November i, 1909.] 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



47 



THE RUBBER TRADE AT AKRON. 



BY A RESIDENT CORRESPONDENT. 



A STOCK dividend of 100 per cent, was declared at the annual 

 ^ ^ meeting of The Diamond Rubber Co., held at the offices 

 in Akron, on October 19. This increases the capital stock of the 

 company from $5,000,000 to $10,000,000. The regular 10 per cent, 

 dividend was also declared on the old stock. In anticipation of 

 the stock dividend, it is stated that shares sold as high as 335 

 before the meeting. The stockholders reelected the following 

 directors: F. A. Hardy (Chicago), O. C. Barber, A. H. Marks, 

 W. B. Miller, R. C. Lake (Chicago), O. S. Hart, and A. H. Noah. 

 The directors met and reelected the officers, as follows : F. A. 

 Hardy, president; A. H. Marks, vice-president; W. B. Miller, 

 secretary ; A. H. Noah, treasurer. The treasurer reported to 

 the stockholders an unusually prosperous year. The directors 

 decided to build new buildings at once, with a view to increasing 

 the factory floor space by six acres. More room is desired for 

 the expansion of the automobile tire, insulated wire, and mechan- 

 ical goods departments of the factory. The company already 

 have under construction a six-story building 103 x 371 feet, for 

 factory purposes, besides the new office building and laboratory. 

 It is expected to have these buildings ready for occupancy by 

 January 1. Definite plans for the buildings decided upon in the 

 annual meeting have not been announced. 



It may interest some readers to have recalled the first mention 

 of The Diamond Rubber Co. in these pages. It appeared as a 

 "Trade Note" in The India Rubber Wcrld, April 15, 1894 

 (page 27) : 



— A new mechanical-rubber concern at Akron, Ohio, is called the 



Diamond Rubber Co. It was incorporated under the laws of the state 



on March 26, with $50,000 capital. 



* * # 



To help in securing labor, The Diamond Rubber Co. have 

 opened an office on South Main street, in which an employment 

 agent will be stationed at all hours of the day. Heretofore the 

 company have employed men only during a few hours in the 

 morning. Under this plan it was found impossible to meet the 

 demand of the factory for new help. 



A new tire sales branch has been opened by The Diamond 

 Rubber Co. at No. 1633 Court place, Denver, Colorado. Here- 

 tofore the tire business of the company was controlled through 

 the Overland Rubber Co. as agents. The manager of the new 

 branch is Charles F. Collins, formerly a partner in the Overland 

 company. The branch in the Boston building for the sale of 

 mechanical goods will be continued as before. 



The Diamond Rubber Co. have closed a contract with the 

 Maxwell-Briscoe Motor Co. for 7,000 sets of tires for Maxwell 

 1910 cars. Other large contracts for 1910 business have been 

 secured by the company. The 1909 sales season came to a close 

 with the conference of Diamond branch managers called for 

 November 1 in Akron. 



The Diamond Rubber Co. call attention to the fact that the 

 two winning Lozier cars in the Brighton beach races held during 

 the last month were equipped with their tires. The first car 

 broke all former records for a 24 hour race by 29 miles. 



Paige L'Hommedieu, chief clerk in the hard rubber goods de- 

 partment of The Diamond Rubber Co., has taken a similar 

 position with the company's New York branch. 



* * * 



The Goodyear Tire and Rubber Co. were successful in secur- 

 ing a restraining order from the United States court in Colum- 

 bus, Ohio, late in October, to enjoin The Rubber Tire and Wheel 

 Co. and the Consolidated Rubber Tire Co. from suing the 

 customers of the Goodyear company. The injunction is a sequel 

 to the litigation involving the Grant solid tire patents, in which 

 both sides have won victories in different courts. Judge Sater, 

 of the Columbus court, in granting the injunction delivered a 

 lengthy opinion in which he laid down a new law of importance 



to manufacturers. He held that manufacturers who have de- 

 feated a patent may protect their customers from being sued, 

 even though the customer does not buy the complete article 

 from the manufacturer. A decision by the United States supreme 

 court had previously offered the same protection, but only to- 

 customers who bought the complete article. 



Large orders for automobile tires have been received by The 

 Goodyear Tire and Rubber Co., including an immense contract 

 for the equipment of Buick cars, so that it will be necessary 

 for the company to greatly increase the capacity of their pneu- 

 matic department. Mr. Charles W. Seiberling, vice-president 

 of the company, says that the output, which is now 600 tires 

 a day, will be increased before January 1 to between 1,400 and 

 1.500 a day. In order to bring this about night shifts were put 

 on in a number of departments November I. Orders have been 

 given fur five new vulcanizers, and several washers and mills. 

 Four new tire making machines, like the four already in opera- 

 tion, are in process of construction and more are to follow. 



The Goodyear Tire and Rubber Co., after conducting extensive 

 experiments in pumping water from Blue pond, a body of water 

 one mile from their plant, have abandoned the project. The 

 object was to secure pure water, free from substances injurious 

 to engine valves, but it was found, after pumping from the 

 pond, that the water fell rapidly, indicating that the body of 

 water would ultimately be pumped dry. 



* * * 



The report of the city board of tax review filed during the 

 last month shows that during the year ending April, 1909, rubber 

 companies have made improvements aggregating in value $450,000 

 on their properties in Akron. Nearly two-thirds of this amount 

 is represented by new buildings erected in the course of recon- 

 structing The B. F. Goodrich Co.'s factory. Buildings torn down 

 by the Goodrich company were valued at $32,000. During that 

 year the Buckeye Rubber Co. constructed a building valued at 

 $30,000; two others were constructed by the Goodyear company 

 valued respectively at $44,000 and $21,000; one by the Firestone 

 company worth $12,000; four by The Diamond Rubber Co. valued 

 respectively at $26,000. $9,000, $21,000, and $21,000; additions by 

 the Miller Rubber Co. valued at $4,500, and by the American 



Hard Rubber Co. valued at $1,800. 



* * * 



Detailed descriptions of the Goodrich tire making machine, 

 mentioned in this correspondence in the September India Rub- 

 ber World, will not be ready for publication until next spring, 

 according to the general manager, Mr. E. C. Shaw, who says 

 that patent arrangements will not be completed before that time. 

 In the meantime the company are adding to their equipment of 

 the machines. Between 30 and 40 are now in use. 



* * * 



The following officers and directors of the North Western 

 Rubber Co., Limited, of Liverpool, England, were reelected at 

 the annual meeting of the company, held in the Akron offices 

 of The Diamond Rubber Co.. on October 19: Arthur H. Marks, 

 of Akron, president; William Alexander Smith, of Glasgow, 

 vice-president and treasurer ; E. E. Buckleton, of Liverpool, sec- 

 retary and managing director. The additional directors are Ohio 

 C. Barber, of Akron, and Dr. Joseph Torrey, of Liverpool. Mr. 

 Buckleton attended the meeting and expects to sail back No- 

 vember 3. He said that no changes will be made in the business 



of the company. 



* * * 



The Buckeye Rubber Co. have started work on the recon- 

 struction of the building destroyed in their recent fires. Rein- 

 forced concrete fireproof construction will be used throughout, 

 and the structure will be built three stories high instead of 

 one and a half as before. It will be used for the mill room, 

 the drying room, and probably for the manufacture of inner 

 tubes. The ground dimensions are 40 x 91 feet. 



