February 1, 1914.] 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



247 



per cent., which was recently declared by the Panama company, 

 are stated to have been derived from the earnings of these stores. 



* * * 



The Los Angeles branch of the United States Tire Co. is adding 

 both to the variety of the mercliandise it offers and to the number 

 of its employes. In addition to tires, a full line of rubber goods, 

 including coats, boots, and everything that is made of rubber, 

 will hereafter be carried in stock at this branch, and a larger 

 force is required to handle the increased trade. 



* * * 



While excavations were being made in the high school grounds 

 at .Auburn, recently, what appears to be a vein of very fme 

 asbestos was uncovered. Tho the vein is small, being only about 

 4 inches wide, the fibre is said to be of high grade. 



* * * 



The Ilcndric Ruliber Co., of Torrance, is reported to be meet- 

 ing with much success. It has recently established branches in 

 several cities, with a main distributing station at San Francisco. 

 The capacity of the plant is now in the neighborhood of 100 tires 

 a day and it is the expectation of the company to market its 

 entire output in California. It is strictly a home product, even 

 the cotton used in the fabric being grown in the Imperial Valley 

 and woven by California cotton mills. 



* * * 



The branch store of the Kelly-Springfield Tire Co., at 515 East 

 Pike street, Seattle, Washington, is one of the largest and most 

 up-to-date of its kind in the northwest, the workroom containing 

 2,000 square feet of floor space, which is sufficient to accommodate 

 five trucks, and is necessitated by the growth of the truck tire 

 department at this branch and for the special application of the 

 company's block truck tires. 



* * * 



During the past month there has been rain in plenty and 

 already the total for the season has far exceeded the entire rain- 

 fall of last winter. It would seem that business should have 

 picked up wonderfully under these conditions, and so it has for 

 the retailers, because storm clothing has been in great demand 

 and they have been able to work off accumulated and surplus 

 stocks. The jobbers have not benefited to a corresponding ex- 

 tent, but of course it is a matter of satisfaction for them to 

 know that this clearing out of old stocks should have a desirable 

 effect on next season's trade. 



* * * 



The California branch of the Pennsylvania Rubber Co., of 

 which J. E. French is manager, has moved its wholesale quarters 

 and general store and salesrooms to a new location on Second 

 street, between Mission and Howard, where larger quarters and 

 better light afford a great improvement over the former cramped 

 quarters on Mission street, near First. A retail department for 

 attention to the needs of the automobile trade has been opened 

 at Van Ness avenue. 



* * * 



The rubber heel which the American Rubber Manufacturing 

 Co. is now turning out for Wm. Perkins, a well-known rubber 

 man of this city, is meeting with excellent success. Claims that 

 this heel is an infringement of prior patents have not been sup- 

 ported, and the fact that Mr. Perkins has received some very 

 good offers for his rights indicates the genuine merit of the 

 article. 



* * * 



The Sacramento Rubber Co., Sacramento, California, has 

 taken the agency in that territory for the Federal Rubber Manu- 

 facturing Co., of Milwaukee, and has added a special service 

 department. 



* * * 



The new wide-tire law enacted in the state of Washington, and 

 which went into effect January 1. provides that for tires 2 inches 

 wide or less the maximum load shall not exceed 400 pounds an 



inch of tire width. This would make the maximum on a wagon 

 with 2-inch tires 3,200 pounds, or with 1-inch tires 1,600 pounds. 

 For tires wider than 2 inches and up to 5 inches the maximum 

 load is not to exceed 400 pounds an inch of width of tire plus SO 

 pounds an inch in excess of 2 inches of width of tire. With a 

 5-inch tire the ratio of weight per inch of tire width is increased 

 to 500 pounds an inch plus 70 pounds an inch for tires in excess 

 of 5 inches wide. The ma.ximum load includes the weight of the 

 vehicle, and the law also provides that the load must be evenly 

 distributed on each axle. The enforcement of this law is expected 

 to materially aid in reducing the cost of upkeep of roads, statistics 

 from European countries — which have taken the lead in wide-tire 

 legislation — being unqualifiedly in favor of the wide tire from 

 every standpoint. 



THE RUBBER TRADE IN TRENTON. 



By a Resident Correspondent. . 



A LL the industries of this city are in a prosperous condition, 

 ■** with mills and factories running full force and in not a 

 few instances day and night. Trenton's importance as a manu- 

 facturing center and its prospects for rapid and immediate growth 

 and development are shown in reports recently made to the State 

 Department of Labor. The year 1913, which was one of great 

 prosperity, showed a production much in excess of the 1912 out- 

 put. The rubber mills especially are doing a big business, those 

 in the automobile accessory lines being particularly active. 



* * « 



The Essex Rubber Co. plant is being operated 24 hours a day, 

 with a force of 400 operatives. This company is now installing 

 new and heavier machinery in various departments and is adding 

 a new press room 60 x 200 feet in size, engine and boiler rooms, 

 and a new warehouse. These improvements and additions are 

 expected to make room for an increased working force. 



* * * 



The John E. Thropp's Sons Co., which manufactures tire molds, 

 w^rapping, unwrapping and tire-making machines, vulcanizers, 

 jar ring lathes, etc., is another of the local concerns for whose 

 products the demand is in excess of productive capacity. 



if * It 



The Ajax-Grieb Rubber Co., well known tire manufacturers, 

 sent out on January 1 from its New York office, at 1796 Broadway, 

 an interesting circular in which much optimism is expressed. 

 This circular goes on to describe confidence — of which optimism 

 is the soul^as "the product of knowledge" ; and the fact that 

 the company is willing to back its confidence in the product of 

 its large factory at Trenton, to the extent of a definite written 

 guarantee of 5,000 miles on the Ajax non-skid tire, indicates a 

 knowledge of its exceptional value and a very good reason for the 

 present operation of that factory twenty-four hours of every 

 week day. 



» * * 



The fire that recently occurred in the shipping department of 

 the Empire Rubber & Tire Co. did not seriously interfere with 

 this company's business, and orders are being filled and shipments 

 made with the usual promptness. The origin of the fire is un- 

 known, and the damage amounted to about $1,500. 

 * * * 



A meeting of creditors of the Russell Manufacturing Co., of 

 New- Brunswick. New Jersey, was held in that city a short time 

 ago and a final dividend of 30 per cent, declared. A dividend of 

 SO per cent, having previously been paid, the creditors have 

 realized 80 per cent, of their claims against this concern. 



* * * 



Charles Wilcox, for the past 28 years a resident of Morrisville, 

 New Jersey, and employed by the Joseph Stokes Rubber Co., of 

 Trenton, died on January 9, following a stroke of paralysis a 

 few days earlier. lie was 55 years of age and is survived by 

 his wife, three daughters and three sons. 



