602 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



[August 1, 1914. 



THE RUBBER TRADE IN AKRON. 



By Our Regular Correspondent. 



THE tax returns now in show some interesting figures 

 relating to the rubber business of this city, in compari- 

 son with those of last year. The returns of the B. F. Good- 

 rich Co. — whose capital stock is $90.000,000 — while not in 

 excess of those of last year, amount to $19,920,000. i>f which 

 $12,497,500 is in Akron personal property and $4,422,500 in 

 Akron real estate. The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Go's, re- 

 turns are $5,184,980, an increase of $420,730 over those of 

 1913. The returns of the Firestone Tire & Rubber Co. are 

 $5,227,344, of which $4,021,314 is in personal property an<l 

 $1,206,030 in real estate. The returns of this company in 

 1913 were $2,481,500. The Whitman & Barnes Manufactur- 

 ing Co. returns are $395,790. against $324,850 in 1913; the Rub- 

 ber Products Co. $227,930. against $58,200; the -Mohawk Rub- 

 ber Co. $70,500, against $22,280. and the .\damson Machine 

 Co. $147,320, against $102,280. 



* * * 



The industrial committee of the Akron Chamber of Com- 

 merce is making efforts to persuade capital to bring to or 

 establish in .Akron other industries beside rubber, as it is felt 

 that the city is becoming industrially unbalanced owing to the 

 extent of the rubber goods production; and a new line of 

 railway, known as the Akron, Canton and Youngstown, re- 

 centlj- put in operation and affording largely increased ship- 

 ping facilities, is mentioned as an additional inducement to 

 the natural advantages of the city. 



* * * 



The touring bureau of the B. F. Goodrich Co. has been add- 

 ing year by year to its statistical information, maps, etc.. 

 until during the present season it has placed at the disposal 

 of the touring public route books and information obtained 

 from actual surveys covering more than 300.000 miles of road 

 — the best touring roads in the United States and GanadaT-^^ 

 on much of which Goodrich road markers, to the number of 

 45.000 or more, have been set up. This bureau also supplies 

 a book covering the rules of the road, as well as a European 

 route book giving customs regulations of the principal foreign 

 countries and valuable information on how to ship cars and 

 how to get about on the Continent. These route books, etc., 

 may be obtained at any Goodrich branch or on request to the 

 company at Akron. 



During the recent Ohio State Convention of the United 

 Commercial Travelers, held in this city, about 600 delegates 

 visited the Goodrich plant, making an inspection of the vari- 

 ous departments — tire, belting, molded and mechanical rubber 

 goods, etc. — in all of which they were much interested. The 

 feature that impressed them the most, however, was the 

 "safety first" idea as carried out in the plant by means of 

 numerous devices for the protection of workmen. 



* * * 



The Firestone Tire & Rubber Co. has recently installed an 

 industrial library. Any person employed by the company, 

 whether in Akron or its branches, has at his command all the 

 reading matter that pertains to his particular line of work. 

 This is collected and classified bj- the chief librarian and his 

 assistants. The research staff works constantlj' over the 

 newspapers, magazines, trade journals and books, and this 

 matter is indexed and distributed in such a manner as to be 

 most helpful to the employes, for whose benefit it is also planned 

 to open a correspondence course. It is expected that this library 

 will be extended to cover books on personal efliciency and home 

 and social economics, so that the general education of the em- 

 ploye will be provided for. 



An.^iutiqg which included a fifty-mile automobile trip, ath- 

 letic ^ports, entertainment and an old homestead dinner at 

 the Firestone homestead in Columbiana county, was recently 



tendered by H. F. Firestone to the foremen of the company's 

 factory in this city. 



* * * 



The accompanying illustration shows a five-ton motor 

 truck in the service of the United States Army, transporting 

 .American soldiers from San Diego to the Mexican border. 

 The niiitor truck has many advantages over the old-time 



MoKiR Truck for .Ar.my Service. 



mule-drawn vehicle for army purposes, and especially in the 

 saving of time it effects, the truck shown, equipped with Fire- 

 stone solid tires, having made the trip from Los Angeles to 



San Die.go — a distance of 148 miles — in 13 hours. 



* * * 



\V. E. Young, as administrator of the estate of Homer A. 

 Mine, has filed suit in the Common Pleas Court of Summit 

 County, asking that a receiver be appointed for the Star Rub- 

 ber Co.. located at 1025 Sweitzer avenue, this city, and that 

 the property be sold to satisfy the demands of creditors. It is 

 stated in the petition that Mr. Hine died March 28. having 

 endorsed negotiable paper for the Star Rubber Co. amounting 

 to forty thousand dollars, thirty thousand dollars of which is 

 past due. C. I. Bruner, of the First-Second National Bank 

 of .\kron. was appointed receiver to take charge of the affairs 

 of the company pending liquidation, and a motion has been 

 filed, asking for appraisers to be appointed. Mr. Hine was 

 secretary and treasurer of the Star Rubber Co. and very 

 active in its affairs, and his untimely death has precipitated 

 matters that, had he lived, would doubtless have been taken 



care of. 



* * * 



The Kelly-Springfield Tire Co. has just moved into new 

 factory offices in Akron, which are commodious and modern 

 in every particular. F. E. Holcomb. superintendent of the 

 company, is slowly recovering from a siege of rheumatism. 

 He is at present at Blount Clemens. Michigan. 



* * * 



The Portage Tire & Rubber Co. has extended its field into 



the rubber sole and heel trade. 



* * * 



The Akron City Fire Department has recently sold the 

 last horse belonging to the department and has installed the 

 latest automatic steam and gasolene fire apparatus, with sub- 

 stantial rubber tires. 



* * * 



The factory workers of .Akron express themselves as well 

 pleased with the workingmen's compensation law now in 

 force in this state, describing it as "the best and biggest thing 

 that has ever been done for us." .Amon.g the rubber workers 

 who have experienced the benefits of its operation are the 

 following: Charles Brown, who suffered a broken finger 

 while working in the plant of the Firestone Tire & Rubber 

 Co. and was unable to work for three weeks, had his position 

 held open for him, received paj' for the lost time and the 

 amount of his doctor's bill. Frank Palmer, also injured at 



