May 1, iy21 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



595 



Scotland, this latter connection having been established by an 

 advertisement seen by Mr. Ilotchkiss in The India Rubber 

 World. He then went to the Norway Rubber Co., Mjondalen, 

 Norway, as advisory superintendent, returning to the United 

 States in September, 1908. He is now retired, living at Vineland, 

 New Jersey, healthy, happy and as much interested in rubber 

 as ever. 



THE RUBBER TRADE IN NEW JERSEY 



liy Our Regular Correspondent 



TRENTON NOTES 



TRENTON RUBBER MANUFACTURERS are greatly pleased with the 

 outlook in the tire and mechanical goods trade, and report 

 that the situation is gradually showing signs of improvement. 

 The plants manufacturing tires have not yet reached capacity 

 output, but tlie situation is regarded as much better than at the 

 close of the year 1920. With many of the factories working on 

 only part time, it is believed that the regular amount of buying 

 during the past few months will eventually result in a tire short- 

 age. This is one of the things that causes optimism among the 

 tire manufacturers. The Essex Rubber Co., manufacturers of 

 tubes and heels, has been running to capacity for several weeks. 

 Company officials report that they have enough work on hand 

 to last for some time. 



C. Edward Murray, Jr., vice-president of the Empire Rubber 

 & Tire Corporation, Trenton, in discussing the situation, said : 

 "The tire industry has been under the influence of unfavorable 

 circumstances for more than nine months past. There is a 

 much better tone noticeable now, and the ne.xt two or three 

 months will undoubtedly bring further improvement. Our tire 

 and tube departments are running 70 per cent capacity." 



John S. Broughton, president of the United & Globe Rubber 

 Co., Trenton, says he believes the tire crisis has been reached, 

 judging from the number of new orders his plant is receiving. 

 The Thermoid, Ajax and Bergougnan companies also report an 

 increase in business, with more men at work. 



Judge Joseph L. Bodine, in the United States District Court 

 at Trenton, has issued an order authorizing Arthur H. Wood 

 and C. Edward Murray, Jr., as receivers for the Empire Rubber 

 & Tire Corporation, to issue receivers' certificates in the sum 

 of $300,000. The receivers were first authorized to borrow 

 $50,000 on behalf of the company, and the court allowed $250,000 

 additional, to give sufficient funds to conduct the plant. The 

 receivership was requested by the Big Bend Mining Co., of 

 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, who claimed that while the com- 

 pany is solvent, its obligations amount to more than its ready 

 cash. The mining company alleged that the Empire company 

 owed $12,710.35 for coal, of which $5,760.35 was for coal deliv- 

 ered during January and February last, and long overdue. The 

 mining company also holds notes of the rubber company to the 

 amount of $6,950. The complainant expressed unwillingness to 

 start suit, as other companies were on the verge nf suing the 

 defendant company, which would result in a multiplicity' of 

 actions and the rubber company's business would thereby be 

 destroyed. 



The Empire rubber plant is appraised at over $2,000,000, and 

 with merchandise and other assets of about $3,500,000, the 

 business would eventually be put on a paying basis. The 

 liabilities, excluding capital stock, were given as $1 .."iOO.OOO. The 

 answer of the Empire company admitted all the char.ges in the 

 bill of complaint. The decree of Judge Bodine, in naming the 

 receivers, stated that the company was judged solvent, but had 

 no funds to meet its obligations. 



The Empire company, which is one of the largest and oldest 

 companies of its kind in this section, was chartered under the 

 laws of Virginia, and has its only factory in Trenton. The plant 

 employs more than 1,000 hands when in full operation. 



Edmund W. Craft and A. H. Greywacz, of the Thermoid Rub- 

 ber Co., recently read papers on the rubber industry before the 

 Engineers' Club of Trenton. Mr. Craft showed how the rubber 

 was cultivated and prepared, while Mr. Greywacz gave technical 

 features of the process of manufacture. Both papers were illus- 

 trated with lantern slides. 



The Puritan Rubber Co., whose storehouse was destroyed by 

 fire some time ago, has decided not to rebuild but to use another 

 section of the plant for storage purposes. The Fineburg Rubber 

 Co., whose plant near the Puritan works was also destroyed 

 by fire, has decided not to rebuild at this time. 



The Luzerne Rubber Co. has completed its new addition on 

 Muirheid avenue, a two-story structure 60 by 60 feet, which is 

 now in operation. The company has additional land in East 

 Trenton for future plant extensions. 



The Acme Rubber Manufacturing Co. has dropped temporarily 

 the idea of enlarging its Trenton plant. Some time ago the com- 

 pany had plans drawn for a one-story addition, 90 by 300 feet, 

 to be erected on East State street at a cost of $60,000. When 

 the plans were completed and the contract awarded the slump 

 hit the rubber industry and the Acme company decided not to 

 rebuild until the business situation brightened somewhat. 



The United Tire Co., Trenton, is the first tire company to 

 announce a free tire service to motorists, no matter what make 

 of tire they use. 



The John E. Thropp Sons Co., Trenton, manufacturer cf auto- 

 mobile tire molds and tire-making machinery, is erecting a new 

 forge shop and other additions to the works. The company is 

 now manufacturing a new tire-making machine designed for the 

 manufacture of cord tires. 



Some of the Trenton rubber establishments still employ women 

 in the tire-making departments. During the war, when male 

 help was at a premium, women were given jobs in the rubber 

 plants to learn tire-making. At the close of the war some of the 

 manufacturers laid ofi the women workers. One tire manu- 

 facturer states that there was no saving in hiring women, because 

 it was necessary to hire either men or boys to assist them in 

 the heavy work. 



Joseph S. Papier, proprietor of the Papier Auto Supply Co., 

 has been made the Trenton agent for Lee tires. 



MISCELLANEOUS NEW JERSEY NOTES 



The Sterling Tire Corporation, Rutherford, New Jersey, an- 

 nounces that in the future it will not sell its own products 

 through the Rubber Corporation of America. The Sterling com- 

 pany reports a revival of business and the plant is now running 

 about 70 per cent of its capacity. The plant is expected to be in 

 full operation in a short time. 



Papers in two suits against John P. Kilpatrick, appointed by the 

 Court of Chancery last November as receiver of the Stanwood 

 Rubber Co., an insolvent concern, have been filed in the county 

 clerk's office at Elizabeth, New Jersey. One plaintifl^, Edward 

 Hntchins of Eau Claire, Wisconsin, alleges that he performed 

 service as engineer and architect for the company's plant on the 

 Newark-Elizabeth line. He avers that he was promised compensa- 

 tion at the rate of 7^ per cent of the total cost of all work accom- 

 plished, which amounted to $393,293.50 on November 22, the 

 day the concern went into the hands of a receiver Mr. 

 liutchins claims compensation of $29,497.01, a portion of which 

 has been paid, and he seeks $20,000 covering the remainder and 

 interest. The Union County Trust Co. holds a $300,000 mortgage 

 made by the rubber company, and claims that this is subject to 

 the lien claim. The other plaintiff is the Gillette Rubber Co, 

 who claims $75,000 for machinery and other equipment, for which 

 no recompense has been received. 



