396 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



[August i, ic io. 



Some Rubber Interests in Europe. 



REPORT OF THE "PROWODNIK" COMPANY. 



THE report of the directors of the Russian-French India 

 Rubber Co. — the "Prowodnik" firm — at Riga, presented at 

 the twenty-second annual meeting, held in May, related 

 to the accounts for the business year 1909. The results com- 

 pared with 1908 as follows (in rubles) : 



1908. 1909. 



Receipts 21,673,587.21 22,864,641.44 



Expenses 19,690,047.16 20,654.461.04 



2,210,180.40 



Net profits 1,983,540.05 



[1 ruble = 51.5 cents.] 



Other details from the report for 1909 follow 

 Abstract of Accounts for 1909. 



Profits for 1909 2,210,180.40 



DISTRIBUTION OF PROFITS. 

 Amortization by installments rubles 



696,677.79 



141,707.32 



31,900.11 



2,500.00 



Government taxes 



Amount paid to the board of inspection 



Remuneration to the committee of revision 



Amount paid the management and gratifications to employes, 



technicists, foremen and workmen 221,148.58 



Dividend, 12 per cent 1,080,000.00 



Transferred to special reserve account 36,246.60 



Total 2,210,180.40 



Balance Sheet, January i, 1910. 



ASSETS. 



Land, buildings, machines, apparatus, tools, etc rubles 9,444,724.84 



Patents 57,265.00 



Cash, sight drafts, bills of exchange and bank deposits 2,026,157.92 



Raw material, goods partly manufactured and merchandise 



at the factory 4,091,192.40 



Manufactured goods in outside warehouses 4,941,317.47 



Divers debtors 6,661,756.65 



Transient amounts 196,120.02 



Shares, in vaults and in the hands of debtors 143,700.00 



Total 27,562,234.30 



LIABILITIES. 



Capital of the company rubles 9,000,000.00 



Amortization installment funds 4,553,303-78 



Reserve capital 4,568,516.11 



Special reserve 1 ,278,744.60 



"Del Credere" capital 218,229.92 



Divers creditors and acceptances 6,340,794.80 



Employes' saving fund 214,477.60 



Less amounts administered direct bv the "caisse d'epargne".. 93,102.96 



Shares deposited in the hands of debtors 143,700.00 



Transient amounts 61,509.57 



Taxes for 1909 141,707.32 



Guaranty fund for "Del Credere" debtors 53,609.56 



Dividend for 1909 — 12 per cent 1,080,000.00 



Dividends from previous years not claimed 744.00 



Total 27,562,234.30 



The company was chartered August 8, 1888, with a capital of 

 700,000 rubles [=$360,500], and began operations in the follow- 

 ing year. 



Within the past two years the share capital of the company 

 has been increased from 7,000,000 rubles [=43,605,000] to 

 9,000,000 rubles [=$4,635,000], in compliance with a vote at a 

 special general meeting on August 23, 1908. The new share issue 

 was completed on December 23 of that year- — 20,000 shares of 

 100 rubles issued at 200 rubles, and netting 3,954,656.99 rubles 

 after paying the stamp tax and other expenses of issue. The 

 result was to add to the share capital 2,000,000 rubles and to the 

 reserve funds 1,954,656.99 rubles. The new shares ranked for 

 dividends from January 1, 1909. Hence at the same rate of 

 dividend — 12 per cent. — the distribution was 1,080,000 rubles 

 [=$556,200] for the last business year, as against 840,000 rubles 

 [=4432,600] for the business year 1908. 



The Russian word Prowodnik — which is printed here in the 

 Russian alphabet — does not indicate a locality, but is to be 

 translated "Conductor," in the sense of a leader of the business, 

 or the one in front. We have known this word to be translated 



"a live wire," but we believe this rendering is not used in the 

 office at Riga. 



nPOBCUHHITb 



[The first nine letters are equivalent to the English PROWODNIK; 

 the final letter is a guide to the pronounciation in Russian.] 



The name of this company is expressed in their trade pub- 

 lications in English as The Russian-French India Rubber, Gutta- 

 percha and Telegraph Works "Prowodnik," Riga, the style being 

 due to the fact that an important amount of French capital was 

 employed in its foundation. In French the style of the company 

 is Societe des Fabriques Russes-Francaises pour la production 

 des articles des Caoutchouc, de Gutta-Percha et de Telegraphie 

 "Prowodnik," Riga. In their German correspondence the style 

 used is Gesellschaft der Russisch-Franzosischen Gummi-, Gutta- 

 percha- und Telegraphenwerke in Firma "Prowodnik," Riga. A 

 general view of the works appears in The India Rubber World, 

 June i. 1910 (page 323). 



Products of the Prowodnik comprise perhaps as wide a range 

 of india-rubber and gutta-percha goods, including hard rubber, 

 as is the case of any other factory in this industry in the world. 

 Besides, asbestos and linoleum goods are included. Not only 

 is every important class of rubber products included, but a 

 great variety is made in each class. For instance, their cata- 

 logue of stationers' goods is illustrated with representations 

 of fifty styles and shapes of erasers, many of them of orna- 

 mental design such as are not shown in the American market. 

 There are erasers ornamented with such various subjects as a 

 beehive, a horse racing, representations of postage stamps, the 

 Eiffel tower, a cannon mounted, animals and birds of many 

 kinds, and so on — lettered in languages to suit the prospective 

 trade. These details are mentioned here to indicate the very 

 great attention which is given to meeting every possible demand, 

 and the same care is reflected in the manufacture of rubber 

 tires for all purposes, footwear, clothing, railway and steamship 

 appliances, and so on. The company are large exporters, main- 

 taining agencies not only throughout Europe, but in Asiatic 

 Russia, Persia, China, and Australia. 



The administration of the Prowodnik company is in the hands 

 of a board of directors consisting of B. W. Wittenberg, R. 

 Lehmwald, H. Kunkel, A. V. Hertwig, and E. Koch. Mr. Wit- 

 tenberg is director general and president of the board. There 

 is also a Conseil de Surveillance, consisting of Paul A. Schwartz, 

 Th. H. Schwartz, W. Vajen, J. Erhardt, B. Herberz, F. Uthe- 

 mann, R. Finaly, and L. Vernes. 



GERMAN TIRES AND THE FRENCH TARIFF. 

 [FROM THE "GUMMI-ZEITUNG."] 



Many references have been made in the Gummi-Zeitung to 

 the disadvantages against German industries, and especially the 

 rubber industry, as a result of the high French tariff. The 

 German trade in all of the rubber articles exported to France 

 suffers severely under the new tariff. Toys, surgical articles, 

 and special rubber goods are now taxed more than ever before 

 "to protect French industry to a sufficient extent against German 

 competition." 



To the extent of protective duties not being prohibitive of 

 trade, every country must be allowed to use them in its interests. 

 But the new French tariff is extremely rigorous, and it sup- 

 presses importation to a very great extent. 



It can be especially stated, in its application to automobile 

 tires, that the tax has been increased 30 per cent. This tariff 

 now amounts to 100 francs for 100 kilograms [=$19.30 for 220.46 



