August 1, 1914.] 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



603 



the Firestone plant, received an award of $8571. .Xrtluir R. 

 Robinson, injured in the Goodyear plant, received an award 

 of $58.29. John Gruber, also injured at the Goodyear plant, 

 $36. Gust Savage and Adam Wagner, for injuries received in 

 the plant of the Kelly-Springlield Tire Co., were awarded 



respectively, $733 and $48.77. 



* * * 



It is said that the Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. has already 

 purchased the $350,000 of its preferred stock which it is re- 

 quired to retire annually beginning with the next fiscal year 

 — one year in advance of the stipulated period. 



* * * 



Two Akron balloon pilots — R. A. D. Preston and R. H. 

 Upson — will be entered in the international race for the 

 James Gordon Bennett trophy. Preston has qualified for 

 the event by winning the national elimination contest in the 

 balloon "Goodyear." With M. D. Tremelin, of Akron, as his 

 aid. Pilot Preston covered approximately 300 miles in the 

 contest which started from St. Louis, July 11, under the 

 auspices of the Aero Club of St. Louis. 



.Another .American entry in the forthcoming race is H. E. 

 Honeywell, of St. Louis, who secured second place in tlie last 

 international. 



THE RUBBER TRADE IN BOSTON. 



By Our Regular Correspondent. 

 ' I 'HE midsummer season finds trade somewhat below normal 

 ■'■ but on the whole satisfactory, when all factors are con- 

 sidered. To be sure, the rubber footwear business is very quiet, 

 as far as overs and boots are concerned, but the tennis demand 

 has kept up wonderfully, and this has been a banner season, 

 with another month yet to be added to the already high record. 

 The automobile tire business is better than earlier in the season. 

 This is accounted for by one leading agent as a result of economy 

 early in the season, when automoliilists, instead of starting out 

 with new tires, determined to get all they could out of the old 

 ones, which they are now obliged to replace. 



The hose business is about over, as regards garden hose. 

 but some orders for fire hose are coming in. The call for 

 fruit jar rings has been and still is lively. Strange as it may 

 seem, when one considers the stories of prevailing industrial 

 depression, the call for belting and packing is better than it 

 lias been for some months. Stories differ as to druggists' goods, 

 and the same is true of rubber clothing, though some houses in 

 the latter line have all they need to keep their factories .going 

 full time on orders. In the sole and heel business there seems 

 to be an average of one or two new firms starting each week ; 



and the curious part of it is. they all seem to get some business. 

 * * * 



Speaking of rubber footwear, your correspondent was sur- 

 prised to find in the small ad. columns of the daily papers an 

 advertisement which reads as follows : 



RfBBER BOOTS. 



".About 400 pr second-hand rubber boots; Short, 75c. $1 and 

 $1.50; Storm King, $1.25 and $1.75; Sporting, $1.50 and $2; 

 Hip, $1.50, $2 and $2.50. Atlantic Marine Exchange, 14-16 

 .Atlantic av." 



There are plenty of second-hand shoe stores in the poorer 

 sections of Boston, but it is doubtful if any one of thein can 

 furnish more than a single pair of second-hand rubber boots. 

 Here, evidently, is an assortment, and enough to stock up a 

 small store. Where did they come from? From the junk 

 dealers, perhaps. Certainly the prices named are better than 

 6 cents a pound, the present quotation given by the dealers to 

 collectors. 



_ . * * * 



Your readers are all famihar wnth the munificent gift to 

 Boston by President Forsyth of the Boston Belting Co. — the For- 



syth Dental Infirmary — full illustrated account of which has been 

 given in previous numbers of The Indi.\ Rubber World. This 

 institution is a beautiful building in the finest section of the city. 

 1 understand that the date for the opening of the infirmary 

 has been definitely set for the first week in October, when it 

 will begin its work with a capacity of over one thousand patients 

 a week. 



* * * 



The entire assets of the Pilot Raincoat Co. — stock, tools, 

 fixtures, machinery, etc. — were sold at auction on the 14th inst. 

 for the benefit of the creditors. 



* * * 



Mention has been made in this journal of the growing 

 scarcity of leather and the increase in the use of rubber, either 

 alone or combined with other substances, to take its place in soles 

 for footwear. At the Shoe & Leather Market Fair, however, 

 there were shown other substitutes, which may, perhaps, replace 

 rubber for that purpose. Rubber soles and heels were shown 

 by several concerns, among them being : The Essex Rubber Co., 

 of Trenton, New Jersey; The Federal Rubber Manufacturing 

 Co., of Milwaukee, Wisconsin ; The B. & R. Rubber Co., of 

 North Brookfield ; The Foster Rubber Co., Boston ; The Empire 

 Rubber & Tire Co., of Trenton ; The O'Sullivan Rubber Co., 

 New York ; The Panther Rubber Co., Stoughton ; The Plymouth 

 Rubber Co., Canton. 



. Besides these manufacturers of rubber soles and heels there 

 were exhibitors of various other products which contained rubber. 

 The Vulcan Fibre Co. showed a sole which combined shredded 

 leather with rubber, making a sole which it is claimed is proof 

 against the slipping so objectionable in worn rubber soles on 

 wet paveinents. The Avon Sole Co. also exhibited soles of 

 comminuted leather vulcanized with rubber. 



The Revere Rubber Co. showed a new type of leather and 

 rubber cut sole. It is called the "R. I. L," or Rubber Interlined 

 Leather sole. It is really a rubber sandwich. The tread is 

 of high grade sole leather. The part coming next the inner sole 

 is of soft split leather, and between the two is an interlining 

 of pure gum rubber. The whole is vulcanized together, making 

 a unit which is likely to interest shoe manufacturers. The in- 

 ventor, J. D. Prince, claims great flexibility, light weight, superior 

 wear and waterproof qualities. 



And a novelty — or nearly so — is the introduction of specially 

 prepared felt .soles, two concerns showing a solid, waterproofed 

 felt, for which the claims are softness of tread, warmth and 

 good wear. 



But another sole was shown, by Kcnvvorthy Brothers, which, 

 while being of felt, nearer approaches in appearance the leather 

 or rubber sole it is intended to supersede. It looks like rubber, 

 but I am informed that no rubber is used in its construction. 

 .An examination would lead one to believe it was felt impregnated 

 with some such preparation as that used in manufacturing lino- 

 leum or heavy oilcloth floor covering. This is claimed to outwear 

 citlier leather or rubber for soling, and is practicable to place 

 on the shoe either by hand or machine stitching. 



So it is worth mentioning here that rubber soles may be 

 superseded by something else, though the present outlook is 

 that the demand will not be greatly lessened during the coming 

 season. 



* « * 



While about it, it would be well to mention that the Revere 

 Rubber Co. had as a base of its exhibit a great mat made of 

 Spring Step rubber heels, thousands of them fastened together, 

 making a solid carpet. The company offered a prize to the one 

 who should guess the nearest to the number of heels in the mat. 

 The number has not been given out. Possibly the mat may 

 again be used for a similar competition. It is reported that 

 its cost was more than one thousand dollars, each heel being 

 perfect and including the red plug which forms a trade-mark 

 of the companj'. 



