844 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



August 1, 1921 



AKERICAM XiaXS STIXVLATE EUROPEAN KAMUFACTVBEBS 



E. M. Mchitosli, of The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co., after 

 a fourteen-month survey of European tire and automotive condi- 

 tions, states that the American straight-side pneiunatic tire is 

 winning favor with tlie Europeans and that the tire business on 

 the Continent is being revolutionized. 



The sale of the American trucks and automobiles taken over 

 with the American army has publicized the American pneumatic 

 tire in Europe and formed the opening wedge in what has here- 

 tofore been largely a solid tire field. The Europeans saw the 

 advantage both in comfort and in the preservation of the high- 

 ways of using the pneumatic tire and rapidly arrangements are 

 being made to change from solids to pneumatics. 



European tire manufacturers, like Dunlop, of England, 

 Michelin, of France, and the large German tire factories, includ- 

 ing the Continental, are also preparing to enter the pneumatic 

 field as never before, and it is only better selling methods and 

 leadership in the industry which will make it possible for -America 

 to obtain a share of the business. Molds are being made for the 

 new European pneumatics and fabric is being purchased in such 

 quantities as the exchange and economic conditions permit, so 

 that large numbers of the pneumatics can be produced. 



With the transition from the solid to the pneumatic tire an 

 entirely new field for the sale of repair machinery, service sta- 

 tions, jacks, gages and the other accessories which go with the 

 pneumatic tire business is opened for the American manufacturer. 

 These tools and accessories are not yet available on the Con- 

 tinent and the Europeans are looking to America to furnish these 

 supplies. 



Several well-known bus lines, both in London, England, and 

 Paris, France, which heretofore operated on solids are changing 

 to pneumatics. 



AKRON NOTES 



The American Rubber & Tire Co., Akron, has been successful 

 in its first effort to branch out from the manufacture of tires 

 and tubes by making a bathing shoe of novel design. The first 

 shoe was produced six months ago and from the first it was a 

 success, with the result that orders are coming in rapidly. The 

 management is exceedingly conservative and refuses to advertise, 

 depending entirely upon salesmen and repeat orders from dealers. 

 At present the factory is operating on a normal production basis. 

 The company recently sold $600,000 worth of preferred stock 

 which made other financing unnecessary. 



Officials of The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co., from both the 

 Los Angeles and Canadian factories, conferred with the new 

 management during the second week in July regarding a general 

 speeding up of the branch factories. The economies which 

 have been put into practice in Akron as well as the new efficiency 

 plans were discussed with the out-of-town officials. 



C. T. Crudington, a member of the Goodyear News Service, 

 has been transferred to the sales department as a general line 

 salesman. He will work out of Council Bluffs, Iowa. He was 

 formerly editor of Goodyear Tire News for Goodyear dealers. 

 Harold King, of the sales force, will edit the Triangle, published 

 for Goodyear salesmen. 



The recuperation of The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. is 

 the result primarily of "hard work," according to L. C. Rockhill, 

 sales manager. 



"If our recuperation is exceptional, as is stated in many quar- 

 ters, it is because every man working for Goodyear felt that 

 only by 'buckling down' and producing the maximum result 

 from every ounce of effort could pull Goodyear through. 



"It was necessary to reduce the sales force together with other 

 departments during the last of 1920 and the early part of this 

 year, and those men who remained knew that upon them depended 

 the future of the company. And they have produced nobly." 



Formerly it required one man a day to produce one tire. This 



was the universal production rule, at least in Akron. But today 

 not only has this ratio been lowered at Goodyear but throughout 

 the industry here. Actual figures regarding men employed in 

 the factories cannot be obtained but it is reported that the 25,000 

 tires a day being made by Goodyear are produced with almost 

 half of that number of men. In 1920 it was well known that 

 the company was producing 31,000 tires a day with approximately 

 the same number of men. 



John Henry Vance, power engineer of The B. F. Goodrich 

 Co., has been elected president of the Akron Engineering Society. 

 H. .S. Morse, of the employment department, former city service 

 director, was also a candidate for the office. 



Among the rubber officials who have returned from extensive 

 trips to European countries are Dr. W. C. Geer of The B. F. 

 Goodrich Co. and V. L. Brogneaux of the foreign department of 

 The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. Dr. Geer visited England and 

 France. Mr. Brogneaux, in a statement given out by Good- 

 year, said that one of the greatest handicaps in Belgium for the 

 sale of tires and automobiles was the lack of gas filling and re- 

 pair stations, but that indications are that the future will see 

 Belgium develop as a user of automobiles. 



The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. early in July received an 

 order for 38 kite balloons and three dirigibles from the Govern- 

 ment. It will require the better part of a year to complete the 

 order. The interest shown by the new management in air- 

 craft business is taken as an indication that efiforts will be made 

 to keep the company in the forefront of the air transportation 

 industry. Goodyear is one of the few companies which can build 

 completely and test on its own property all varieties of lighter 

 than air craft. 



C. P. Raney, formerly assistant manager of the Miller Tire 

 Repair School since June, 1919, has accepted a position as Akron 

 branch manager for the Western Rubber Mold Co., Chicago, 

 Illinois, succeeding L. W. Bourland. The Akron office has been 

 removed from 847 South Main street to 15 North Summit street. 

 Mr. Raney has had nine years' experience in the rubber industry, 

 as tube inspector, department foreman and industrial engineer 

 for a large tire company. 



C. E. Wagner, export manager for The Miller Rubber Co., 

 Akron, Ohio, recently returned from a trip to Mexico City. 

 He reports that Frank Gamundi, manager of the Miller company's 

 Latin-American division, is calling on the trade in Porto Rico 

 and Cuba. 



Burt A. Waltz, for the last two years chief engineer for The 

 Portage Rubber Co., and formerly with the Osborn Engineering 

 Co. and The B. F. Goodrich Co., all of Akron, has accepted an 

 indefinite leave of absence pending settlement of the Portage 

 company's affairs. 



The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co., Akron, reports an increase 

 of business beyond its expectations. At the Akron factories 

 25,000 automobile casings and 30,000 tubes are being produced 

 daily, while at the California plant the record is 3,500 for a 

 similar period. Sales to dealers surpass those of last year, 

 while there is an improvement in the number of orders from 

 automobile manufacturers. 



L. H. Hopkins, formerly with the W. M. Pattison Supply 

 Co., and F. B. Curran, formerly of the vulcanizing equipment 

 department of the .Akmn Rubber Mold Co., .\kron, have bought 

 The O'Neil Tire & Rubber Co., 350 Bowery street, Akron, and 

 will officiate as president and vice-president, respectively. The 

 company is now building the O'Neil line of tire equipment exclu- 

 sively. 



A group of Ford Motor Co. dealers from Qeveland visited 

 the Firestone Tire & Rubber Co., Akron, early this month. J. M. 

 Bushey, manager of the Firestone branch in Qeveland, and K. 

 D. Sheldon, Cleveland manager for the Ford Motor Co., piloted 



