October 1, 1920.] 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



43 



To encourage employes in production departments not holding 

 executive positions to suggest changes in working methods, equip- 

 ment, or working conditions that will result in time saving, labor 

 saving, or in improving quality, the Converse Rubber Shoe Co., 

 Maiden, is offering cash awards ranging from $5 to $200 for 

 acceptable ideas. Decisions and awards are promptly made by 

 the operating board and rejections are accompanied by the reason 

 why the suggestion cannot be adopted. It is a plan that makes 

 for greater efficiency, more interest and a better spirit of co- 

 operation. 



The Mechanical Rubber Manufacturing Co., Andover, is now 

 in production on a small scale and will specialize in the manu- 

 facture of small rubber covered rolls for the textile trade. The 

 company was organized in June with the following operating 

 personnel: E. Reed, president, formerly of the United States 

 Rubber Co., New York City ; and M. F. Foxon, assistant treasurer 

 and general manager, formerly of the United States Rubber Co., 

 Boston. 



The executives and foremen of the Tyer Rubber Co., .Andover 

 Massachusetts, held a very successful outing at Marblehcad 

 Saturday, August 28, making the trip by automobiles imme- 

 diately after the factory closing hours. Upon arrival huicheon 

 was served, followed by athletic contests, for which prizes were 

 awarded, and an interesting game of baseball between teams 

 representing the foremen and the oihce executives was won by 

 the latter team. The outing closed with an uld-fashioned clam- 

 bake. 



The Alfred Hale Rubber Co., .Atlantic, Massachusetts, has 

 increased its capital stock to 100,000 shares of no par value. 

 Irving M. McQuiston was recently elected vice-president and 

 appointed general manager, effective September 1. 



J. W. Hood has succeeded M. S. Connelly as advertising man- 

 ager of the Hood Rubber Co., Watertown. Mr. Hood is not new 

 to the company, having previously been associated with Mr. Con- 

 nelly in charge of the firm's tire advertising. 



As in other parts of the country tire production is being cur- 

 tailed in Massachusetts and several hundred tire builders have 

 been temporarily laid off or transferred to other departments. 

 Footwear output is normal, and the demand for mechanicals is 

 reported good. 



BOSTON KOTES 



Frank A. Vanderlip, one of the directors of the United States 

 Rubber Co., former president of the National City Bank of New 

 York, and one of the nation's leading financial authorities, has 

 consented to conduct a question-box and round-table discussion 

 of financial matters at the Banking and Credit Section conference 

 in connection with the fifth annual meeting of the Associated 

 Industries of Massachusetts at the CopIey-PIaza Hotel. Boston. 

 October 29. There will be no set speeches. Mr. Vanderlip will 

 sit down with the meiubers, answer their questions and discuss 

 with them informally tlie various problems of banking, finance 

 and credit with which they are faced as managers of industrial 

 enterprises. 



W. 0. Rutherford, vice-president in charge of sales, was a 

 recent visitor at the Boston branch of The B. F. Goodrich Rubber 

 Co. and gave the staff a helpful business talk in wliich he painted 

 an optimistic picture of the future of the automobile industry. 



The Boston office of Charles T. Wilson Co., Inc., crude rubber 

 broker, 516 Winthrop Building, has been closed and the New 

 England business of the firm will be conducted froiri the main 

 office, 56 Wall street. New York City. 



The Davidson Rubber Co., Boston, in order to concentrate and 

 standardize its work, has eliminated certain numbers among its 

 former products and, contrary to report, has to dispose of com- 

 plete equipment for the manufacture of the discontinued items, 

 especially a dipped goods plant for the manufacture of rubber 

 gloves, including all the necessary outfittings.' 



The Uehling Instrument Co., New York City, is now being 

 represented in New England by the Smith Engineering & Supply 

 Co., 89 State street, Boston, specializing in power plant equip- 

 ment. S. W. Smith is president of the concern. 



JOHN R. GAMMETER, MECHANICAL ENGINEER 



EVERYBODY who Studies rubber machinery through the medium 

 of patent specilicatinns is familiar with the name of John R. 

 Gammeter, engineer in charge of mechanical inventions for 



The B. F. Goodrich Rubber Co., 

 Akron, Ohio. An exceptionally 

 ingenious and prolific designer of 

 labor-saving devices for most 

 branches of the rubber industry, 

 his remarPable career in his. 

 chosen lield has been that of a 

 self-made man possessed of alert- 

 ness, initiative, ample capacity 

 for hard work and the determina- 

 tion to succeed. 



Mr. Gammeter is a native of 

 .\kron, where he was born May 

 19, 1876. Following a common 

 school education, he first engaged 

 in the plumbing and heating busi- 

 ness. When about twenty years 

 Jdiix R. G.\MMKTi£R "^<^- liowever, he returned to 



Akron and obtained employment 

 with tlie Goodrich company, with which he has since been 

 identified except for some nine montlis spent witli the Penn- 

 sylvania Rubber Co. about 1900. 



Dropping off a freight train with only fifty cents in his pocket, 

 the best job he could obtain was pushing a truck at ten cents, 

 an hour. But right away he began to search for opportunity. 

 Noticing a number of girls trimming the overflow from rubber 

 stoppers at about $1.50 a day, he set to work making a small 

 machine trimmer. While experimenting with this he carried 

 untrimmed stoppers home in his dinner basket. When alighting 

 from an express wagon one day he slipped and spilled them 

 on the street. The expressman reported the supposed theft 

 to Mr. Gammeter's foreman, who at once began to make in- 

 quiries. Mr. Gammeter's reply was an invitation to look at 

 his machine, wliich was brought to the plant and put in successful 

 operation. 



Since then Mr. Gammeter has devoted himself to the im- 

 provement of mechanical methods and devices in rubber manu- 

 facture. He has invented dozens of important machines, and 

 now has associated with him a large corps of engineers who 

 constitute what is known as the Goodrich experimental de- 

 partment. While in recent years tire machines have had much 

 attention, Mr. Gammeter early became interested in aviation, 

 and during the war invented a balloon valve which was adopted 

 by the United States Army and Navy. He is an enthusiast re- 

 garding the future of aviation and was recently named by the 

 Governor of Ohio to serve as a member of tlie State Aviation 

 Commission. 



An ardent sportsman, Mr. Gammeter has a game preserve of 

 two thousand acres near Akron. He is also very much interested 

 in amusement parks and is the owner of the largest tile-lined 

 outdoor swimming pool in the world. He is a keen business 

 man, a good reader of character, and has exceptional control 

 of labor. 



His meml)ership in clnl)S and societies includes the Engineer- 

 ing Society of .Xkron. American Society of Automotive Engi- 

 neers. .-\kron Flying Club, Masonic Club, Fairlawn Heights 

 Golf Club, Portage Fish and Game Association, and the Asso- 

 ciated Aviation Clubs of Ohio, of which he is president. 



