January i, 1910.] 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD. 



143 



business on the Pacific coast, and he is in charge of affairs now 

 with that same degree of activity and efficiency which has been 

 marked by his employees for many years past. He has gained a 

 place of the highest respect and esteem in the rubber trade in 

 San Francisco and the adjacent territory by his kindly treatment 

 of all with whom he had to deal, particularly his employees. There 

 are hardly any of the more mature rubber salesmen of this city 

 that did not start with Mr. Pease, and all of them honor him 

 highly. Mr. Pease came to San Francisco in 1869, and became 

 connected with the Goodyear Rubber Co. which had been estab- 

 lished here in 1865. 



"The business then was comparatively very small," he said, 

 "and we had a small store under the Continental Hotel, on 

 Montgomery street. From here we moved under the Grand Hotel, 

 on Market street, in 1873, having increased the space to a first 

 floor and basement. Business had been flourishing all along, so 

 that in 1876 they moved into their large building on Second and 

 Market streets, 65 feet frontage and 155 feet deep, with six floors 

 and basement, and here they remained until the big fire forced 

 us to move until we could have our present building recon- 

 structed on the same site. Business increased every year so that 

 in 1893 we found it necessary to open a store in Portland, 

 Oregon. This made it possible to handle the northern territory 



Richard H. Pease. 



from Portland, and California and Arizona from San Francisco. 

 Since that time the northern territory has developed wonderfully 

 and San Francisco has long since ceased to be the chief distribut- 

 ing point for the entire west. 



"When I first came here San Francisco was the distributing 

 point for the entire Pacific coast, and goods for Seattle, Portland, 

 or Los Angeles had to come here first, also goods for the Orient, 

 and from here it was distributed by steamer to the various ports. 

 Everything by rail came here. There was only one railroad, but 

 the rates were so high that it paid much better to keep up the 

 old system of shipping "around the Horn," and this was done for 

 many years after the first railroad came through in 1869. Every- 

 thing was carried on sailing vessels, which came along every 

 week or two ; some came by steamer via the Isthmus. Small lots 

 of goods were kept on the way for a long time ahead and the 

 ships acted in the capacity of storage houses too. 



"In those days we had a fine business. In Nevada they were 

 opening the Comstock mines. In opening the new mills rubber 

 belting and large quantities of heavy boots and shoes and water- 

 proof clothing were sold. Throughout California immense quan- 

 tities of rubber boots were used where they were doing hydraulic 

 mining. It was a thing unknown to sell a short boot then, and 

 the very best quality of mining coats were bought everywhere. 



We had unusually large sales of miners' white coats. A much 

 better quality of goods were being used here than in the east. 

 The retailers bought liberally and in large quantities, and a firm 

 then could do a much larger business then with one-tenth of the 

 force than now, with the latter day competition and the high 

 price of rubber. In 1869, 1870, and 1871 we sold everything in 

 gold, and when we sent our gold drafts in to New York we at 

 first got a premium for them of 60 per cent, above currency; 

 gold was that much more valuable than currency at that time. 

 As everything was in currency in the east and we settled in 

 currency, it made us a nice side profit of 60 cents on the dollar. 

 The amount of the premium gradually diminished after 1869. 



"We do not have the easy money that came in those days under 

 modern conditions, but by keeping abreast of the times with 

 every modern facility for doing business in close competition 

 we have always continued successful and find that our trade 

 prospers just as it did in the days of old. We have all been 

 compelled to do closer figuring than ever during the past two 

 years, but the better times are already showing up, and next 

 year will begin another era of prosperity." 



GOOD WORDS FROM AUSTRALIA. 



TO the Editor of The India Rubber World: I notice that 

 you purpose making your January number a special one, 

 commemorating the fact that twenty years have elapsed since 

 the introduction of The India Rubber World. As one of the 

 fast depleting number who constitute the original subscribers, 

 permit me to congratulate you on the continued success of 

 the journal, from both a literary and a trade standpoint. 



I can distinctly recollect a visit which you paid to the 

 office of the rubber company with which I was connected in 

 Boston, in the summer of 1889. On that occasion you spoke 

 of introducing a journal devoted to the interests of the rub- 

 ber and electrical trades, believing that these industries had 

 become so important that a trade journal was indispensable. 

 In due course the paper appeared, and was favorably re- 

 ceived by the rubber trade generally. 



I have been a constant reader of The India Rubber World 

 for the past twenty years, and have found it to be a source of 

 valuable information on all matters relating to the rubber in- 

 dustry. I have on file in my office all the publications in 

 the world devoted to the rubber trade; but I consider the 

 information I obtain from The India Rubber World to be 

 of more value to me than that contained in any other publi- 

 cation on the subject. With kind regards, Yours very truly, 



JOHN kearns, 

 Factory Manager, Dunlop Rubber Co. 



Melbourne, Australia, November 16, 1909. 



OBITUARY. 



YV7ILBUR SHERWOOD' UNDERHILL, son of the late Caleb 



w 



Fowler and Emily Sherwood Underhill, died at Yonkers, 



New York, on December 10, of heart disease. He was born July 

 5, 1852, at New Rochelle, educated in the Yonkers public schools 

 and engaged in business in New York for a short time, after 

 which he accepted a position in the factory of the Hodgman 

 Rubber Co., where in the course of time he became assistant 

 superintendent. He was much respected by the firm and the em- 

 ployees, and upon the completion of twenty-five years of connec- 

 tion with the factory was presented with a handsome silver cup, 

 fittingly inscribed. Mr. Underhill resigned about two years 

 since. He was a lover of music, and for thirty-three years was 

 organist and choir master at St. John's Episcopal Church, Tucka- 

 hoe. On January 12, 1876, Mr. Underhill married Miss Jane 

 Odell Dusenberry, who survives him. Mr. Underhill died at 

 the residence of his father-in-law, Charles R. Dusenberry, of 

 Yonkers. 



