May 1, 1912.] 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



403 



News of the American Rubber Trade. 



THE RUBBER CLUB HAS STTPPER AND A TALK. 



THE annual meeting of the Rubber Club of America, which 

 was announced for April 15, for the election of officers aixl 

 for the disposition of various other matters, was adjourned 

 from that date, without the transaction of any business, to some 

 future date when it would be possible for Mr. Henry C. Pearson, 

 editor of The Inwa Rubber World^ to be present and give the 

 members of the club a talk about his recent South Americaii 

 travels. The adjourned meeting was held at 6 o'clock on Mon- 

 day evening, April 29, at the American House, Boston. 



After the election of officers and the transaction of other busi- 

 ness brought before the meeting, the members sat down at 7 

 o'clock to give active consideration to a supper, which consti- 

 tuted an agreeable addition to the usual routine of the annual 

 meeting. While this was termed a "supper,'' it proved to be a 

 very substantial and satisfactory repast. 



,A.t its termination 'Mr. Pearson gave an hour's pictorial talk 

 on his recent trip through the West Indies, along the coast sec- 

 tion of Venezuela and up the Orinoco. This was illustrated by 

 a very generous number of handsome lantern views, a large part 

 of them made from photographs taken by the lecturer himself. 

 These slides covered scenes in Trinidad, in the various coast 

 towns of Venezuela, and included some particularly attractive 

 scenes in and around Ciudad Bolivar and Caracas, the capital 

 city. A good many rubber trees were shown, and while the 

 evening was one of unusual entertainment to the large number 

 present, its chief interest to many of the members lay in the 

 substantial addition to their fund of rubber information which 

 it enabled them to acquire. 



The ballot for officers resulted in the re-election of all the of- 

 ficers of the past year, with the exception of Mr. George B. 

 Hodgman, who was elected vice-president. The officers for 

 1912 are as follows: 



President, Frederic C. Hood; vice-president, George B. Hodg- 

 man ; treasurer, J. Frank Dunbar ; secretary. Frank D. Balder- 

 ston ; assistant secretary, Harold P. Fuller. 



Honorary vice-presidents : L. DeWart Apsley, Augustus O. 

 Bourn, John H. Flint, George H. Hood, Alexander M. Paul, 

 Henry C, Pearson. Arthur W, Stedman. 



Directors : Homer E. Sawyer, Elisha S. Williams, H. E. Ray- 

 mond, Elston E. Wadbrook, Frederic H. Jones, H. S. Firestone, 

 George E. Hall, A. L. Comstock, F, H. Appleton. 



MEETING OF RUBBER SECTION OF AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY, 



A "get together'' meeting of the Rubber Section of the Amer- 

 ican Chemical Society was held at the Chemists' Club on Tues- 

 day evening, .April 16, 'J'he meeting was preceded by a dinner, 

 there being thirty-six members present out of a total member- 

 ship of 85. The dinner was a very successful one. as was also 

 the meeting which followed. The meeting was addressed by 

 A. D. Little, president of the American Chemical Society, and 

 also by Dr. Charles F. Chandler, the "father" of the American 

 Chemical Society. 



The secretary announced the appointment of three committees 

 by the Executive Committee, namely, the Analysis Committee. 

 Specifications Committee and a Consultation Committee. The 

 constitution of these committees provoked quite an animated 

 discussion. 



There seemed to be some divergence of opinion in regard to 

 the proper complexion of these committees, some maintaining 

 that they should consist largely, if not wholly, of representatives 

 of manufacturers, while others thought that the representative? 

 of the consumer should constitute the controlling element on the 

 committees, their contention being that if the committees were 



not so constituted their reports when made would not be likely 

 to receive sufficient consideration from the consumers. Then 

 .igain, there were those who thought that the manufacturers 

 should be chiefly represented on the committees, but took the 

 ground that the representatives should be apportioned among the 

 different manufacturing lines. Dr. Little pointed out the fact that 

 the members were present, not as representatives of particular 

 manufacturers, instructed to look out only for their interests, or 

 for the interests of their particular branch of the trade, but that 

 they were present as members of the American Chemical Society, 

 and should have at heart only the interests of the society- rather 

 than of the special branch of the rubber industry with which they 

 were connected ; but to a good many members this idea, while 

 most laudable, seemed rather too Utopian to be practical at the 

 present time. After considerable discussion it was decided to 

 let the committees stand as at present composed and take the 

 matter up again at some later meeting. 



UNITED STATES RUBBER CO.'S PROFIT-SHARING PLAN. 



Ox April 22 the L'nited States Rubber Co. made the following 

 announcement regarding the profit-sharing plan, which it has 

 been considering for some time, for the benefit of its employes: 



"For some time past the directors of the United States Rubber 

 Co. have been elaborating a plan for the further development of 

 the interest, loyalty and efficiency of its many salaried men in its 

 service and in that of its subsidiary companies. They have con- 

 cluded to accomplish this by giving them a special motive for 

 acquiring and retaining an interest in the company's stock, so as 

 to make them substantially partners in the enterprise. For this 

 purpose the company acquired in the market a large number of 

 shares of its common stock at $45 per share, which it is now 

 offering to them at the same figure, although the market price 

 at present is somewhat higher.. It is arranging to have the sub- 

 scriptions paid for in instalments of not less than $4 per share 

 per month. It is limiting the offer to those receiving $1,300 per 

 annum and upwards, on the idea that they will best be able to 

 meet the required payments, without taking an undue financial 

 burden upon themselves. In order to make the privilege of sub- 

 scribing at $45 per share still more attractive, and also to make 

 it the more probable that the subscribers will retain their stock 

 and so retain their interest in the company's welfare, the com- 

 pany proposes to give them a cash payment of $3 per share for 

 each of the coming five years, provided the subscribers retain 

 their stock during that period and obtain a certificate at the 

 end of each year that their services have been satisfactory to 

 the company. 



"In order to make the payments on the subscriptions less bur- 

 densome to the subscribers, the company will distribute a certain 

 profit-sharing fund among the subscribers. Any subscriber may 

 until it is fully paid cancel his subscription at any time, and in 

 that case will be refunded all he has paid, together with interest 

 at 5 per centum per annum. In the case of the death of a sub- 

 scriber during the five years, his family will receive the same 

 benefit he would have received under these plans had he lived. 

 Any forfeitures caused by unsatisfactory services or b}' termina- 

 tion of service or by cancellation will inure to the benefit of the 

 other subscribers. 



"If the plan works out successfully, it is intended to make a 

 similar offer in each succeeding year, the price of such future 

 stock subscriptions, however, to be determined partly by the 

 then prevailing market price of the stock and other conditions 

 prevailing at the time, and it is believed that enthusiastic and 

 highly interested work and prolongation of service will make 

 substantially for the welfare of all concerned," 



