Febri-arv I,. 1921 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



361 



THE GOODRICH GOLDEN ANNIVERSARY 



THK Mt.MdRV of a noted pioneer in the ruliljer industry, Doctor 

 Benjamin Franklin Goodrich, was honored last month on 

 the golden anniversary of the founding of The B. F. Goodrich 

 Co., the parent factory of the "Rubber City." Officials and em- 

 ployes of the company, residents of the city, and thousands of 

 friends and customers throughout the country joined in paying 



B. G. Work, Dr. B. F. Goodrich, 



Prrxidi-nt Founder 



The B. F. Goodrich Co. 



tribute to the memory of Doctor Goodrich and in observing the 

 termination of a full half century of the company he established. 



Doctor Goodrich, a resident of New York State, after serving 

 as a .surgeon during the Civil War, took up real estate and 

 shortly found himself in possession of a small rubber factory 

 at Hrstings-on-the-Hudson. New York. Attracted by Akron's 

 transportation advantages and an otTer of financial assistance 

 from a group of .\kron men, he brought his equipment to that 

 city. Manufacture was first started in a small, two-story brick 

 building, 40 by 100 feet, with a force of 25 men. Today the 

 plant comprises 63 buildings of brick and steel, covering 110 

 acres of land. 



The first big stride in the growth of the Goodrich came with 

 the popularity of the bicycle. When the high wheelers gave 

 way to what was called the "safety" bicycle, pneumatic tires 

 were introduced and Goodrich speedily took up their manufac- 

 ture. Before this time, the company had taken the initial steps 

 in the evolution of rubber-shod wheels by perfecting the solid 

 rubber tire for carriages. The success of this carriage tire, fol- 

 lowed by that of the pneumatic tire for bicycles, naturally led 

 to the manufacture of tires for automobiles. The first one made 

 was a crude affair, with many layers of fabric and a very heavy 

 tread. Improvements came rapidly, however, and by the time 

 automobiles passed the "freak" stage, a dependable tire was being 

 made in Cjuantity. 



Although the manufacture of auto tires was a large factor in 

 the latter-day growth of Goodrich, they are nevertheless only 

 one branch of the organization's production. Mechanical rubber 

 goods, rubber footwear, druggists' rubber simdries, and hard rub- 

 ber goods also are manufactured in enormous quantities. 



Doctor Goodrich lived to see the Goodrich organization well 

 started on the road toward success, even though he died before 

 the automobile was invented. He had done his work well and 

 had trained men to take his place in developing the industry even 

 further. 



The editor of this journal is proud to add his words of ap- 

 preciation. Doctor Goodrich was a singularly alert and forceful 

 personality who radiated energy and optimism. To use his own 



phrase, he was "swindled into the rubber business" and was 

 bound to win out if only for that reason. His early struggles 

 were a succession of brilliant moves, sharp disappointments, but 

 constant progress. One perfectly sane and then feasible plan was 

 a combination of the then existing rubber manufacturers. His 

 plan was viewed with suspicion by the old-timers and so he 

 dropped it with disgust. He did remark, however, "We will go 

 it alone and one day the Goodrich company will do more business 

 than the whole lot of them." 



Curiously enough he picked the man who was to do the great- 

 est constructive work of the company, while that man was yet a 

 boy. Speaking to the writer, he pointed out a thick-set, tanned 

 youth of twenty, saying, "That is young Work. Just rode here 

 from Boston on a high-wheel bicycle. Something of a feat. He 

 joins our force shortly and will go clear to the top." 



MANAGER OF THE MASON TIRE & RUBBER CO. 



r^iiii.EV M. .M.vsON, treasurer and general manager of The 

 •L^ .Ma.son Tire & Rubber Co., Kent, (.)hio, one of the 

 notably successful of the younger tire companies, was born 

 in Middlesborough, Kentucky, on May 2, 1890. His education 

 was obtained in the public 

 schools of Des Moines, Iowa, 

 and the Des Moines Business 

 College. 



I'pon leaving college he was 

 employed for a short time as 

 secretary to the business man- 

 ager of the Des Moines Register 

 and Leader, then as editor of 

 one or two house organs. For 

 the past eleven years he has de- 

 voted himself to .sales and or- 

 ganization work. During this 

 time he formed the investment 

 security house of Mason Broth- 

 ers, in Cleveland, Ohio, followed 

 b}' the organization of The 

 Mason Tire & Rubber Co., The 

 Mason Cotton Fabric Co. (since 



absorbed by the tire company), and The Mason Rubber 

 Plantations Co. In 1915 the Mason factory was erected, and 

 since that time he has been the treasurer and general manager. 

 He was recently elected president of the Mid-West Rubber 

 Manufacturers' .Vssociation. 



Mr. Mason is a golf enthusiast ami what recreation hours 

 are not claimed by his wife and two boys arc spent on the 

 links. 



Drm.Kv M. Mason 



LANCASTER "WIREGRIP" TIRE DISCONTINUED 



The "VViregrip" tire, formerly manufactured inidcr i)atent, was 

 discontinued some time ago, and the tire now being marketed 

 by the same manufacturer, described and illustrated as the 

 "Wiregrip" on page 262 of our January issue, is the "Lancaster 

 Cord."— The Lancaster Tire & Rubber Co., Columbus, Ohio. 



WELDO-PATCH 



"Weldo-Patch" is high-grade black gum stock calendered on 

 holland cloth. Cuts in inner tubes, hot-water bottles, rubber 

 footwear or other soft rubber goods are repaired by applying a 

 piece of weldo-patch over the bufTed surface, previously cleaned 

 with a thin solution of benzol cement, which js entirely removed 

 by scraping from the surface before laying on the repairing 

 material. No vulcanization is needed to effect a permanent 

 repair.— Weldo-Patch Manufacturing Co., 160 Fifth avenue, New 

 York. 



