44 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



[October 1, 1920. 



THE RUBBER TRADE IN OHIO 



By Our /\'r,^'i(/iir CKncsfoinlciil 

 AKRON NOTES 



AKRON rubber industries have gone back to the sohd business 

 of producing merchantable goods without any frills or inter- 

 esting accompaniments. The industrial slowing up throughout the 

 United States, which in time made itself felt in .Akron to some 

 extent, has made industrial heads look closely over the books 

 and compare overhead charges during the past few years in the 

 rubl>cr industry as compared with similar charges in other in- 

 dustries. 



The resull has been that when it was found necessary to curtail 

 to meet the demands of bankers, a large part of the men and 

 ■women on the payrolls of the factories were doing non-essentials 

 as far as actually producing merchandise to be placed in freight 

 cars was concerned. Business had been so good that men were 

 added to the payrolls whenever they could be found, and in time, 

 systems became bulky and heady, and several men were doing 

 work which could have been done by one man. 



During the rush, when it was impossible to get half of the work 

 done which was needed to fill the demands of a strong market, 

 there was no time to talk of getting rid of overhead. The demands 

 of business made it necessary to get out goods at any cost. Then 

 came the demands from the bankers that an era of conservation 

 be inaugurated, and as the factory heads went over the books, it 

 was found that thousands of men and women in the factories and 

 offices were non-producing. The factory heads decided that 

 they must either produce or leave. 



Many of the men who intended to leave .•\kron during the 

 periods when the factories were culling were offered positions in 

 the mills. Some of the wiser ones, knowing that in time industry 

 would return to its former level, took advantage of the offers 

 and are to-day working in overalls, awaiting the day when they 

 will again return to their former places. Others decided that the 

 work of producing goods was not to their liking, and they left 

 the city with the stories that have become current in almost all 

 parts of the United States, that the slump was killing Akron. 



The culling process has added materially to the efficiency of 

 the factories in Akron. Many factory managers in the city have 

 told the correspondent of The India Rubber World that efficiency 

 has increased from IS to 20 per cent in the production depart- 

 ments and the percentage is even higher in non-production de- 

 partments. The men now at work in the Akron factories realize 

 that they must produce a fair day's work for a fair day's pay, 

 and the result has been a general speeding up all along the line. 

 The stories that wages have been cut in the factories can be 

 branded as untrue. The fact is, men who were working in the 

 high wage tire departments have been transferred to other depart- 

 ments and there they have been started at the beginner's wage. 

 In a short time they will reach the highest prices paid in these 

 departments, which of course are not as high as in the tire de- 

 partments, where the work is heavier. 



Strange to say, factory heads reported recently that the sun- 

 dries, heel, sole and belting business took a remarkable spurt 

 forward at the time the tire industry slackened, and as a result 

 many of the workers were transferred. This is believed by fac- 

 tory heads to have resulted in the stories that wages have been 

 materially cut in the city. 



Manufacturers assert that business for the year will show a 

 large increase over business last year when the fiscal year reports 

 are published in November. 



Goodyear sales for August amounted to $liS,962,009, and for 

 the first eight months of the year totaled $181,1 l.S,964, which is 

 more than $12,000,000 in excess of the business done during the 

 same period last year. The sales for the month of August were 

 more than $1,000,000 than in August of last year, when they were 

 $17,925,193. Predictions are made by Goodyear officials that the 

 total business for the year will amount to more than $200,000,000. 



The business of Akron's rubber factories is well reflected by 

 other industries in the city. Men in Akron know conditions and 

 would not invest money in building unless they believed the con- 

 dition of the basic industry of the city to be sound. Building 

 reports at the city hall show that permits have been issued this 

 year to the amount of appro.ximately $17,000,000, as compared 

 with appro.ximately $14,000,000 last year. In these totals are 

 commercial and factory buildings amounting to $3,123,620 for the 

 first eight months as compared with $1,443,435 during the same 

 period last year. 



Steam ^hovels are excavating for two hotels to cost close to 

 $10,000,0(X). One new hotel has l>een opened in the city with 175 

 rooms. The building undertaken last year is going forward. The 

 city state employment bureau finds difficulty in obtaining men for 

 construction work for the city and the county. More than 

 $3,000,000 wKrth of high-class apartment houses have been 

 financed and are under construction in the residential district 

 and several terraces are being completed for small-salaried people. 

 These things merely indicate what business men in .-Xkron think 

 of Akron's industries, and it is well known that men with money 

 do not invest good dollars to create sentiment. 



The new ten-acre athletic field wliich The B. F. GoodricI". 

 Company is constructing as a playground for its employes 

 ranks with the finest in the country. It is equipped for all 

 leading sports, including trap shooting, canoeing, two baseball 

 diamonds, cricket and soccer fields, 10 tennis courts, hand ball 

 courts, modern running tracks and other features. A concrete 

 stadium is projected, to seat 3,300, with bleacher accommoda- 

 tions for 3,000 more, overlooking the new baseball diamond, 

 which is graded down to professional lines that rival the big- 

 league greens. 



The running track encircles the field and has a 2S-foot width 

 on the straight-away with 15-foot curves and measures three 

 laps to the mile. Scientific construction enables the track to 

 drain fit for use almost instantaneously after a pouring rain. 



Plans include a canoe clubhouse to be built along the adjoin- 

 ing canal. The field will probably be completed in the fall 

 of 1921. 



The fifth annual Labor Day outing of The B. F. Goodrich 

 Co. at Goodrich Field, Akron, was attended by fully 15,000 en- 

 thusiastic picnickers, the largest attendance so far recorded. 

 Concerts morning and afternoon by the Goodrich band, directed 

 by Clark Miller, were an enjoyable feature of the picnic and 

 much fun was aroused by the efforts of three amateur clowns 

 to mimic the entrants in the various events. Prizes of money 

 and merchandise certificates were awarded the winners in the 

 contests, which included foot races of all kinds, shot put, broad 

 and high jumps, horseshoe tournament, boxing contest, tug-of- 

 war, greased pig chase, and girls' baseball game. Chick Mears 

 captured prizes in seven events and also drew the lucky entry 

 number, wiiuiing a $50 inerchandise certificate. 



Statisticians of The B. F. Gtwdrich Rubber Co. have esti- 

 mated that Goodrich tires today cost 25 per cent less and 

 give approximately 100 per cent greater average mileage than 

 they did ten years ago. This good news to tire users is based 

 on comparative price lists and an adjustment basis of 8,000 

 miles for Goodrich cord and 6,000 miles for their fabric tires. In 

 1910 a 30 by 3-inch fabric cased tire cost $25.45. Today that 

 size can be bought for $19.10. The 32 by 4-inch tire of 1910 

 cost $48.65 as against $36.80 in 1920. The 35 by 5-inch tire that 

 sells today at $65.33 cost the user $82.75 in 1910. 



More than 50 events with about 1,000 entries made up the 

 Labor Day outing program of The Goodyear Tire & Rubber 

 Co. at Seiberling Field, Akron. A picnic dinner and supper 

 were the main features of the day, with band concerts and com- 

 munity singing in the evening, followed by a dance in Good- 

 year gymnasium. 



