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THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



August 1, 1921 



committee and a member of the corporatiim of tlic Massachusetts 

 Institute of Technolog>-, a Fellow of the American Institute of 

 Electrical Engineers, a director of the Boston Belting Co., Chem- 

 ical Products Co., The First National Bank of Boston, and has 

 numerous other interests. During the war he served the Govern- 

 ment in various capacities, notably as New England representative 

 on the Priority Committee of the Council of National Defense, 

 and later as chief of the brass and copper tube section of the War 

 Industries Board. He has always taken an active interest in the 

 Boston Chamber of Commerce, having served as a member of 

 its committee on industrial relations and as chairman of its spe- 

 cial committees on Federal trade matters and social insurance, 

 and his election to the presidency at this critical time is regarded 

 as a fortunate choice. 



E. D. Winans, district manager in New England for the .\jax 

 Rubber Co., Inc., reports a remarkable response to the first ad- 

 vertised announcement of the new black tread Ajax cord tire and 

 its new features. 



The Hazen-Brown Co., manufacturing cements, has removed its 

 offices from the former Beach street address to 727 .Atlantic 

 avenue, Boston. This is also the headquarters of the Gleasonite 

 Co., manufacturing heels and soles, of which F. J. Gleason is 

 president; Louis Brown, vice-president; G. F. Kerr, secretary, 

 and Max Brown, treasurer. 



George E. Hall, president and general manager of the Boston 

 Woven Hose & Rubber Co., accompanied by his wife and two 

 older daughters, sailed for Europe on the "Aquitania" July S, 

 where they will visit the company's London office, Paris, the 

 battlefields of France, and other points of interest on the Conti- 

 nent, returning about September 1. 



Barney Oldfield, of racing faine and head of the Oldfield Tire 

 Co., Cleveland, Ohio, was a recent visitor in Boston, conferring 

 with R. W. Harris, New England distributer for Oldfield tires, 

 and also renewing old acquaintances. 



H. T. West Co., dealing in oils and naval stores, carbon blacks, 

 etc., has removed from 148 State street to 132 Library street, 

 Chelsea 50, Boston, Massachusetts. 



MISCELLANEOUS MASSACHUSETTS NOTES 



George B. Hcndrick, publicity director for The Fisk Rubber 

 Co., Chicopee Falls, Massachusetts, was recently elected presi- 

 dent of the Publicity Club of Springfield, in the same state. 



The Appleton Rubber Co.'s plant at Franklin, Massachusetts, 

 closed the past month, operations being suspended indefinitely on 

 July 2. This shut-down was due to the present conditions of the 

 insulating business but it is expected that operations will be re- 

 sumed when conditions become better. 



The Converse Rubber Shoe Co., Maiden. Massachusetts, closed 

 its plant on July 22 until August 8, for the customary summer 

 vacation shutdown. In the interim necessarv- repairs will be 

 made and considerable renovating done. 



Directors of the Converse Rubber Shoe Co., Maiden, Massa- 

 chusetts, at a recent meeting voted to separate the tire business 

 from the footwear business and organized the Converse Tire Co., 

 a distinct corporation, with a capital of 10,000 shares of preferred 

 stock, with a par value of $100, and 10,000 shares of common, 

 without any par value. The new concern plans to deal directly 

 with the dealer, and will have quick assets of about $1 .(XX),00O. 



The Fisk Rubber Co., Chicopee Falls, Massachusetts, has con- 

 tinued to gain ground since the latter part of May, when a big 

 improvement in business was felt. July production schedules 

 called for an output of 175,000 tires, as compared with about 

 120,000 for the month of June. On July 20, however, the plant 

 was operating at about 90 per cent capacity, turning out 8,500 

 casings and 10,000 inner tubes a day, as against 2,500 casings at 

 the low-level of the depression last winter. To conserve cash 



resources, however, the directors Iiavc voted to omit the quarterly 

 dividend of 1J4 Per cent on the first preferred stock, usually pay- 

 able August 1. 



The Davidson Rubber Co., manufacturer of druggists' and sta- 

 tioners' sundries, dental gum and hard rubber, Charlestown, Mas- 

 sachusetts, is operating at 75 to 80 per cent capacity and antici- 

 pates a continuance of business in about that volume for the near 

 future. 



The Mystic Rubber Co., clothing, druggists' sundries and dress 

 shields. West Medford, Massachusetts, reports a great increase 

 in. orders during the past month, and officers of the company re- 

 gard the future with optimism. 



The Crompton & Knowles Loom W'orks, manufacturer of tire 

 fabric looms, Worcester, held closing exercises in its Americani- 

 zation classes early in July, when ninety-four students, thirty of 

 them forty years of age or over, received certificates. The exer- 

 cises were held at Knowles Park, a forty-acre tract where em- 

 ployes may enjoy such recreation facilities as a club house, picnic « 

 grove, baseball diamond, running track, playground swings and 

 garden plots. Barbecues by groups of employes are held during 

 the summer months, clam bakes and sheep roasts being the feature 

 of such occasions. 



RUBBER SECTION OF NATIONAL SAFETY COUNCIL CONVENTION 

 ARRANGES PROCULAM 



.\s a part of the program of the National Safety Council Con- 

 vention to be held in Boston, September 28-30, a luncheon will 

 be given, on September 28, by the Rubber Section. 



.\mong the speakers at this special session will be the following: 

 H. S. Firestone, of the Firestone Tire & Rubber Co., Dr. Lothar 

 E. Weber, and Frederic C. Hood, president of the Hood Rubber 

 Co. The latter will speak on the subject : "Safety from the Factory- 

 Manager's Viewpoint." 



F. J. Hoxie, engineer and special inspector of the Associated 

 Factory Mutual Fire Insurance Companies, will give an address, 

 on "Fire Hazards and Static Electricity in the Rubber Industry." 

 Mr. Hoxie is recognized as one of the foremost experts on this 

 subject. 



AKRON RUBBER INDUSTRY APPROACHING 



NORMAL CONDITIONS 



Special Correspondence 



AKRON, the rubber center of the world because more than 6S 

 per cent of the world's tires and 40 per cent of all rubber 

 goods are manufactured there, is emerging from the eight months' 

 universal business depression more rapidly than any other city 

 m the United States. The rubber industry is now within 70 

 per cent of normal production and practically every resident rub- 

 ber worker in the city is employed. 



Goodyear leads all companies in rapidity of recuperation and 

 is now producing 25,000 tires and 30,000 tubes a day. Firestone 

 is making 23,000, which is close to normal production. Goodrich 

 is now making close to 15,000 tires a day, which is much better 

 than 70 per cent production. Miller is adding men and produc- 

 tion is now better than 4,000 tires daily. 



W'hile the larger companies have increased production the 

 smaller concerns have advanced with leaps and boimds. The 

 American Tire & Rubber Co. is operating three eight-hour shifts 

 at peak production. The General Tire & Rubber Co. is working 

 one day-shift at 100 per cent normal production. The India 

 Tire & Rubber Co. is doing better than 90 per cent of normal. 

 Swinehart's production is running close to 70 per cent. Kelly- 

 Springfield is a month behind orders. The Rubber Products 

 Co.'s plant is doing better than 80 per cent nonnal while its 

 tire department is 5 per cent above the remainder of the factory.. 

 The Mohawk is operating at above 60 per cent of normal. 



