682 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



June 1, 1921 



and 20 per cent on tubes. New England cords have been re- 

 duced about 17 per cent, and Revere tires, ll>i per cent on 

 cords, 15 to 17JX per cent on fabric tires and 20 per cent on 

 tubes. Tyrian consumer's prices on fabric tires are reduced 20 

 per cent, cord tires 15 per cent and inner tubes 20 per cent. 



mSCELLANEOUS MASSACHUSETTS NOTES 



Evidence of marked improvement in the tire trade situation is 

 shown by the resumption of work at the full capacity of three 

 shifts on May 9 in the tire and tube plants of the Hood Rubber 

 Co., Watcrtown, Massachusetts. Orders are sufficient to warrant 

 maximum production for the remainder of the year, including a 

 large quota for the new Ford size Hood tire, known as the 

 "Yellow Arrow." 



The rubber reclaimers of Massachusetts report that business 

 conditions are considerably improved over the last quarter of 

 1920 and the early part of this year. They are optimistic about 

 the future, although they do not look for boom business such as 

 was ruling during the early part of 1920. 



The work of reconstructing the reclaiming plant of the Mona- 

 tiquot Rubber Works Co., South Braintree, Massachusetts, fol- 

 lowing the fire which in February destroyed five of the nine build- 

 ings of the plant, is about sixty per cent completed and the works 

 will soon be restored to former capacity. Meanwhile there has 

 been scarcely any interruption in the supply of the company's 

 well-known reclaims to meet the needs of its many patrons. 



The Needham Tire Co., Charles River Village, Massachusetts, 

 which discontinued its tire business about a year ago, is now en- 

 gaged in the manufacture of rubber heels and soles. Phil C. 

 Stingel is president and general manager of the company. 



Orders for rubber footwear are not being received by manu- 

 facturers in such volume or so early as in past years, indicating 

 that retailers' stocks are considerable and will in most instances 

 be replenished for the autumn trade as needed. There appears to 

 be a marked tendency for retailers to reduce their inventories 

 considerably, depending upon manufacturers to carry their stocks. 

 Business in rubber-soled canvas footwear continues to be very 

 gratifying. The Converse Rubber Shoe Co., Maiden, Massachu- 

 setts, is still running a large daily ticket and finding a ready mar- 

 ket for the product. 



The Fells factory of the Boston Rubber Shoe Co., Maiden, 

 Massachusetts, will be shut down from May 27 until July 5. 



BOSTON NOTES 



The Pettingell-Andrews Co., 100 Brookline avenue, Boston, has 

 been appointed New England distributer for Yale tires and tubes 

 manufactured by the Yale Tire & Rubber Co., New Haven, Con- 

 necticut. 



"Better Selling Methods" was the subject of a talk by John E. 

 Magaw, of the Hood Rubber Products Co., Watertown, at a 

 recent meeting of the New England Shoe Wholesalers' Associa- 

 tion in Boston. From a carefully prepared chart of comparative 

 quotas, sales and possibilities, as of July 1, 1920, he proved that 

 the rubber shoe industry has not tried out intensive sales methods 

 to the extent that the volume of the business justifies. 



The Arco Tire Co., Inc., 27 School street, Boston, is the sole 

 New England distributer for Achilles super cord tires manufac- 

 tured by the Achilles Rubber & Tire Co., Binghamton, New York. 



The first of the current year a new corporation, known as the 

 Canton Rubber Works, was formed as a selling organization for 

 the "Three C" inner tube, a product of the C. C. C. Fire Hose Co., 

 which has for thirty years manufactured high-quality fire hose and 

 mechanical rubber goods. The latter firm's experience in making 

 rubber tubing led to the development of a department for automo- 

 bile inner tubes, which have been well received by the jobbers and 

 distributers being appointed throughout the country. The execu- 

 tive offices of both companies are located at 209 Washington street, 

 Boston, and the factory is at Canton. 



FRANK A. SEIBERLING RETIRES FROM GOODYEAR 



THE life of Frank A. Sciberling, which is almost entirely 

 woven about the building of The Goodyear Tire & Rubber 

 Co., is that of a man born and educated near Akron, who with 

 $13,500 of borrowed capital, in 1898 started the Goodyear com- 

 pany in an old 

 frame building in 

 East Akron, and in 

 twenty-three years 

 built a $130,000,000 

 corporation with 80 

 buildings covering 

 more than 100 acres 

 of floor space and 

 having subsidiaries 

 and branches all 

 over the world. 



In 1910 the com- 

 pany's sales were 

 $9,000,000; in 1917 

 they were $111,450,- 

 000; while in 1920, 

 the year before the 

 downfall, they were 

 $205,000,000. More 

 than 66,000 men and 

 women were em- 

 ployed at the peak of 

 FR,^NK A. Seiberling the company's pros- 



perity, while there 

 were subsidiary plants in California and Canada; cotton mills in 

 Los Angeles, California, and Goodyear, Connecticut, cotton plan- 

 tations in Arizona; and rubber plantations in. Sumatra. 



The immensity of the second largest rubber company in the 

 world is shown by the production of more than $10,000,000 worth 

 of balloons and dirigibles for the Government during the war, 

 while figures for 1919 show the consumption of 26,000,000 tons 

 of crude rubber, with manufactures of 7,500,000 tires; 5,000,000 

 feet of belting ; 8,000,000 rubber soles and approximately 20,- 

 000,000 rubber heels ; and a large amount of sundry products. 



All this was the achievement of the restless genius whose goal 

 was to make his firm the largest rubber company in the world. 

 He conceived and carried out things on a large scale, not only 

 in his commercial affairs, but in matters pertaining to the wel- 

 fare of employes. He was one of the greatest benefactors in 

 the community, building and selling, on small payments, more 

 than 1,100 homes in the addition to Akron known as Goodyear 

 Heights. For the men in the factory he built a $2,000,000 re- 

 creation hall, supplied a ten-acre park for recreation purposes, 

 and instituted a welfare department probably unsurpassed by any 

 industry in the world. 



Mr. Seiberling gave no evidence of the burden which rested 

 upon his shoulders during the long negotiations while he fought 

 against receivership and its consequent calamity to Akron. The 

 strain has shown in ever-whitening hair, but his smile and 

 genial expression remain. Though sixty-one years of age, those 

 who have been closest to him through his battle of 23 years be- 

 lieve he will be back in the rubber business and that it is only 

 a question of time until he will again hold a predominating 

 position in the rubber industry. 



His parting statement, written in the solitude of his office to 

 the Akron he helped to build, is typical of the man. 



"My brother, Charles W. Seiberling, and myself sever all 

 official relations with the company, and the control passes into 

 the hands of the bankers as provided for in the reorganization 

 plan. For 22 years we have labored together, with a loyal staff 



