424 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



LMav 1, 1914, 



THE RUBBER TRADE IN AKRON. 



By Our Rc^iutiir Corrcst^ondciil. 



YOUR correspondent wishes to make a correction. In his 

 last letter, published in the April issue of The Indi.v Rub- 

 ber WoRU), he stated that W. E. Slabaugh had been appointed 

 trustee in bankruptcy of the Akron Rubber Mold & Machine 

 Co. This was an error. He should have said that Mr. Slabaugh 

 had been appointed trustee of the Rubber City Machine Co., which 

 is quite another concern. The Akron Rubber Mold & Machine 

 Co. is sound financially and is doing a very large business, both 

 in the United States and Canada. It has recently purchased 

 land adjacent to its present plant, for the erection of a sub- 

 stantial addition, which will increase its ground floor space from 

 70 .X 132 feet to 70 x 232 feet. The plant at the present time 



is running 24 hours a day. 



* * * 



The Birmingham Iron Foundry, of Derby, Connecticut, the well 

 known builders of "Birmingham" Rubber Mill Machinery, have 

 purchased the equipment of the Rubber City Machine Co., Cedar 

 street and Broadway, Akron, Ohio, and will operate the plant as 

 a branch. P. E. Welton, favorably known in the rubber trade, 

 has been retained as manager of this branch and will also rep- 

 resent the company's business from the home office in .^kron 

 and the Western territory generally. 



Automatic mixing aprons, duplex cores and other rublier mill 

 apparatus of the lighter kind will be manufactured here; also 

 general machine jobbing will be done, so far as the shop is 

 available for that purpose. -As the company has installed large 

 equipments in the rubber factories in Akron, it is intended to also 

 use the branch as a "service station" where repairs and adjust- 

 ments may be made at short notice on any of the "Birmingham" 

 product. * * » 



Every man, w^oman and chiUl— white, black, brown, yellow and 

 red— of the United States, gets an average tire service of Akron- 

 made tires of two miles per month. Every man, woman and 

 child of the world gets an average tire service of Akron-made 

 tires of two miles per year. Akron's tire factories are running 

 two and three shifts, many more tire making machines are hum- 

 ming than ever before, all to take care of the enormous tire 

 demands. Akron's factories turn out more than 25,000 tires per 

 day, more than 600,000 for the month of April. Akron's April 

 tires placed side by side and running at the rate of the fastest 

 automolnle would cover every inch of soil in the United States 

 in a month. Akron's .April, May and June tires, standing circum- 

 ference to circumference would reach from New York to Chicago. 

 The canvas used in Akron's rubber factories in one year would 

 place the walls of a tent all around the State of Ohio. If Akron 

 used only plantation rubber it would take almost the world's 

 supply to take care of her rubber trade. Approximately 30,000 

 persons in and about Akron are directly engaged in Akron's 

 rubber business, and an equal number outside of Akron are en- 

 gaged in making or raising raw materials that go into .Akron's 

 rubber goods. At least 10,000 people, scattered all over the world, 

 are either interested in buying or selling Akron rubber products 

 or products for the Akron rublier factories. Yet we are told that 



"the rubber industry is in its infancy." 



* * * 



Notice in the New York papers was recently made of a new- 

 process for manufacturing rubber by The B. F. Goodrich Co. 

 The writer inquired of Mr. Shaw concerning the same. Mr. 

 Shaw's answer was "Nothing for publication." 



Goodrich Resilient Wireless Tires, description and illustration 

 of which appeared on page 316 of our March issue, have been 

 adopted for use on G. 'V. Electric trucks by the National Electric 

 Lamp Association in Cleveland, Ohio, to carry Mazda bulbs, and 

 are said to be giving more than the average mileage in this service 

 in addition to effecting a saving in power, it being found neces- 

 sary to charge the batteries only every other night instead of 

 every night as before these tires were used. 



The Akron letter for the .April issue of The Indi.\ Rubber 

 World contained mention of the appointment of W. O. Ruther- 

 ford, whose portrait appears here, to the office of assistant gen- 

 eral sales manager of The B. F. Goodrich Co. Mr. Rutherford 

 has a wide acquaintance in the trade, havmg been manager of 





W. O. RuTHliRFORIi. 



the Denver branch of this company and later, for a period of 

 ten years, of the Buffalo branch. For the past four years he 

 has acted as assistant to H. E. Raymond, second vice-president 

 and general sales manager, and this appointment marks another 

 important advance in a career of efficiency. 



The new machinery whicli the Firestone Tire & Rubber Co. 

 has installed in the additions to its plant recently completed is 

 already running at full capacity, bringing the company's daily out- 

 put of automobile tires up to 6.000. 



The Gramm motor truck sent to St. Petersburg to compete with 

 foreign made motor equipment for use in the war service of that 

 country was equipped with Firestone tires, and as a result of 

 especially severe tests it was purchased by the Russian Govern- 

 ment, which has since repeated its orders. 



* * * 



What is probably a world's record in tire building is reported 

 as having been made on April 6 by the Goodyear Tire & Rubber 

 Co., when the factory output comprised 10,635 tires. 



Commencing .April 1 this company discontinued its retail busi- 

 ness in tires of all kinds, the various branches throughout the 

 country after that date to distriinUc only in wholesale quantities. 



* * * 



The Kelly-Springficld Tire Co. is rapidly pushing the construc- 

 tion of four new buildings. 



* * * 



The Marathon Tire & Rubber Co. has more than doubled its 

 floor space and output during the last twelve months. 



* * * 



The Betzler & Wilson Fountain Pen Co., of this city, have pur- 

 chased the complete fountain pen plant formerly operated by O. 

 E. Weidlich, Cincinnati, Ohio, and moved it to .Akron, combining 

 it with their present factory. 



The Betzler & Wilson concern has been in business for the past 



