July i, iqio.] 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



355 



Some Rubber Interests in Europe. 



SEMI-CENTENNIAL AT ST. PETERSBURG. 



ONE of the most widely known Russian manufacturing con- 

 cerns, the Russian-American India-Rubber Co., of St. 

 Petersburg, celebrated its fiftieth anniversary on May 

 9-22. On this occasion the workmen received very liberal gifts 

 in money, while the foremen were presented, in addition to 

 such gifts, with commemorative medals. The company's offi- 

 cials also received medals, partly ornamented with precious 

 stones. The company gave a festival for the officials and fore- 

 men, and an entertainment had likewise been provided for the 

 foremen and workmen. At all these festivities the president of 

 the company, Baron von Krauskopf, was the recipient of special 

 honors. 



In a review of the history of this important company, the 

 Gummi-Zeitung points out that the business was founded by Mr. 

 Ferdinand Krauskopf. When the first American rubber shoes 

 appeared in the German market he at once foresaw that an im- 

 portant outlet for rubber shoes might be provided, especially in 

 Russia, in view of the quite large rainfall in many parts of that 

 country. He therefore went to America to study the details of 

 rubber shoe manufacturing, and erected in St. Petersburg, in 

 partnership with Mr. Leendert Smith, of Hamburg, and with 

 Messrs. L. Heyse and Ch. Dryssen, the works which were under 

 his management until his death in 1875. 



His successor was Mr. Gustav Heyse, who died in 1909. Since 

 1874 unusually important services have been rendered to the 

 works by the chairman of the board of directors, Baron F. von 

 Krauskopf, son of the founder of the concern. He devoted his 

 especial attention to the development of the institutions for the 

 benefit of employes, among which are a day nursery for 300 

 children of workmen, a school for the workmen's children, and a 

 recreation home for workmen. All of these institutions were 

 still further enlarged on the occasion of the celebration of the 

 company's fiftieth anniversary. Since 1909 the president has 

 been assisted by Mr. F. Uthemann in the capacity of business 

 manager and by Mr. Arthur Kraack, who entered the company's 

 employ in 1886, as chief confidential clerk. 



At the present time the ground space covered by the buildings 

 is more than 228,500 square meters [=nearly 2,500,000 square 

 feet], most of the buildings being four-story structures. The 

 total length of all the stories would be about 16,000 meters in 

 a straight line. The operating machinery requires at present 

 12,500 hp... and 60 steam boilers, with a total heating surface 

 of about 69,000 square meters, generate the necessary volume 

 of steam. The number of workmen, expressed in round figures, 

 is 8,000. A large number of German chemists and engineers are 

 employed in these extensive works. 



NORTH BRITISH RUBBER CO. GOING TO PARIS. 



The Edinburgh Scotsman says : "It is announced that the 

 North British Rubber Co., Limited, of Castle Mills, have 

 just completed the purchase of a fully-equipped india- 

 rubber factory in the outskirts of Paris, and that they will com- 

 mence operations there almost immediately. The new works 

 have a capacity for the employment of 1,000 or more hands, and 

 provide ample room for large extensions. 



"The North British Rubber Co., Limited, as is well known, 

 are the largest rubber manufacturers in the British empire, em- 

 ploying as they do some 4,000 to 5,000 workpeople. This move 

 has been made following on the recent increase in the French 

 tariff, which has raised the duties on motor tires, cycle tires, 

 cab tires, and other classes of rubber goods, in which this 

 company do a very extensive trade, not only in France but in all 

 other parts of the Continent. 



"This event will be regarded as an object lesson in the relative 



value of the systems of free trade and protection. It is possible 

 that unless some relief is given in the way of reduced duties that 

 the North British Rubber Co. will open factories in the other 

 principal continental countries." 



This announcement is all the more interesting in that it fol- 

 lows the organization in Germany of an independent joint stock 

 company by the North British Rubber Co., Limited, with a view 

 ultimately to manufacturing. [See The India Rubber World, 

 August 1, 1909 — page 388.] 



A GERMAN RUBBER MANUFACTURER HONORED. 



Among the birthday honors distributed by the King of Saxony 

 recently was a signal distinction accorded to an important repre- 

 sentative of the German rubber industry. It was the confer- 

 ment of the royal Saxon title Kommerzienrat (counsellor of 

 commerce) upon Herr Heinrich Briick, general director of Leip- 

 ziger Gummiwaren Fabrik A.-G., vormals Julius Marx, Heine 



Kommerzienrat Heinrich Brueck. 



[General Director Leipzic Rubber Co.] 



& Co. This gentleman ranks not only among the most important 

 representatives of the rubber industry in the German empire, but 

 also among the most popular. For 46 years he has devoted his 

 energies to the Leipziger concern, so that he has become one 

 of the senior members of the trade, entitled to preside by right 

 of seniority particularly over the councils of the surgical rubber 

 goods industry. 



FIFTY YEARS OF HONORABLE SERVICE. 



Over the building of the rubber manufacturing firm Dr. Heinr. 

 Traun & Sohne, in Hamburg and Harburg, on April 24, the 

 private flags of the company were waving in connection with the 

 celebration of special interest to the firm and its employes. It 

 was in honor of the fiftieth anniversary of the employment by 

 the firm of Mr. Gustav Friebeck, stock superintendent. On the 

 date mentioned he was retired with full pay as an acknowledg- 

 ment of his merits, and as he is still vigorous many years of quiet 

 repose doubtless are in store for him. As the doorkeeper of the 

 same factory in Harburg, Carl Meyer celebrated his fiftieth anni- 

 versary on April 16. Christian Winckelmann, a laborer, expects 

 to follow suit on July 19, when the living employes of the com- 

 pany retired with full pay after 50 years of service with the 

 company will number 13. During the present year honors will 

 be conferred upon 20 employes who have been in the service of 



