May 1, 1912.] 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



405 



TRADE NEWS NOTES. 



The annual report for 1911 of the Canadian General Elec- 

 tric Co., Limited, shows that the company enjoyed a very pros- 

 perous year, the profits, which were the largest in the history 

 of the company, amounting to $1,405,889.70. Additions were 

 made to plant and equipment, so as to give the factory a larger 

 capacity, without materially increasing the overhead expense 

 account. In addition to paying 7 per cent, on the preferred 

 and common stock, amounting to $525,109.37, over $350,000 was 

 written off for depreciation, leaving a balance of over $364,000 

 ■which sum, added 'to the balance at the end of the previous 

 year, together with the reserve fund, gives the company a total 

 isurplus of $2,345,311.30. The volume of business during 1911 ex- 

 <:eeded that of any preceding year. 



The American Telephone and Telegraph Co., has issued its 

 annual report for 1911. At the end of last year the number 

 of stations connected with this system in the United States was 

 over 6,600.000, an increase of three-quarters of a million over 

 the preceding year. The Bell Telephone toll lines now reach 

 70,000 places in the United States, as compared with 65,000 post- 

 offices and 60,000 railroad stations. 



During the year, over $58,000,000 was applied out of revenue 

 •to maintenance and reconstruction purposes. The total provi- 

 sion for maintenance and reconstruction charged against revenue 

 for the last nine years is over $342,000,000. The total mileage 

 in use for exchange and toll service shown in this report is 

 nearly 13,000,000 miles, one-tenth of that mileage being added 

 last year.' 



The annual report for 1911 of the Western Electric Co., Chi- 

 cago, Illinois, shows a prosperous condition. Sales of the com- 

 pany for the year were $66,211,975 — an increase of nearly 5 per 

 cent, over the preceding year. The increased cost of labor and 

 material during the year was to some e.xtent overcome by vari- 

 ous economies and improvements. Additional buildings aggre- 

 gating over 250,000 square feet of floor space were completed 

 during the year. On January !, 1912, the total number of em- 

 ployes in tlie service of the company was 23,423. 



The Turner, Vaughn & Taylor Company, which for a great 

 many years has been building specialties for the rubber trade, 

 prominent among which are the various tub washers and re- 

 claimed water separators, is now in position to fiirnish the trade 

 with a full line of grinding and mixing mills, cracker rolls, 

 hydraulic accumulators, presses, hose machinery and the usual 

 line of power transmission. The company is not in shape as 

 yet to handle calenders, but hopes to be within a short time. 



THE PLYMOUTH RUBBER CO. MOVES TO CANTON. 



The Plymouth Rubber Co., whose factory has been located at 

 Stoughton, Massachusetts, has sold its plant in that town and 

 is moving its machinery and its business into a large new plant 

 recently erected at Canton, Massachusetts, where the company 

 has acquired a tract of 72 acres of land, and where it has ex- 

 cellent water power, a private spur-track and many other manu- 

 facturing conveniences. It is still running its Stoughton plant, 

 but the greater part of its work is now being done in Canton, 

 and its offices have been installed in that place in temporary 

 quarters, pending the construction of a new administrative 

 : building. 



TVER RUBBER CCS OFFER TO EMPLOYES. 



In connection with its large increase in facilities and the erec- 

 tion of additional buildings, the Tyer Rubber Co., Andover, 

 Massachusetts, has decided to increase its capital stock by an 

 issue of an additional $200,000 6 per cent, cumulative preferred 

 stock. It decided to give its own employes the first opportunity 

 to subscribe for this new stock at the par value of $100 per share. 

 The entire issue was largely over-subscribed by the employes, 

 showing on their part a keen appreciation of the company's ofTer. 

 It is expected that this stock will be issued some time in June. 



RUBBER MOUTHPIECES PAY 35 PER CENT. DUTY, 



The protest made by the Hanover \'ulcanite Co., 48-50 West 

 Fourth street. New York, against a recent decision of the 

 customs department has been sustained by the Board of United 

 States General Appraisers. The decision referred to an im- 

 portation of finished mouthpieces made of hard rubber. The 

 Collector's office assessed these as smokers' article, under para- 

 graph 475, which calls for a 60 per cent, ad valorem duty and 

 includes pipes and other smokers' articles. The Board of 

 Appraisers decided that these hard rubber mouthpieces should 

 be assessed under paragraphs 463 and 464, covering "manu- 

 facturers of gutta-percha, vulcanized India rubber, known as 

 hard rubber," etc., and carrying a duty of 35 per cent, ad 

 valorum. The general api)raiser's opinion was as follows: "It 

 is not clear that the merchandise here under consideration is 

 any more a smokers' article than would be the crude rubber 

 from which it is manufactured. It is simply an article from 

 which a sftiokers' article can be and eventually will be made 

 The protest is, therefore, sustained and the Collector directed to 

 reliquidate the entry, assessing the duty under paragraph 464." 



A PROPHESY OF CANADIAN FOOTWEAR PRICES. 



.\ recent number of a commercial paper published in Winni- 

 peg quotes the general sales manager of the Canadian Consoli- 

 dated Rubber Co., Ltd., as saying: "Crude rubber continues to 

 advance in price. The quotation yesterday was $1.23. 1912 costs 

 have been figured on lower prices, and if the market stands or 

 advances, higher selling prices are inevitable." 



Possibly this official may be correct as far as Canadian prices 

 are concerned, but, it seems hardly likely that prices of rubber 

 footwear in the United States will be advanced unless rubber 

 goes to a materially higher figure than now appears probable. 

 Footwear manufacturers in this country but recently reduced 

 their prices, and are not likely to advance them again without 

 substantial reason. 



TIRES THAT STOOD A 42F00T JUMP. 



An incident occurred in a recent hill-climbing contest in Maine 

 that gave the advertising agent of some tire manufacturer the 

 chance of his lifetime. The car was going at great speed when 

 it struck a gulley and took a flying leap in the air, not land- 



Courtesy of Motor. 



The Car That Made the Wonderful Jump. 



ing on the road again for a distance of 42 feet. Any tires 

 that can stand a 42-foot jump and still go cheerfully about their 

 work are fairly good tires. That is a test that very few manu- 

 facturers or dealers would care to subject their product to. 



A BOOK for everybody interested in tires — "Rubber Tires and 

 All About Them" — this office. 



