September 1, 1911.] 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



497 



THE RUBBER TRADE IN SAN FRANCISCO. 



THE rubber business in and about San Francisco is not very 

 lively, but there is a fair degree of activity, and it appears 

 that there is more business from this territory than through 

 the northern districts in the neighborhood of Seattle, Wash- 

 ington, and Portland, Oregon. Business in the northern sec- 

 tions has been hampered, owing to the fact that the mills are not 

 running very extensively. Taking California as a whole, the 

 yield of all products, both of the farms and of the mines, is very 

 large this season, and prices are good, so that a season of pros- 

 perity is unquestionably at hand. Then, too, the World's Fair 

 proposition lends more life to the local trade and everything is 

 favorable to a prosperous year. 



The lack of demand just now, however, keeps the market 

 quiet, and prices in many things are held at a figure too low 

 in comparison with other commodities. A representative from 

 an eastern house was surprised at the low prices which are being 

 asked here for belting. He said that his house is getting a better 

 price wholesale in export centers like British Columbia, India 

 and other far-away places, than the retailers in San Francisco 

 are getting for the same class of goods. 



* * * 



Ethelbcrt Milburn has come out from New York to take the 

 management of the new Pacific Coast branch of the Seamless 

 Rubber Company of New York. This line was formerly car- 

 ried as an agency by the local rubber house of The Squires & 

 Byrne Company. The Seamless company, finding that all of the 

 other manufacturers were establishing direct branches on the 

 Pacific Coast, and their business here continually growing, con- 

 cluded to do likewise. The offices and salesrooms will be main- 

 tained in the same location at S6S-567 Mission street. 



* * * 



An action has been commenced against the directors of the 

 defunct Barton Packing & Rubber Company, by the firm's credi- 

 tors, among whom S. S. Jones & Company, on California 

 street, dealers in crude rubber, are the most deeply involved. 

 W. B. Dunning and four of the Bartons are made defendants 

 as directors, and all are charged with a liability of $12,250. The 

 Barton Packing & Rubber Company failed last May and the 

 assets of the firm were then assigned for the benefit of the 

 creditors. The complaint alleges that the sum of $12,215 was 

 held out wrongfully, at the time of the settlement. The Jones 

 Company alleges that there was $17,086 due to them for goods 

 purchased, and that all they received in the settlement was 

 $8,651. 



* * * 



Mr. Hirsch, representing the Pennsylvania Rubber Company, 

 has returned from his northern trip. During part of the trip 

 he was on the sick list and spent two weeks in a hospital in 

 Spokane. 



* * * 



R. H. Pease, president of the Goodyear Rubber Company, 

 has returned from Portland, Oregon, where he took his family 

 by automobile a distance of 750 miles. He became much in- 

 terested in the matter of public roads, and states that with a little 

 attention, they can be made very comfortable and beautiful. 

 California has appropriated $18,000,000 for the purpose of build- 

 ing state roads, and within the ne.xt few years we expect to 

 have more and better automobile roads than perhaps any other 

 state in the union. Mr. Pease states that business generally 

 is dull in comparison to what is expected at this time of year, 

 although in San Francisco it is running ahead of last year. 

 But in Portland, and also Seattle, on account of the mills being 

 shut down, business is quiet. In regard to the boot and shoe 

 business, everybody is waiting. As there is no discount of 5 

 per cent this year as a premium to purchase made prior to 

 July 1, there was very little advance ordering. 



Mr. Cook, one of the managers of the B. F. Goodrich Com- 

 pany, states that business is improving every day. He says 

 that indications are very favorable for a big garden hose busi- 

 ness for the coming year. The dealers are buying earlier than 



ever. 



* * * 



Mr. Kerr, representing the Shultz Belting Company, of St. 

 Louis, is in San Francisco on business in connection with the 



firm. 



* * * 



Business with The Squires & Byrne Company is increasing 

 and they have found it necessary to increase their space by add- 

 ing a mezzanine floor to the main floor at their store on Mis- 

 sion street. Mr. Squires has gone down to Los Angeles to take 

 charge of the firm's branch there, as Mr. Cooley, their agent, 

 is no longer with them. The Los Angeles branch is doing well 

 and the firm intends to look after it carefully. Mr. Squires will 

 remain there for a while and then he will alternate with Mr. 

 Byrne, who will take charge for a few months, and so on, al- 

 ternating back and forth. 



* * * 



George Dodge, of the Western Belting & Hose Company, on 

 Mission street, will go to New York about the first of the year 

 to manage the Mineralized Rubber Company's business in that 

 city. Nathan Dodge, who has been managing the New York 

 business, will come to the coast to spend the winter. He will 

 arrive some tiine in October. Business with the local firm is 

 reported as being very good. 



* * * 



S. E. Abramson has been selected to take the management of 

 the Los Angeles branch of the Gorham-Revere Rubber Com- 

 pany, at 1237 South Olive street. Mr. Wiese has charge of the 

 automobile tire end of the business at that point. : 



Robert McNeilly has just returned to headquarters with B. ; 

 F. Goodrich Company, from his honeymoon trip to the eastern 

 trade centers. Harry Miller, one of the managers, has also 



returned from the east. 



* * * 



For the sake of uniformity throughout the coast, the names 

 of the Washington Rubber Company has been changed, both 

 at Spokane and Tacoma, Washington, so that those branches 

 now are each called the Gorham-Revere Rubber Company. 



Mr. Joseph V. Selby, representing the Boston Woven Hose 

 & Rubber Company, reports that the fall trade conditions are 

 looking very favorable. 



* * * 



The Golden Gate Tire Company has leased the new building, 

 which is being constructed for it on the corner of Van Ness 



and Elm avenues. 



* * * 



The Keaton Vulcanizing Works has incorporated with a 

 capital stock of $50,000. R. D. Sweeney, R. H. and George Kea- 

 ton are the directors. They manufacture especially the Kea- 

 ton non-skid tread. 



* * * 



Sakutaro Nakano has filed suit against the Bowers Rubber 

 Works for $10,000. He was struck by a truck last March, which 

 was owned by the Bowers Rubber Works. He alleges that five 

 of his ribs were broken. 



Every twenty-four hours the United States Tire Com- 

 pany's Hartford (Connecticut) plant turns out complete over 1,000 

 automobile tires, 1,000 inner tubes, 2,000 bicycle tires and 100 

 solid motor truck tires. The output of the four other' branches 

 —the Morgan & Wright, G & J Tire Co., and the two Contin- 

 ental Caoutchouc factories — is fully as great. 



