370 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



[April 1, 1914. 



WIILIAM A. SE LONG. 



William A. De Long, whose brilliant work in connection 

 with the affair.s of the New York Commercijil Co., has won 

 the un(|iialilietl admiration of financiers of two continents, has 

 long been well known to the rubber trade. His business career 

 began in 1855 in the West Indian house of Josiah Jex, then 

 importing india rubber to New York. For them he visited the 

 rubber-producing countries of Central and South America, and 

 then formed the New York house of William Jex & Co., which 

 was an important factor in early rubber importing for many 

 years. This company, however, terminated its career in 1886, 

 when the firm of De Long, Betts & Co. was formed, with 

 headquarters in New York and a branch house in New Orleans. 



Energetic, alert, virile, with a genius for financial problems, 

 coupled with wonderful administrative ability, Mr. De Long is 

 one of the most interesting figures in the rubber trade. 



William A. DeLoxc. 



Before this time '.lieie were very few houses importing rubber 

 alone, and until the late 70's rubber was only an incident in 

 the many varieties of goods brought to this country by import- 

 ing houses. The firm of De Long, Betts & Co. was one of the 

 first to be devoted exclusively to rubber, and it wielded a wide 

 influence in this field for many years, .\l\vays enterprising and 

 ahead of the times, Mr. De Long determined to be independent 

 of ships, sailings, freight rates, etc. In 1880 he built a 1.000-ton 

 steamer of his own. On her first voyage this ship ran on the 

 rocks and was lost. This, however, did not daunt his courage. 

 and two years later he completed a second steamer. This made 

 two successful trips, but was lost on the third. He kept on 

 building and buying and owned no less than fourteen boats 

 during his career as rubber importer. Incidentally, he has 

 crossed the Atlantic more tlian a hundred times. 



In 1894, Mr. De Long retired from De Lon.g, Betts & Co. and 

 became vice-president of the New York Commercial Co., with 

 which firm he remained until January 1, 1901, when he retired 

 from active business. In 1902 he was appointed deputy commis- 

 sioner of the Department of Water, Gas and Electricity for the 

 Borough of Manhattan, New York City. 



In 1908 he became trustee to administer the affairs of Coster, 

 Knapp & Co., New York stock brokers, wdio were forced into 

 bankruptcy in May of that year. The liabilities greatly exceeded 

 $1,000,000. and the assets at the outset appeared to be almost a 

 minus (piantity. However, by his untiring efforts and his 

 ability Mr. De Long saved the creditors many thousands of 

 dollars. In .'Xpril, 1913, he was appointed trustee of the New 

 Y'ork Commercial Co., which went into bankruptcy in Eebriiary 

 of that year. 



PERSONAL MENTION. 



C. B. Whittlesey, manager of the Hartford Ruliber Works 

 Co., has recently been elected to the presidency ol the Cham- 

 ber of Commerce of Hartford, Connecticut. 



T. Barney Kennard, who has become associated with 

 the City Auto Tire & Supply Co., distributors of Miller tires. 

 1200 Huron road, Cleveland, Ohio, was formerly manager of 

 tlie Swinchart Tire & Rubber Co.'s branch in that city. He 

 will act as factory representative in the northeastern section 

 of Ohio. 



Otis R. Cook, for the past three years manager of the 

 Cleveland branch of the Kelly-Springfield Tire Co., has been 

 promoted to the position of general sales manager of this- 

 concern. He will continue his headquarters at Cleveland. 

 Previous to his association with the Kelly-Springfield com- 

 |)any Mr. Cook had been identified for a number of years 

 with the tire sales operations of the Goodrich. Firestone and 

 Federal companies. 



E. R. Perkins has been appointed general manager of the 

 I )vernian Tire Co., New York, succeeding Theo. Reynolds. 



Je>se W. Long, who for more than twenty years has been 

 identified with the rubber industry in Naugatuck, Connecticut 

 — for five years with the Goodyear's Metallic Rubber Shoe 

 Co.. and since 1897 in the office of the United States Rubber 

 Co. Regenerating Plant in that city — became associated on 

 March 1 with the firm of S. Birkenstein & Sons, scrap rubber 

 dealers of Chicago, Illinois, assuming charge of their eastern 

 liranch located in the Times Building (Rooms 1501 and 1502), 

 Times Square, New York City. 



C. O. Brandes, manager of the export sales and shipping 

 departments of the Firestone Tire & Rubber Co., of Akron, 

 Ohio — whose portrait appeared on page 83 of the November 

 number of The India Rubber World, accompanying a mention 

 of his connection with this concern — sailed for Europe the 

 first week in Marcli for an extensive tour in the interest of 

 the Firestone company. 



W. T. Underwood, instructor in salesmanship for the Goodyear 

 Tire & Rubber Co., has been secured to teach a class in this 

 branch of the educational department of the Y. M. C. A. at 

 Akron. Mr. L^nderwood's experience especially fits him for 

 such a role. 



During the absence in Europe of J. D. Anderson, manager of 

 the L'nited States Tire Co. in New York. J. C. Weston is acting 

 sales manager. 



Ralph L^pson, of .\kri.n, winner of the international balloon 

 races in Paris last year, will compete in similar races to be 

 held at Kansas City next October, representing on that occasion 

 the Aero Club of America. A national race for the selection of 

 two other American pilots to represent the United States at the 

 international contest will be held at St. Louis on July 4. 



J. O. Stokes, president of the Thermoid Rubber Co., of Tren- 

 ton. New Jersey, is now on a trip to the Pacific coast. 



R. M. Merriman, formerly connected with one of the large 

 rubber manufacturers in .\kron and more recently associated 

 with the Mishawaka Woollen ^Manufacturing Co., of Mishawaka, 

 Indiana, in the experimental department, has accepted a position 

 as factory superintendent with the Columbia Rubber Co., 

 Columbiana, Ohio. 



Should be on every rubber man's desk — Crude Rubber and 

 Compounding Ingredients ; Rubber Country of the .Amazon ; 

 What I Saw in the Tropics ; Rubber Tires and .-Ml .\bout Them, 

 and Rubber Trade Directorv of the World. 



