April 1, 1921 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



527 



THE RUBBER TRADE IN RHODE ISLAND 

 By Our Regular Correspondent 



THE MONTH of March witnessed a partial resumption of ac- 

 tivities by the manufacturers of rubber goods of every de- 

 scription in Rhode Island, although many of them only operated 

 their plants to about one-half their normal capacity. 



After a shut-down of nearly three months, the National India 

 Rubber Co., at Bristol, resumed operations in all of the various 

 departments of the concern on Monday, March 7. During the 

 weeks that the plant had been idle some repairing and renovation 

 were done and several important changes in the personnel of the 

 department heads were decided upon. These were particularly 

 noticeable in connection with tlie foremen, inspectors and other 

 executives of the different rooms and these men all assumed their 

 new positions when the factory resumed. 



The reopening of the National Rubber Co.'s plant was wel- 

 comed by the more than 4,000 operatives and their families, par- 

 ticularly those who had been out of work since the factory first 

 began to curtail the latter part of last December. Fortunately for 

 some of the employes, there had been a little work that kept a 

 few in during January, and some in February, but those who 

 had been out of employment since December had found it to be 

 a great hardship. The hope of steady employment was short- 

 lived, however, for about the middle of the month came rumors 

 of another curtailment. 



In some instances girls have asked whether it would be possible 

 to get a leave of absence this Summer in order to do work out- 

 side of the factory. In all such cases the management has said 

 it would be glad to grant leave of absence to any person in good 

 standing provided that the exact length of leave be specified and it 

 will be understood that any persons taking such leave may return 

 to the factory after the leave has expired and resume their present 

 status with the company. 



On daylight saving, the factory will follow the decision of the 

 Bristol Town Council, which has voted to start daylight saving 

 on Sunday, March 27, at which time all clocks should be moved 

 forward one hour. 



The wire division of the National rubber plant did not shut 

 down when the shoe departments were closed, but has been op- 

 erating for several weeks past on a short time schedule. It is 

 expected, however, that within a few weeks there will be suf- 

 ficient improvement in conditions to call for a full time schedule. 



The announcement was made March 23 that neither the Alice 

 Mill at Woonsocket, nor the Millville plant at Millville, the foot- 

 wear division of the Woonsocket Rubber Co., would reopen for 

 six or eight weeks longer. The Alice Mill has been idle since 

 February 19 and that at Millville since December 10. Some 2500 

 operatives are affected. It had been indicated previously that the 

 plants might reopen early in April but the announcement of 

 March 23 stated that orders have not been received in sufficient 

 volume to warrant starting up the mills at a reasonable capacity 

 for an extended period, but that it is now expected that within 

 six or eight weeks enough business will be on hand for resuming 

 operations. The official announcement also provided further cur- 

 tailment of the working force effective April 1. This affects some 

 75 or 80 persons, including clerks, mechanics, watchmen, etc., 

 who have been retained while the mills have been closed. 



All the rights and patents of Charles A. Gonzenbach, late of 

 Warren, Rhode Island, deceased, relating to machines for dis- 

 tending and turning tubular fabrics, were sold at public auction 

 in the District Court room at Warren, by order of the adminis- 

 trator. The purchase was made by the Swiss Textile Co., of 

 Assonet, Massachusetts, formerly of Warren. Mr. Gonzenbach 

 was one of the organizers of the Swiss Textile Co., and he in- 

 vented practically all of the machines which were used in the 

 business which he was connected with up to the time of his death. 



Superintendent Kennedy, of the Tubular Woven Fabric Co.'s 

 plant at South Woodlawn, states that business at the present time 



is somewhat slow and that such orders as are being received are 

 being filled in part from an accumulated stock. He was very 

 optimistic, however, and said that he looked for an early return 

 of normal business conditions and an increase from the present 

 curtailed force of approximately 200 workmen to a complete equip- 

 ment and full time schedule. 



BROADENING SAFETY WORK IN RUBBER FACTORIES 



That the field for safety work may be considerably broadened 

 so as to benefit the rubber industry, as well as most other in- 

 dustries, was the point stressed by A. A. Frank, factory manager 

 of the Federal Rubber Co., Cudahy, Wisconsin, at the Ninth 

 Annual Safety Congress in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. 



Good industrial relations, he declared, are fundamental to 

 safety in industry. A plant with a good morale is generally one 

 with a low accident record. In safety he would include not 

 only all precautions against injury to an operative while at work, 

 but also clean surroundings, fair wages, efficient work, proper 

 home protection, recreation, and personal interests. He insisted 

 that efficiency is more essential to safety than safety to ef- 

 ficiency, as most executives believe. 



Nothing helps so much in successfully carrying through an 

 accident prevention campaign as agreeable industrial relations, 

 said Mr. Frank, and nothing helps so much to promote such re- 

 lations as imbuing employes with implicit confidence in the em- 

 ploying concern. He welcomed the new experiments in industrial 

 democracy, shop committees, etc., being tried out by leading rub- 

 ber and other manufacturers. Instead of allowing foremen to 

 lay out their departments, locate machinery, and plan the move- 

 ment of material, such work is done more efficiently by a de- 

 partment or a competent individual, who considers not merely 

 the utmost advantage of the plant but the maximum safety of 

 the operatives as well. Standardizing trucks and training men 

 to handle trucks only, have reduced accidents notably in one 

 large plant. In his own plant he remarked that accidents were 

 fewer among piece workers than day workers, the former often 

 consciously or otherwise acquiring a habit of operating in the 

 simplest and yet the least hazardous way. A study of such op- 

 erations, he believed, was worth the attention of industrial 

 engineers. 



Not only is labor turnover one of the most costly items in 

 industry, said Mr. Frank, but experience has shown that acci- 

 dent losses always rise as turnover increases. Here is where an 

 efficient employment man can help in safety and in promoting 

 better industrial relations. He emphasized the importance of 

 foremen being tactful as well as energetic in managing the pro- 

 duction department employing 75 per cent of the men, so that 

 not merely would work be expedited but all the safety rules be 

 easily carried out. All departments should and could cooperate, 

 he said, so as to easily insure the maximum of health, safety, 

 and efficiency among workers. 



GUMMED SEALING TAPES THAT ADVERTISE 



Gummed sealing tape is well known in the packing room for 

 quickly sealing cartons, bags and paper wrapped packages, to the 

 manufacturer of textiles as a successful "slasher" tape, holding 

 every thread in place, and in the storeroom for patching broken 

 packages. Aside from these. Liberty tape has a service to 

 perform for the tire manufacturer. A ^-inch-wide tape on which 

 the tire manufacturer's name is printed is used around the circum- 

 ference of the tire after it has been paper wrapped. The roll 

 of gummed tape is attached to a standard on the wrapping device, 

 and as the operation of paper wrapping is done, the tape is 

 unrolled over a rubber moistening roller and stuck onto the 

 wrapper. A 3-inch-wide tape on which can be printed the name, 

 address and trade-mark of a manufacturer, is used principally 

 on corrugated and fiber shipping cases, and in the tire industry 

 for sealing up cases of inner tubes. — Liberty Paper Co., Inc., 52 

 Vanderbilt avenue, New York. 



