the Continental Caoutchouc Co. 

 — all of which arc constituents nf the Rubber Goods Manufacturing 

 Co., which in turn is a branch of the United States Rubber Co. 



Although members of the same family, the four tire com- 

 panies named have not been conducted as such in some of their 

 details, and it is to rectify the inconvenience which sometimes 

 resulted from this state of affairs that the United States Tire 

 Co. has been formed. It will take over the head sales depart- 

 ment and branch stores of the four companies, and henceforth 

 conduct them as one, and generally keep the famdy relation 

 close and harmonious. 



Elisha S. Williams, president of the Rublx-r Goods Co., is 

 president of the United States Tire Co., and Charles J. Butler, 

 president of Morgan & Wright, is vice president. Joseph M. 

 Gilbert, general manager of the Continental Caoutchouc Co., 

 becomes general manager of the United States Tire Co., and 

 Justus D. Anderson, president of The Hartford Rubber Works 

 Co., the general sales manager. 



Instead of the four separate sales departments that now exist, 

 the country will be divided into three districts, each in charge 

 of a manager. The Eastern district, with offices in New York, 

 will be in charge of O. S. Tweedy, now sales manager of the 



RIM PLANT. 



spirit of the times. There has been no secret about the owner- 

 ship of the four companies. From the beginning they have been 

 known as members of the Rubber Goods Manufacturing Co., and 

 it is illogical that they should continue to be rivals and pull 

 against each other. While lessening selling expenses is the chief 

 reason for the new- arrangement, there will be no change in the 

 quality of the various tires. Although controlled by the same 

 interests, the companies have always done business as com- 

 petitors and engaged in keen commercial warfare with each other 

 as if there were no existing family tic. The parent corporation 

 naturally suffered from these methods, and it is to rectify them 

 that the new company has been formed." 

 TRADE NEWS NOTES. 



W. T. Rawlings, who had been with the Chicago Rubber Co. 

 since its formation, has associated himself with the Ohio Rubber 

 Co.. at Cleveland, where he assumed his new duties on January 

 3. .-Vt a meeting of his fellow employes and friends in Chicago 

 a fine gold watch and chain were presented him as a token of 

 their high esteem, and many regrets were expressed on account 

 (if his change of location. The Ohio Rubber Co. have become 

 active in the rubber footwear line, and Mr. Rawlings has had 

 much experience with such goods. 



The Goodyear's India Rubber Glove Manufacturing Co. arc 

 bringing out an elaborate catalogue of druggists' sundries, the 

 work of Mr. Anton Eggers, superintendent of this department. 



Work was resumed on January 3 at the factory of the Apsley 

 Rubber Co. (Hudson, Massachusetts) after a two weeTcs' rest. 



