January i, iqio.] 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD. 



139 



countries which yield rubber, including the greater part of 

 tropical Africa. There are rows of volumes relating to the 

 "dark continent" alone, as well as South America, Central 

 America, and Mexico. The rubber planting interest which 

 practically was non-existent twenty years ago has latterly 

 given rise to a vast amount of printed matter, theoretical or 

 practical, including not only treatises but a vast amount of 

 material in the shape of company reports, which, taken as 

 a whole, embody much that is of interest and value. 



Not the least interesting feature of the rubber library is 

 the collection of reports of rubber patent litigation. There 

 are, for instance, nine bound volumes of "Charles Goodyear 

 v. Horace 11. Day." dating back to 1852, followed by the 

 other cases wherein Goodyear was a litigant, and coining 

 down to the latest decisions in tire patent cases. A valuable 

 part of the library is the complete set of files of all the 



india-rubber periodicals in any language, beginning with the 

 pioneer of them all, The Rubber Era, oi New York, started 

 in September. 1880. There are also files of other periodicals 

 having a relation more or less to rubber, or to planting, or to 

 countries which yield rubber. 



Then there are patent specifications, information regarding 

 tariffs, trade directories, consular reports, and statistics of 

 commerce, particularly of india-rubber — and collections of 

 maps of photographs, all making The India Rubber World's 

 collection of books a most valuable working library. 



The value of trade catalogues as giving an idea of the state 

 of the rubber industry in any country at any time has always 

 been recognized in The India Rubber World, and such publi- 

 cations have been collected systematically since the paper had 

 its beginning. These catalogues are arranged in readiness 

 for constant use. 



The Rubber Trade at Akron, Ohio. 



By a Resident 



RECORD OF THE YEAR'S PROGRESS. 



WHILE the year 1908 was notable for the awakening of 

 rubber manufacturers to the importance of the auto- 

 mobile tire field, and the consequent construction of 

 numerous factory additions, the year just closed has seen not 

 only a continued growth in the demand for tires, but a steady- 

 increase in all other lines of rubber goods, especially mechanicals. 



Besides adding to their manufacturing facilities, Akron rubber 

 companies have been constantly increasing the strength of their 

 selling forces. New territory in the west and south have been in- 

 vaded with the establishment of branch offices and selling 

 agencies, the object of which is not only to seek the business 

 already existing but to prepare for the trade of years to come. 



The past twelve months have seen the largest year's develop- 

 ment in the history of the B. F. Goodrich company. With their 

 unexcelled department organization they have been quietly and 

 steadily advancing by long strides. As an exterior indication of 

 the company's growth most important is the replacement of the 

 main buildings of the old factory with three new fireproof struc- 

 tures, six stories high. Soon after the new year these buildings 

 will be ready for occupancy and the company will be enabled to 

 double and treble the capacity of the plant in proportion to the 

 ground area occupied. Purchases of real estate have increased 

 the property to 24 acres and the number of employes has been 

 increased since January I, 1909, from 4,200 to 5,000. 



The Diamond Rubber Co., by the statement of one of their 

 officials, have increased their output more than 25 per cent, 

 and their floor area 35 per cent, during 1909. The number of 

 employes on the pay roll h^s reached 4.500, including a large 

 construction force. Two important events in the year's chronicle 

 of The Diamond Rubber Co. have been the addition of a boot 

 and shoe department and the issue of a 100 per cent, stock 

 dividend at the October annual meeting, increasing the capital 

 stock to $10,000,000. 



The year has been important for The Goodyear Tire and 

 Rubber Co. by reason of the development of their tire making 

 machine, which, to quote Mr. G. M. Stadelman, secretary of the 

 company, will enable the company to increase their 1910 output 

 by 2C0 per cent., without making a proportionate increase in 

 floor space. The number of men employed has been increased to 

 1,200, the floor space increased 71,000 square feet, and additions 

 planned which will afford 210,000 additional square feet by 

 April 1. 



The rapid growth of The Firestone Tire and Rubber Co. is 

 evidenced by the recent decision of the directors to abandon the 

 present plant and build an entirely new factory, nearer to the 

 outskirts of the city, on land already purchased. Mr. H. S. Fire- 



Correspondent. 



stone, president of the company, states that $500,000 will be in- 

 vested in new buildings on the newly acquired site. 



The year's history of The Swinehart Clincher Tire and Rubber 

 Co. marks some important changes in the organization and 

 breidth of manufacture and sales. Though they have been en- 

 gaged for six years in making solid tires exclusively, pneumatic 

 tires have now been added to the list of products. During the 

 latter part of the year the floor space has been increased 50,000 

 square feet in the factory, and by greatly strengthening their 

 selling force, the company are advancing into a much wider field 

 of trade than they have sought heretofore. 



The Buckeye Rubber Co. suffered two disastrous fires on 

 August 12 and 14, which resulted in the loss of $100,000 worth of 

 property. Since that time, however, the damaged building, 

 formerly a story and a half high, has been rebuilt three stories 

 high of fireproof material. Work has also been started on a new 

 fireproof building affording 15,000 square feet of space and 

 enabling the company to supply the increased demand for their 

 pneumatic tires, marketed by The Consolidated Rubber Tire Co. 



The Miller Rubber Co. during the year past have met with such 

 success that they have determined to add tires to the product of 

 the plant. For this purpose a large brick factory is being put 

 up. Jacob Pfeiffer and W. F. Pfeiffer are respectively president 

 and manager of the company. 



The Star Rubber Co. since last spring have been making 

 pneumatic tires of the clincher and quick detachable type. Ex- 

 periments with these have warranted the company in starting 

 the addition of a new factory building, to house a mill room 

 and engine room for the purpose of increasing the output of 

 tires. The capital stock of the company has been increased 

 from $100,000 to $250,000. 



The past year has carried the Stein Double Cushion Tire Cc . 

 already prominent in the solid tire trade, into the manufacture of 

 the patented "Stein Lap Lock" pneumatic automobile tire. The 

 factory is now making more than 40 of these tires a day at the 

 present time, and new machinery is now being installed so that 

 the output may be doubled in thirty days. The death of Jacob 

 Neuman, vice-president and general manager of the company, 

 last March, brought J. Haber, of Cleveland, into the company in 

 the same position. 



During 1909 the Motz Clincher Tire and Rubber Co. have 

 added to their output an auto buggy tire and a truck tire with 

 a quick detachable rim. Contracts for 1910, which will call for 

 1,000 sets of tires, have been made with the Rausch Lang Car- 

 riage Co., of Cleveland, the Kenmore Manufacturing Co., of 

 Chicago, the Waverley Co., of Indianapolis, the Auto-Engineer- 

 ing Co., of Detroit, and others. 



