September i, 1910.] 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



427 



Naugatuck and whom he represented later in Europe, finally 

 establishing the business at Bridgeport now operated under the 

 name Canfield Rubber Co. In 1885 the subject of this sketch 

 assumed active management of this corporation as its secretary. 

 In i88y he withdrew to establish himself at Bridgeport in the 

 manufacture of a line of mechanical rubber goods, which busi- 

 ness was incorporated in 1904 as The H. O. Canfield Co., .Mr. 

 Canfield filling the office of president until his death. 



In addition to being a successful business man, Mr. Canfield 

 had numerous interests in life. He became a member of many 

 branches of the Masonic order, in which he took several of the 

 highest degrees. He was an attendant at the Episcopal church, 

 and his charities, though unostentatious, are known to have been 

 many. Mr. Canfield, on April 17, 1875, married Emmagene C. 

 Freshour, of West Greece, New York, who survives. There are 

 two sons — A. H. Canfield, vice president, and H. B. Canfield, 

 secretary, of The H. O. Canfield Co. When Mr. Canfield retired 

 from the Canfield Rubber Co. he sold his interest to his brother- 

 in-law, the late Ratcliffe Hicks. 



Mr. Canfield was always a striking, interesting figure. He 

 was large, manly, optimistic, and unalterably genial. He num- 

 bered his friends by hundreds, and loved dearly to see and enter- 

 tain them. 



FRANK C. HOWLETT. 



Frank C. Howlett, of Syracuse, New York, one of the most 

 successful and best known rubber goods merchants in the coun- 

 try, died on July 29 at Watkins Glen, where he had gone for 

 his health, which for some time had not been robust. Air. 

 Howdett was born 53 years ago, at Cambridge, Massachusetts, 

 and educated in the Boston schools. He was employed at first 

 by Clapp, Evans & Co., a firm succeeded by the American Rub- 

 ber Co., which latter was merged into the United States Rubber 

 Co. 



While quite a young man Mr. Howlett went to Syracuse with 

 H. B. Hall, son of H. A. Hall, then a prominent member of the 

 New England rubber trade. Mr. Hall opened a rubber goods 

 store in Syracuse ; he took a partner, O. W. Clary, under the 

 style of Clary & Hall, and afterwards sold out to Clary. In [881 

 Mr. Howlett went into business for himself at Syracuse as F. C. 

 Howlett & Co. The next year a branch house was organized in 

 Rochester, under the name Howlett Brothers. In 1886 a third 

 store was opened at Buffalo. 



Through these three houses Mr. Howdett controlled a goodly 

 share of the jobbing trade in rubber goods in western New 

 York. They were handlers of the products of United States 

 Rubber Co., and about four years ago the three businesses were 

 incorporated, each with capital contributed by the United States 

 Rubber Co. — Syracuse Rubber Co., the Rochester Rubber Co., 

 and Iroquois Rubber Co., each with Mr. Howlett as president 

 and treasurer. The combined business of the three houses was 

 estimated locally at something like $1,500,000 per year. In 1895 

 Mr. Howlett bought out the business of Mr. Clary already men- 

 tioned in this sketch. 



Mr. Howlett is survived by a widow, who was Miss Ella 

 Phelps ; also by a brother, Eugene, at Cambridge. 



Frank Howlett had a generous, whole souled nature that made 

 life richer for those who knew him. He was distinctly a good 

 ■citizen, as well as a good business man, but he declined to accept 

 political honor. He was a member of the Masonic order and of 

 several country clubs, and an attendant at the Presbyterian 

 church. He was exceptionally gifted as a tenor singer. 



BR. S. AXELROD 



The rubber industry, particularly on its scientific side, has suf- 

 fered a severe loss in the too early death of Dr. S. Axelrod, one 

 of the more modern group of German rubber chemists. Born in 

 Odessa, Russia, he went at an early age to Berlin to complete 

 his studies, after which he entered the rubber laboratory of the 

 late Dr. Robert Henriques, whom he served as an assistant for 



some years. In 1897 he became chemist for the Allgemeine 

 Electrizitats Gesellschaft's cable plant at Oberspree, in which 

 position he remained until his death, and most of his research 

 work on rubber was carried on during this period. Dr. Axelrod's 

 investigations were conducted along practical as well as scien- 

 tific lines, and rubber chemists in general are familiar with his 

 improved methods for the analysis of rubber, together with his 

 researches into the general problems of vulcanization, mastica- 

 tion, and the like. Along practical lines he was active in investi- 

 gations into the valuation and working of crude rubber, and in 

 improvements in the manufacture of rubber-covered wire. Dr. 

 Axelrod died on July 28. 



PASSING OF A GERMAN RUBBER PIONEER. 



The death will be widely regretted in the trade of Herr 

 Robert Friedrich Metzeler, of Munich, the founder of the india- 

 rubber industry in Bavaria, who passed away at his home dur- 

 ing the night between July 15-16. 



Born in 1833, in Memmingen, Mr. Met/eler was compelled at 

 an early age to enter the battle of life. After having tried 

 various lines of business in his native and other countries, he 

 reached Munich in i860, with the intention of opening in that 

 city a rubber goods store. However, the men who were at that 

 time burgomaster and councilmen of Munich, harbored the opin- 

 ion that a man would not be able to make a living from such 

 business (the rubber trade being then a complete novelty in 

 that city), and they refused to grant him a license. Nothing 

 daunted, however, Air. Metzeler repeated his applications during 

 the next three years, until he finally succeeded, in 1863, in ob- 

 taining permission to start in business. 



The growth of his trade, exceeding his most sanguine ex- 

 pectations, induced Mr. Metzeler in 1873 t0 establish a rubber 

 works, which was removed in 1888 to a new and much more 

 extensive plant. In 1890, Mr. Metzeler became a candidate for 

 the reichstag, but was unable to win out against the candidate 

 of the Social Democratic party. In consideration of his eminent 

 services to the home industry, the title of Royal Bavarian 

 Kommerzienrat was conferred on himi in 1891. In the year 

 1910 — under date of May 7 — the firm of Metzeler & Co., was 

 converted into a joint stock company, and Mr. Metzeler tried 

 from the management of the business. The new company began 

 with a capitalization of 1,600,000 marks, which amount has been 

 increased largely, to keep pace with the growth of its trade. 

 The Metzeler family continue to be identified with the man- 

 agement in the person of Dr. Karl Metzeler, who may be said 

 to have grown up in the business. 



The Gummi-Zeitung, in an appreciative notice of the deceased, 

 says: "In him we again lose one of those clear sighted men 

 who, by their energy and practical experience, have created a 

 new industry in their country. All who have had occasion to 

 come in contact with this sterling German man of the old stamp, 

 will cherish his memory." 



A GOOD YEAR IN TENNIS. 



' I ' HE tennis goods trade for the season just closed showed 

 ■*• a very good increase over last year. It is stated from an 

 authoritative source that if the weather had not been so cold 

 and wet in May and June, 1910 doubtless would have been the 

 banner year for the tennis trade in the United States. The 

 succeeding two months, however, cleaned up stocks in the hands 

 of jobbers and retailers, and the outlook for the next season is 

 considered very good. 



There will probably be a few changes for next year in the 

 way of lasts and patterns, but the general styles will remain 

 about the same. Prices and terms had not been settled in time 

 to be reported in this issue, but it was expected that they would 

 be ready for distribution to the trade by September 1, as usual. 



