278 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



[May i, 1910. 



dignified head of the house that issued it. after a few mo- 

 ments of dismayed surprise, laughed until tears rolled down 

 his cheeks. 



Mr. Fred. Hall Jones, for a long time treasurer of the 

 Association but now vice president, was called upon, and in 

 his response, after telling very well some typical after- 

 dinner anecdotes, sounded a note that appealed to all pres- 

 ent. He sketched, very happily, the characteristics of the 

 manufacturers of New England, New York, and the Wi 1 

 who made up this Association, and who by differences of 

 temperament and of training, were able when they worked 

 in unison to make an ideal and effective body industrial. 



After a vote of thanks to the retiring President, the audi- 

 ence turned and faced the tiny stage at one end of the room 

 where appeared, first, a full blooded Moqui Indian, in 

 resplendent war dress, who not only spoke understandable 

 Euglish, but who had a line of sleight-of-hand tricks that 

 would make any pale-face prestidigitator white with envy. 

 Then followed a very jolly little comedian, who sang songs 



and told new stories, and then a huge Dutchman who made 

 excellent music out of tin cans, barrels and all sorts of un- 

 promising material. 



This year's souvenir was a dainty little traveling clock, 

 about three inches high, a triumph of French clockmaking 

 art in brass and crystal. The clock was covered by a 

 beautifully finished pigskin case, in itself both a protection 

 and an ornament. Taken by and large, this year's was the 

 equal of any that the committee — Messrs. Hodgman and Huber — 

 have ever planned, which is saying much. 



The afternoon of April 14 was devoted by the Rubber 

 Sundries Manufacturers' Association to a business meeting 

 and election of officers for the ensuing year. The officers 

 elected were George B. Hodgman, president of the Hodg- 

 man Rubber Co., President; Fred. Hall Jones, president of 

 the Tyer Rubber Co., Vice President; Edward E. Huber, of 

 Eberhard Faber, Secretary and Treasurer. Mr. Huber has 

 been the secretary of the Association for several years, and 

 now has two offices to his credit. 



A British Raid on the Golf Market.* 



HAVING finally smashed the American patent on rubber 

 cored golf balls over there, the Britishers are seeking to 

 get their own makes into this market. They are not try- 

 ing to establish branch houses here or to put their golf balls on 

 sale in the stores or the professionals' shops. This would be a 

 violation of the American patent law, and the Britishers would 

 have to defend an injunction suit, which could be carried as far 

 as the supreme court at Washington. Should the evidence that 

 prevailed with the lower court, the chancery division and the 

 house of lords prevail here the Britishers could break the patent 

 rights and create an open shop in golf balls. 



"I wish they would or could break the patents," said a whole- 

 sale dealer in golf goods. "With an open shop we would make 

 our own golf balls, as we did in the days of the solid gutta ; 

 they would cost the public one-half what they do now and as we 

 would not pay royalties to any one our profits would be larger." 



But the newest British trade invasion does not seem to have 

 any ulterior motive as to patent breaking. The firms of St. 

 George are not seeking a combat with the American patent 

 dragon. Instead they seem to seek only the nimble shilling or so 

 in profit. To golfers in different parts of the United States 

 have recently been delivered by the letter carriers a neat linen 

 bag, the sort in which golden guineas are carried about the stage 

 in melodrama, fastened loosely by a cord so that the contents 

 may be examined at the postoffice. The address tag is- stamped — 

 American value three cents in stamps — and on it is written in 

 pencil, "Samples, no value." In the bag is a paper box holding 

 two golf balls. One end of the box is broken, but each golf 

 ball is in its original package and the seals are intact. 



In an earlier mail appebts an advance notice, a forewarning 

 that the mysterious looking bag does not contain dynamite or a 

 bomb. The gist of the letter is : 



"We are sending you samples of our golf balls. We shall be 

 glad if you will favor us by testing these. We are sending these 

 balls into the States at the special price of $10 for two dozen, 

 carriage paid direct to user, who pays duty on arrival. 



Similar offers are being advertised in American golf magazines. 

 Duty paid, the balls stand the user about $7 a dozen. The odd 

 part of the proposal is that it invites the user to violate the patent 

 law, and if the transaction is sifted thoroughly the United States 

 postal authorities may be placed as confederates in the temptation. 

 The British shipper, whether he uses the mails or sends by ex- 

 press, may only he punished by having his goods stopped and 

 sent back. An injunction suit might possibly be brought, but 



*From the New York Sun, March 6, ioto. 



not so readily as if the British firms would set up branches here 

 and openly attack the American market. 



An individual who gets samples of the British balls or who 

 orders them sent over need not fear that he will be enjoined from 

 using them. A leading New York dealer said three years ago 

 when the American patents were first wiped out in Great Britain 

 and certain golfers here were using English balls : "We can't 

 reach the makers or the underhand consigners of these balls 

 made in contempt of the American patent, but we can get after 

 the individuals who openly use them. We will stop by legal 

 means, and very quickly, the golfer who plays with an English 

 golf ball or any golf ball made in defiance of our rights on an 

 American course." 



Regarding this threat, a New York lawyer who is a golfer 

 uttered at this time this informal opinion: "An injunction might 

 be served on the player who is using the obnoxious ball. A 

 temporary injunction might be asked for from the court, and 

 unless the player demonstrated his legal right to use the ball, 

 the injunction would then be made a permanent one. There could 

 be no arrest in the first instance, but if the injunction were 

 granted and subsequently violated there might be cause for a 

 criminal action. 



"It is good law, I believe, that an American patent must be 

 protected from encroachments on the American markets of 

 articles made in violation of that patent in other countries. But 

 in genera! law, to speak offhand, it may not be easy to obtain 

 a permanent injunction against a golfer who may prefer to use a 

 golf ball made in England and which is not on sale in this 

 country. The golfer may prove to the court that in England 

 it has been decided it is lawful to make and vend the golf ball 

 he is using. An American judge might follow the decision of 

 the English court — law is largely a matter of precedents — and 

 refuse to enjoin the golfer from using the foreign made ball." 



Last week the New York dealer previously quoted revealed 

 that he had changed his tune about going after the individual 

 offenders. "I don't believe," said he, "that any interference 

 would ever be made with a golfer who uses English balls no 

 matter how he gets them. The game wouldn't be worth the 

 candle. Regarding this new offer from England, I think it a 

 joke. The sales will be so small at the quoted price plus duty 

 that there will be no money in it for the consigners. If the 

 American patentee thought it Worth while he could bar out the 

 parcel post deliveries or any other deliveries here. I don't be- 

 lieve the Britishers are seeking a test case. Instead I believe 

 they are absolutely ignorant of our patent rights and are just 



