228 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD. 



[February 1, 1912. 



was made manager of mechanical sales on January 2. Mr. Best 

 will also be located at the general offices. H. W. Bi.xler con- 

 tinues in the capacity of assistant general sales manager. 



C. C. Murray, who left the Duck Brand Co. six years ago to 

 enter business for himself at Rockport, Indiana, was welcomed 

 back as a member of the selling force of his old company last 

 month. T. O. Vance, formerly with the Beacon Falls Rubber 

 Shoe Company, 307 West Monroe street, has also accepted a 

 position as salesman for the Duck Brand Company. Mr. Vance 

 was succeeded by A. L. Shimp. 



* * * 



The Stearns Rubber Co. is busy moving into the new quarters 

 on the first floor on the southeast corner of West Jackson boule- 

 vard and Market street. The new office will be one of the most 

 spacious and best appointed in the rubber industry in Chicago. 

 With an artistic lighting system and equipped with new office 

 furniture, the office has four entrances, one on the corner, one 

 on each street, and a fourth through the main corridor of the 

 building. Large plate-glass windows extending from the high 

 ceiling almost to the floor form the two street sides of the room 

 and assure more than ample light during the day, which is a rare 

 feature in the downtown district of Chicago, where electricity is 

 necessary both day and night in a majority of the offices. 



* * * 



With tlie approach of the automobile show-, tire talk is the bur- 

 den of discussion among those interested in this branch of the 

 rubber trade. E. B. McKay, Chicago manager for the Empire 

 Rubber Manufacturing Co., 1305 Michigan avenue, was one of the 

 enthusiastic forecasters of the greatest year in tire history. 



"As at the New York show we will exhibit our new type of 

 round tread, straight side and clincher tires," he said. "We shall 

 also make a special showing of our Peerless red inner tubes, 

 which are the highest priced and of the highest grade on the 

 market today. The rubber department of the coming automobile 

 show will surpass any similar exhibits heretofore shown in the 

 Middle West, and for Chicago this year we predict a season in 

 the tire industry that will eclipse even the fondest speculations 

 of the manufacturers." 



George M. Munsa, who covers the entire territory west of the 

 Mississippi river for the Empire company, has started on his 

 thirty-day trip to the coast during which he will take in every 

 city of any considerable size. In his reports so far he character- 

 izes trade conditions in the West as excellent. 



* * * 



"At the coming show we shall exhibit our tires that have rnade 

 the best showing on all cross-country runs," said S. H. Tierce, 

 manager of the Chicago branch of the Ajax-Grieb Rubber Co. 

 "We shall have booths Nos. 26 and 27 in the gallery at the Col- 

 iseum, where the rubber goods will be displayed. There the cus- 

 tomers will be given a chance to size up the worth of our 5.000- 

 mile guarantee which is predicted on so many pounds pressure 

 for each certain size of tire. If motor car owners would look 

 more closely into the matter of air pressure they would get more 

 mileage from their tires. 



General Manager J. C. Matlack of the Ajax-Grieb company 

 will be one of the visitors at the show. 



The Motz Tire and Rubber Co. is boosting the Motz non-skid 

 tire, which has recently received such a large number of indorse- 

 ments from users of light trucks and vehicles built for speed as 

 well as service. The Motz people report a 500 per cent, increase 

 in the sales of their cushion tires during the last year, and this 

 will be the main feature of their exhibit. The Anderson Elec- 

 tric Car Co., of New York, in a letter praising the Motz tire, 

 said that the Harlem ambulance thus equipped was able to skim 

 along the boulevards and streets of the eastern city during heavy 

 falls of snow, while other cars were slipping and sliding about in 

 an almost helpless condition. 



Directors of the Chicago Motor Club have announced that 

 they will keep "open house" for all automobile and tire men 

 during tlic national automobile show at the Coliseum, January 

 27 to February 10. Guest cards will be issued to manufacturers 

 and dealers in attendance at the show, affording the recipients 

 full privileges of members of the Motor Club. 



THE RUBBER TRADE IN SAN FRANCISCO. 



{By a Resident Corrcs['o>idcnt.) 



CONDITIONS are shaping up well for a bright outlook com- 

 mercially. The new mayor, James Rolph, has taken office 

 together with a new Board of Supervisors, and in these new 

 officials the people have the greatest confidence. It has been 

 a long time since San Francisco has pulled together as a unit, 

 but now- it appears that such a thing is most likely, especially 

 with the Panama-Pacific Exposition coming on, and if this is 

 the case there will be greater development in the city within 

 the next four years than ever occurred during a like period. In 

 the meantime the country districts are quietly but very rapidly in- 

 creasing in population, and farming is getting more concentrated 

 and productive all the time. Business men believe that an era 

 of marked prosperity is in store for the Pacific coast. 



* * * 



The Republic Rubber Co. has incorporated its business for the 

 purpose of better handling it on the Pacific coast. It is incorpo- 

 rated as the Republic Rubber Co. of California, with its principal 

 place of business in San Francisco ; being registered with a 

 capitalization of $20,000, the shares being $100 each, of which 

 full amount has been subscribed. The incorporators are: M. E. 



Murray, T. W. Swift and Neal Power. 



* * * 



Austin Kanzee is no longer connected with the Republic Rub- 

 ber Co. He now has the agency for the Kelly Springfield tires, 

 which he is busy selling on the coast. 



* :f: * 



The United States Tire Co. has opened its fine new store on 

 Van Ness avenue, and the splendid edifice is without doubt one 

 of the finest of its kind devoted exclusively to the tire business. 

 The building extends from Turk street to Elm avenue, along 

 Van Ness, and is two stories high. The Van Ness frontage is 

 of classic Greek design, w-ith four large Ionic columns. The 

 lower floor of this section of the building is to be devoted to the 

 use of the San Francisco branch salesroom and offices. On the 

 second floor are the general offices of the western district, the 

 division of the U. S. Tire Company which controls and super- 

 vises all branches and agencies from Denver west. The tires 

 distributed are the Hartford, the Morgan & Wright, the Conti- 

 nental, the G. & J. and the United States tire brands, including 

 the Nobby Treads. This jurisdiction also extends over the 

 western part of Canada, Me.xico, South America, the Hawaiian 

 Islands, Australia, the Philippines and the Orient as far as India. 

 J. C. Weston, the Western District manager, is visiting the fac- 

 tories in the eastern States. 



* * * 



The Gorham-Revere Rubber Co. made a number of changes in 

 its employes in the San Francisco store. The firm is getting 

 thoroughly organized for a big campaign during the coming 

 year. 



* * * 



The difficulty which the city of Seattle, Washington, has been 

 experiencing in the matter of securing 20,000 feet of fire hose, 

 has at last been settled. The city has awarded the contract to a 

 local concern in Seattle. The contract calls for 20,000 feet of 

 lyi-mch hose made to very particular specifications. These 

 specifications, gotten up specially for the city of Seattle to ex- 

 periment, on, had to be amended four times before any of the 

 responsible rubber companies were willing to even undertake 



