188 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



(January 1, 1914. 



041,000. Of these earnings $603,192 repreFcnts a 33 per cent, 

 dividend paid for the year on common stock, a decided drop 

 from the $3,001,000 earnings on this stock for the year 1912, 

 when the gross business of the company amounted to $25,232,000 

 — this drop being due in a great measure to the flood and strike 

 of last spring. 



A circular sent out by this company early in December an- 

 nounces that its heavy tourist inner tube will in the future be 

 made 30 per cent, thicker than the ordinary tube, with the re- 

 inforced rim side 50 per cent, thicker than the balance of the 

 tube, protecting it from rim dust and chafing, reducing pinch- 

 ing to a minimum and resulting in extra tube strength and extra 

 mileage. 



A "Safety First" battalion of IIS foremen has been organized 

 at this company's factory, to patrol the premises constantly look- 

 ing for anything which may be dangerous in operation and sug- 

 gesting safety devices, also to instruct workmen. It is inevi- 

 table that among so many workmen as are required to operate a 

 factory so extensive as the Goodyear, accidents will happen, and 

 the aim is to reduce these to the smallest number possible, the 

 safeguarding of the lives and well-being of its employes being 

 held by the company — as stated in a recent address of President 

 Sciberling — "as a high moral obligation." 



* * * 



Reports by the local tax board show an increase in the value 

 of factories and equipment, notable among these gains being a 

 25 per cent, increase in the valuation of the property of the 

 B. F. Goodrich Co. over last year's assessed value. The taxes 

 paid by this company constitute one-fifth of the entire tax re- 

 ceipts for the city of Akron and cover almost one-eighth of the 

 property located in Summit County. 



Construction work is now under way on two additional wings 

 to the factory of the Firestone Tire & Rubber Co., and these 

 will probably be ready for occupancy early in the spring, when 

 an extra floor will be utilized for office space. These new 

 wings are of steel and concrete, with a facing of light brick, and 

 are said to be absolutely fireproof. 



* * * 



The Loewenthal Co., the large scrap rubber concern, has se- 

 cured the services of Mr. Leo Meyer in connection with its 

 Akron office. Mr. Meyer has had considerable experience in 

 this line and will constitute a valuable addition to the com- 

 pany's force. His lime is to be devoted exclusively to keeping 

 in close touch with the various factories in Akron and vicinity. 

 ^ ^ ^ 



Fifteen checks were taken from the office of The Motz Tire 

 & Rubber Co. on the night of December 19, by a burglar, who 

 gained entrance to the office on the first floor by breaking a win- 

 dow in the rear of the building. Proceeding upstairs he made a 

 thorough search of all the drawers on the floor, using a hatchet 

 to chop open those that were locked. In the cashier's drawer 

 he found the checks. When the members of the office force 

 arrived in the morning the ofiice floor was covered with burnt 

 papers, the burglar having evidently not used the electric lights 

 in the building, but had used matches and lighted papers to find 

 his way about the office. It was evidently the work of an 

 amateur. All of the banks in the city were notified of the rob- 

 bery and payment stopped on the checks. 



* * * 



The Kelly-Springfield Tire & Rubber Co. anticipates re- 

 organization, change of name and distribution of surplus, which 

 matters will be taken up at the annual meeting December 26. 



* * * 



Certain stockholders of The Royal Rubber Co. have filed in 

 the Common Pleas Court of Summit County at Akron, a pe- 



tition declaring that the company is insolvent, owing fully 

 $50,000, and asking that agreements made by the officers of the 

 company for the sale of the plant and real estate to The Dutch 

 Rubber Co. be set aside and the property sold to meet liabilities. 

 The plaintiffs are Alvin L. Neiswanger, C. R. Musser, Rocco 

 Masino, and E. B. Foltz, who allege that they own 58 of the 

 1.561 shares of Royal Rubber Co. stock. Defendants named are 

 the Royal Rubber Co., The Dutch Rubber Co., A. M. Stuckwell 

 of New York City and his attorney. 



The petition also alleges that the Royal Rubber Co. was cap- 

 italized at $200,000, divided into 2,000 shares of $100 par value 

 each, that the plant has been idle for a year and that the build- 

 ings are suffering injury through disuse; that no dividends were 

 ever paid by the company, which authorized a $100,000 bond 

 issue, secured by mortgage on the real estate, and that $90,000 

 of bonds have been issued. It is further claimed that contracts 

 were entered into regarding the formation of a new company 

 to be known as the Dutch Rubber Co., the transfer of certain 

 shares of stock in this new concern, with the payment of a 

 specified amount in cash, to be accepted by the Royal Rubber 

 Co. in return for the title to its realty and assets; that only a 

 part of the agreement regarding the organization was carried 

 out, and that the deed to the real estate and plant of the Royal 

 Rubber Co. conveyed by certain officers of the company had not 

 been authorized by the Board of Directors. W. E. Pardee and 

 J. A. H. Meyers were appointed receivers. 



THE RUBBER TRADE IN CHICAGO. 



/I'v a Resident Corresfondent. 



""PRE rubber trade of Chicago, with its usual optimism, is look- 

 ••■ ing forward to a prosperous New Year. But just what 

 the new year will bring is problematical. That there is a gen- 

 eral slackness of business at present in most branches of the 

 trade cannot be gainsaid. Among Chicago men there seems to 

 be a wide diversity of opinion as to the cause. Most dealers 

 are agreed that there can be no change in legislation without a 

 coresponding depression. Jobbers say that specifications for 1914 

 will be delayed as long as possible, or until there is more cer- 

 tainty as to the working out of the new legislation. The story 

 of the trade during the past month has been, in a large number of 

 lines, the story of the weather, and the weather has been more 

 unfavorable to some lines of trade than for many years. For the 

 past four weeks, when according to the almanac the mercury 

 should be near the zero mark, with slush and snow on the ground, 

 the weather has remained mild, w'ith little rain and no snow. 

 The rubber raincoat and the overshoe people have been brought 

 to a state verging on despair. 



W. E. Carver, of the Rubber Manufacturing & Distributing 

 Co., 207 West Monroe street, said : "I have been in the rubber 

 business for many years, but never have I seen such a season. 

 With conditions at the beginning of the fall leading us all to 

 think that we were going to have an excellent winter's trade, 

 the weather has remained like summer for week after week, 

 until here we are in what should be the middle of the winter, 

 without any occasion to wear rubbers or overshoes, and indeed 

 without enou.gh bad weather in sight to warrant the retailers in 

 putting in extra stocks. Yet apart from footwear and clothing 

 the trade is fairly optimistic." 



F. P.. Henderson, of the Mechanical Rubber Co., said that the 

 trade on all lines of mechanical goods had improved in a marked 

 degree during the past month and that he did not look for a 

 slump either after the first of the year or at any time during 

 the next twelve months. 



