February 1, 1912.] 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



223 



BANQUET OF THE MOTOR ACCESSORY MANU- 

 FACTURERS. 



THE RUBBER TRADE IN BOSTON. 



/^NE of the most successful and best attended trade banquets 

 ^'^ of the season was that of the Motor Accessory Manufac- 

 turers, lield at the Waldorf-Astoria on the night of Thursday, 

 January 11. There were more than four hundred present, and 



there was no falling 

 off of the festivities 

 provided for their 

 entertainment from 

 start to finish. 



The ceremonies 

 were opened by Mr. 

 H. T. Dunn, president 

 of the Motor Acces- 

 sory Manufacturers, 

 who, after the formal 

 opening, turned the 

 duties of toastmaster 

 over to Mr. James 

 Clarence Harvey, the 

 playwright, who said 

 things which are not, 

 ordinarily, published 

 in Sunday School lit- 

 erature. His recita- 

 tation of "Bohemia" 

 seemed to appeal to 

 the fancy of the 

 diners, and helped to 

 neutralize any icy 

 blasts that may have 

 blows in from outside. 

 The first address of the evening was made by Mr. William E. 

 Metzger, president of the National Association of Automobile 

 Manufacturers, who spoke on the benefits of co-operative en- 

 deavor and urged closer bonds and more frequent gatherings of 

 those interested in the automobile industry. 



Following the remarks of Mr. Metzger, was a happy speech 

 by Mr. J. Hartley Manners, who regaled the diners on "New 

 Thought," in reference to the automobile as an agent in bringing 

 Inunanity in closer touch with the beauties of nature. Colonel 

 George Pope was also among the speakers, and addressed the 

 guests in his usual happy vein, his remarks being, as they always 

 are, very well received. Another speaker, James Schermerhorn 

 of the Detroit Times, devoted his remarks to the "political up- 

 lifting" of Gov. Woodrow Wilson of New Jersey. Last, but not 

 least, Creswell McLaughlin, "the schoolmaster of schoolmasters," 

 in his customary vein endeavored to relieve the diners of any 

 disposition to become too Boliemian, and to advise them of the 

 continuous necessity of affording, by precept and example, a high 

 moral atmosphere for the youth of the country. 



The dinner was generally conceded to have been most effective 

 in promoting fraternalism in the organization. 



Harry T. Dunn. 



President of the Motor Accessory 

 Manufacturers. 



DONE BROWN. 



A well-known member of the Santa Claus Committee of the 

 Cincinnati Business Men's Club, of Cincinnati, having for its 

 object the distribution of Christmas presents, is W. G. Brown, 

 formerly president of the Cincinnati Rubber Manufacturing Co., 

 and now a well-known rubber broker of Cincinnati. Incidental 

 to the conclusion of committee work, Mr. Brown was tendered 

 a dinner and a near-gold watch, in addition to being voted the 

 most popular man in Cincinnati. Mr. Brown, so our advice 

 states, twelve years ago became "father of the present movement," 

 and, if all accounts be true, has been exceedingly successful in 

 gathering in presents ever since. 



(By a Resident Correspondent.) 

 ' I 'HE rubber trade of Boston and vicinity seems to be in first 

 •*■ class condition, and the outlook for the present year, just 

 opening, extremely encouraging. In mechanicals a better feeling 

 is manifested, and orders are coming in more satisfactorily. 

 The manufacturers of druggists' goods have had a successful 

 year, and this state of affairs still continues. The rubber foot- 

 wear trade, which was very backward up to January, has picked 

 up wonderfully during the month, owing to the advent of real 

 winter weather. The clothing trade has had an excellent year, 

 and many of the leading manufacturers could have done more 

 business had their capacity been larger. One leading concern 

 has built an extensive addition to its plant, and is now working 

 with an increased output. The makers of tires are busy, many 

 being turned out on contracts, and in anticipation of a very 

 heavy demand as soon as the motoring season opens. The de- 

 mand for crude rubber is fair, with indications of a steady in- 

 crease from now on until spring. 



* * * 



The Boston Woven Hose and Rubber Co. has had a very suc- 

 cessful season, especially so in the garden hose department. To 

 keep up with the requirements of this branch of the business, 

 the company has enlarged that department and made such im- 

 provements as to increase its capacity nearly, if not quite, thirty- 

 three per cent. In November the office force was transferred to 

 temporary quarters in one of the big concrete buildings of the 

 plant, and the brick structure used as the administration build- 

 ing was completely torn out and the roof removed, and even the 

 window frames taken away, leaving only the four outside walls. 

 Since that time the workmen have been busy, and the building 

 is gradually assuming shape. Great changes are being made, 

 and the new offices promise to be most convenient and especially 

 suited for the comfortable conducting of the great business of 

 this company. 



* * * 



J. S. Capen, who has had charge of the selling end of the 

 business of the Converse Rubber Shoe Co. since its institution 

 three years ago, has severed his connection with that company. 

 His announcement of that fact states that the change is made 

 with the best of feelings toward the company, and the hope that 

 its future success may equal or exceed its past, which, he says 

 is "going some!" Mr. Capen has just completed his quarter 

 century in the rubber footwear business, having served seven 

 years with Sage & Co., nine years with the Enterprise Co., six 

 years with the Beacon Falls Rubber Shoe Co., and three years 

 with the Converse Rubber Shoe Co. He is not yet ready to 

 divulge his future plans to your correspondent, but undoubtedly 

 he will soon be heard from in the business in which he has so 

 long been engaged, and for which he is so well fitted. He ought 

 to be good for another twent.v-five years' steady work ; and he 

 is, though perhaps before that time he will become so enthusiastic 

 an automobilist that bvisiness can't hold him. 



* * * 



Tlie Converse Rubber Shoe Co. gets out some snappy adver- 

 tising. As it sells its product direct to the retailer, it has de- 

 veloped a scheme to get telephone orders. It gets out a little 

 book, small enough to be hung close to the telephone in the deal- 

 er's store, which contains several leaves of perforated coupons, 

 each good for the fee for telephoning the factory for ordering 

 goods. The company keeps most of its stock at the factory, but 

 delivers its orders b}' automobile truck. The customer is re- 

 quested to fill out a coupon, putting in the blank space the 

 amount charged for the call, and to enclose all the coupons with 

 the remittance for the goods, deducting the amount of the coupon 

 from the invoice. The plan has proven a business-bringer. 



