January 1. 1914.1 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



187 



THE RUBBER TRADE IN BOSTON. 



By a Resident Corrcsf'ondeitt. 

 A S a rule, business in manufacturing lines may be stated 

 ■**■ as "so-so." While some houses report good trade, 

 most of them at this writing are quieting down, or have 

 already done so. fur the Christmas and New Year holidays. 

 Many of them, hcnvuver. are quietly preparing for a speeding 

 up soon after 1914 makes its appearance. The tire manu- 

 facturers, who have had a line business for the greater part 

 of the year, are restricting their product somewhat, but claim 

 that their present output just about balances the day-by-day 

 demand. That it should l)e better is the opinion of many. 

 when the mild weather and the absence of snow in Xew 

 England is taken into consideration, for many automobile 

 owners arc running their machines much later than usual. 

 The clothing men have had a good season, with plenty 

 of orders on hand for early delivery. Mechanicals arc not 

 active. Druggists' goods makers have been busy. Judging 

 by the great variety and immense stocks of rubber toys dis- 

 played in the department stores, the makers of these lines 

 must also have had an excellent season. 

 * * * 



The ISosion 1 Idling Co. makes an important change the 

 first of the year. After doing their sales and shipping busi- 

 ness at a downtown location for more than half a century, 

 they are removing their general offices and warerooms to 

 their factory in Ro.xbury. Several buildings connected with 

 their manufacturing plant have been combined, remodeled 

 and specially adapted to the growing needs of these depart- 

 ments, and it is claimed that with more room and better 

 facilities the concern will be able to serve its patrons with 

 greater promptness and satisfaction. 



It sounds like a long way off to say their new wareroom 

 location is in Roxbury. but it is really less than twenty 

 minutes from Boston's business center or any of the sta- 

 tions of the tunnel or subway, so that, taking time into con- 

 sideration, the new location is really nearer and more con- 

 venient than the old, for many of their customers. In the 

 matter of shipping, the warerooms are much nearer the 

 Ruggles street and the Boylston street freight yards of the 

 N. Y., N. H. & H. railroad, which takes the lion's share of 

 their shipments. 



As was said above, this company has had downtown head- 

 quarters for many years, if not during the whole life of the 

 company, since its establishment in 1828. A printed ad- 

 vertisement, framed and hung in Mr. Elder's office, shows 

 that in 1855 the office was at the corner of Summer and 

 Chauncy streets, and since then the company has occupied 

 three locations on Devonshire street, the one now being 

 vacated having been its headquarters for twenty-eight years. 



But even now, downtown will not be entirely abandoned. 

 An office will be maintained, for a time at least, at Room 602 

 Columbian Xational Fire Insurance Building, 77 Franklin 

 street. This is mainly for the convenience of the city sales- 

 men and an information point for out-of-town customers. 

 The company is instructing its patrons to address all mail 

 to Box B, Roxbury Crossing Station, Boston. 

 * * * 



The great plant of the .\pslcy Rubber Co. at Hudson will 

 soon be run by electricity and the present steam-driven ma- 

 chinery will be actuated by power brought many miles from 

 another state for the purpose. .Already the box factory, the 

 clothing mill and the last making shop are supplied with 

 such power, and gradually the heavy mills and calenders will 

 be fitted with individual motors. Such a transformation of 

 course is a matter of much detail, and must be gradual, if 

 the regular work of the mill is to go on uninterruptedly, but 

 before long the mill at Hudson will be run by the Con- 



necticut River. The great electrical plant is situated at 

 Brattleboro, Vermont, and the current conveyed by cables 

 for many miles to the Apsley plant. 



.\nd in this connection it may be of interest to know that 

 the Connecticut River Power Co. was developed largely 

 through the exertions of the late Charles 'W. Dunham, at 

 one time senior partner of Dunham Bros., who were for 

 several years New F.ngland distributors of Mishawaka rub- 

 bers and wool boots. Mr. Dunham spent a large part of his 

 time in overseeing the building of the big dam across the 

 Connecticut at a point a little below Brattleboro. He died, 

 however, before the enterprise was fully completed. 



* * * 



Colonel Frank L. Locke, for many years superintendent 

 of the Boston Rubber Shoe C'o.'s plants at Maiden and Edge- 

 worth, is gaining deserved popularity and winning encomiums 

 for his most successful management of the Boston Young 

 Men's Christian Union in this city. Colonel Locke succeeded 

 the venerable William H. Baldwin, through whose exertions 

 this institution became famous for its influence upon Bos- 

 ton's young men. and it is saying volumes to state that 

 "Father Baldwin" had a worthy successor in Colonel Locke, 

 who has the personal friendship of every frequenter of the 

 pleasant reception rooms, the various classrooms, or the 

 splendid gymnasium of the association. The Colonel is an 

 easy and convincing speaker, and is particularly happy in 

 introducing many noted lecturers who favor the association, 

 and on frequent Sundays and on all holidays Colonel Locke 

 is present at the rooms, holding a reception, superintending 

 an entertainment or overseeing a holiday ceIeI)ration or a 



warm weather outing. 



* * * 



James H. Stedman. who is treasurer of the Monatiquot 

 Rubber Works Co., of South Braintree, was recently honored 

 by the governor, who appointed him a member of the Massa- 

 chusetts Board of Prison Commissioners. The Boston 

 Transcript mentions the nomination in the following editorial: 

 "In the nominations today to the Board of Prison Commis- 

 sioners and to the Board of Parole and .Advisory Board of 

 Pardons, Governor Foss lengthens the long list of excellent 

 appointments which he has made during his three years on 

 Beacon Hill. As a manufacturer Mr. Stedman will bring to 

 the Board of Prison Commissioners experience and practical 

 knowledge of a kind certain to jjrove useful in its 

 deliberations." 



THE RUBBER TRADE IN AKRON. 



/n' (7 Resident Correspondent. 



IN spile of rumors of business depression from other parts of 

 the country, and altho there has been the usual cessation of 

 activities in .Akron incident to this time of the year, business 

 conditions here are most satisfactory and the city has every 

 element necessary to its prosperity. The Akron Chamber of 

 Commerce, organized for active service about five years ago, has 

 devoted its energies to the upbuilding of the city from a civic 

 standi)oint, with the result that it has become a better place in 

 which to live and has therefore been looked upon as an at- 

 tractive industrial location; and the growth of the rublier in- 

 dustry has formed an important element in the city's prosperity. 

 * * * 

 The annual meeting of stockholders of the Goodyear Tire & 

 Rubber Co., held on December 1, resulted in the re-election of 

 the following officers: F. A. Seiberling. president; C. \V. 

 Seiberling, vice-president; G. M. Stadelman. secretary, and 

 F. H. Adams, treasurer. A report read at that meeting showed 

 a gross business done by the company for the year amounting 

 to $32,500,000. with net sales of $29,000,000. at a profit of $2.- 



