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THE INDIA RUBBEIR WORLD 



[November 1, 1911. 



THE RUBBER TRADE IN SAN FRANCISCO. 



(By a Resident Correspondent.) 



THERE has been little to indicate what kind of a fall and win- 

 ter season this is going to be, as far as the rains are con- 

 cerned. There was one good downpour lasting a few hours, and 

 that is all so far. The rest of the time the weather has been very 

 warm, in fact, the nearest approach to summer weather this sum- 

 mer. Last winter there was no rain until after the first of Janu- . 

 ary, and it is to be hoped that it will begin earlier this season. 

 The merchants all state that business is fairly good, although it 

 seems to be the case that there is nothing that can be said to 

 make it seem particularly lively. The entire state and coast is 

 entering upon a season of prosperity, however, and there is little 

 question in the minds of any of the merchants that the coming 

 year will be more prosperous than either of the last two years. 



* * * 



Last month the Pacific Coast Rubber Manufacturers' Associa- 

 tion held its regular annual meeting for the election of officers. 

 The meeting was held in the large banquet room of Tait's cafe, 

 and was largely attended by representatives of the local establish- 

 ments which are members. Henry P. Martine has been the presi- 

 dent during the past year. The officers elected for the coming 

 year are: Jos. V. Selby, president; C. H. Chase, vice-president; 

 VVm. Heckman, treasurer, and on the executive committee, 

 Messrs. McNeilly, Daggett, R. H. Pease, Jr., and Mr. Martine. 



* * * 



The Pennsylvania Rubber Co. has secured the line of the De- 

 troit Demountable Rim. They are also meeting with great suc- 

 cess on the coast on the newly acquired Pollock Truck Tire. An 

 important deal has just been closed by this firm whereby they have 

 placed all the lines carried by them with the big Fresno firm of 

 Kuttner, Goldstein & Co. This latter firm operates five large 

 stores in the principal cities of the central and southern valleys, 

 and distribution through these stores will mean a big thing for the 



rubber firm. 



* * * 



W. W. Wuchter, president of the Swinehart Tire and Rubber 

 Co., of Akron, has been a visitor in San Francisco, having been 

 through the principal cities of the Northwest, where he estabHshed 



1 agencies for his factory. 



* * * 



The Fisk Rubber Co. has contracted for a two-story and base- 

 ment reinforced concrete building, to be erected on its property 

 on the northwest corner of Van Ness avenue and Austin street, 



at a cost of $15,000. 



* * * 



The Diamond Rubber Co. has undertaken to secure information 

 from every town in the interior of California and Oregon rela- 

 tive to the condition of the roads and the activity of the country 

 sheriffs and constables in those particular localities. A daily bul- 

 letin is kept of this information, and it is at the free disposal of 

 all automobilists. It has the beneficial effect of bringing many 

 automobilists into the firm's headquarters. F. O. Nelson, mana- 

 ger of the firm's Los Angeles branch, has returned from his trip 



to Honolulu. 



* * * 



The Diamond Rubber Co. has opened a branch store at 12th 

 and Harrison streets, in Oakland, California, under the general 

 management of C. E. Mathewson. The local branch manager 

 will be J. O. Stewart. A complete stock will be carried there, 

 and all adjustments will be made by factory trained men. The 

 firm has no more beautifully equipped branch store west of Chi- 

 cago. It has a tile floor, genuine mahogany fixtures and French 

 bevel plate glass. The increase in business in Oakland is making 

 this necessary, and such a branch is particularly gratifying to the 

 Oakland motorists, because after the 1906 fire the company's Pa- 

 cific Coast headquarters were for a while in Oakland. Now busi- 

 ness has reached such proportions that they were compelled to 



open a branch, and a very fine one, too. This is the latest of 

 twelve branches that have been opened up by the Diamond Rub- 

 ber Co. in the last few years, so that there is now a branch in 

 practically every city of importance in this territory. These 

 branches employ a force of about 175 men, who arc under tht 

 general supervision of Mr. Mathewson. 



* * * 



William Heckman, secretary of the Gorham-Revere Rubber Co., 

 has severed his connection with that firm, and will probably ac- 

 cept a similar position with Mr. Gorham's large and flourishing 

 engineering plant. The Gorham Engineering Co. 



* * * 



U. S. Grant reports that the new sanitary rubber toilet seat is 

 gaining a firm foothold in the market. A large order has just 

 been placed to supply them for the public playgrounds in San 

 Francisco. 



* * * 



Mr. Muschet, who for sixteen years was purchasing agent for 

 the Risdon Iron Works, has recently started into the engineering 

 and mining specialty business for himself, with offices in the 

 Hooker & Lent building. 



* * * 



All of the local people identified with the rubber business were 

 greatly grieved to learn of the death of Mr. Pierce at the factory 

 of the Cleveland Rubber Company. Mr. Pierce was for some 

 time manager of the former branch here of the Revere Rubber 

 Company, and was one of the most popular men in the business. 



* ■ * * 



Herbert K. Selby, representing the Boston Woven Hose and 

 Rubber Co. in the Northwest, with offices at Portland, Oregon, 

 visited San Francisco during the past week, making his headquar- 

 ters at the company's offices in this city. 



The Auto Tire Co. is a new retail concern which opened on the 

 first of this month at 533 Ven Ness avenue. This firm has stores 

 now in New York and Los Angeles. H. A. Demarest is the man- 

 ager. 



* * * 



The Continental Tire Co. has leased a new building, now nearly 

 completed, on Van Ness avenue, between McAllister street and 

 Golden Gate avenue. The building is one story, with mezzanine 

 floor, finished elegantly and along classic lines. 



* * * 



The American Rubber Co. is building a new building for its 

 plant at Emeryville, California. It will build a two-story brick 

 building adjoining its present building, at a cost of $15,000. 



* * * 



A new firm, known as the New Tire Co., has opened on Van 

 Ness avenue. The firm is under the management of N. C. Dun- 

 ham, who will make this city the northern distributing point. 

 They have a branch in Los Angeles. 



* * * 



C. C. Eichelberger, Pacific Coast manager of the Firestone Tire 

 and Rubber Co., has returned from his three weeks' trip to the 

 factory reunion at Akron. 



Mr. Tripp, in the office of the Bowers Rubber Works, has been 

 taken sick with typhoid fever. He is beginning now to improve, 

 and hopes to be soon on the road to his usual good health. 



Mr. Cook, manager for The B. F. Goodrich Co.'s branch in San 

 Francisco, reports that business is moving along in a very satis- 

 factory manner in all departments. 



* * * 



R. H. Pease, president of the Goodyear Rubber Co., reports 

 that they find business greatly improved in all lines since October 

 1. The small rainstorm of two weeks ago braced up business in 



