September 1, 1912.] 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



585 



THE RUBBER TRADE IN BOSTON. 



By a Resident Correspondent. 



DUSINESS is unevenly divided. Orders come in for some 

 ■'-^ lines, while others are in the midst of the midsummer 

 doldrums. Possibly by the time this letter is in print things may 

 have livened up a little, but now, ten days ahead of publication, 

 quietude prevails, and many members of the trade are away 

 on vacations. 



There is an exception to the prevailing lassitude in the rubber 

 clothing business, which has not yet caught up to demand — a 

 state of affairs which has been notable for the last two years. 

 A salesman for a leading garment manufacturer, who started 

 out about the fifteenth of August, says that his mill cannot start 

 on any order, not now on their books, before the middle or 

 last of October, so crowded is the factory. Another clothing 

 manufacturer, whose goods are known both here and abroad, 

 tells your correspondent that deliveries lag because of the dif- 

 ficulty in securing the fabrics, practically every mill being months 

 behind in its orders. 



There was a run on tan rubber-faced garments a year or two 

 ago, and the mills couldn't make them fast enough to supply the 

 demand. Today you can hardly give them away, in most sec- 

 tions of the country. And the reason is not far to seek. They 

 are as objectionable as the oil-skin slickers. Hot, close, impervi- 

 ous to air, they are uncomfortable to the wearer, and they shed 

 water to such an extent that the wearer's neighbors in the street 

 cars or in the stores, or even the passersby in the streets, are 

 side-swiped, and involuntarily semi-drenched. 



But today, the call for waterproof over-garments of fine 

 cloths, rubberized or cravenetted, is ahead of production, and 

 manufacturers are correspondingly happy. 



Of course the tire business is good. It's bound to be, as long 

 as people "mote." At the factory of a leading tire, the manager 

 of sales informed The India Rubber World representative that 

 every automobile in the country counts as $100 trade to the tire 

 industry. This is by no means an over-estimate, for while the 

 careful user of small tires may spend hardly half or even quarter 

 that sum, the users of large tires on the heavy cars will greatly 

 exceed this average in outlay. 



The rubber footwear factories, as is their custom, shut down 

 the first two weeks of August, this generally being considered 

 necessary for inventory, clean-up, changes in construction and 

 repairs, and also because of the demands of their working forces 

 for a vacation. The Converse Rubber Shoe Co. and the Apsley 

 Rubber Co., however, did not shut down. The Apsley company 

 has had no regular shut-down of more than a day or two foi 

 several years, making a boast that there are always enough or- 

 ders ahead to keep the force busy right along through the year. 



A matter, which is becoming rather serious, is being consid 

 ered by the rubber footwear producers. That is the great va- 

 riety of styles of leather shoes made by the leading manufactur- 

 ers. These are being multiplied each season, and there are so 

 many shapes of toes, and heights of heels which standard styles 

 of rubbers cannot fit, the special shapes are demanded. The de- 

 signers are endeavoring to evolve two or three generic near-fit 

 shapes, not always with the greatest success, and as it costs sev- 

 eral hundred dollars to put in a set of lasts for a special shape, 

 the problem is one of considerable importance. A leading rub- 

 ber footwear man states that 80 per cent, of the demand is for 

 the regular standard shapes, about eight or ten in number, and 

 that the other 20 per cent, of the call is divided among at least 

 twenty different shapes now made, and even these are not suf- 

 ficient to supply all the demands of shoe |retailers. 

 * * * 



Some months ago your correspondent mentioned the fact that 

 Walter R. Macdonald, who 3ccompanied Colonel S. P. Colt 

 abroad, would later be sent to the Far East in the interests of the 

 United States Rubber Co. Last month a letter was refei,ved from 



Mr. Macdonald from Singapore. The letter bore the heading. 

 "American Consular Service," and stated that while the regular 

 consul is away on sick leave, "Mack" has been appointed to hold 

 his chair down till he returns. The letter says: "This is a great 

 country; hot. hot as the devil is wicked, but just the place to raise 

 plantation rubber, and the people are improving the opportunity. 

 There isn't the shadow of a doubt in the minds of thinking peo- 

 ple that the plantation rubber of the Far East is destined to 

 revolutionize the rubber business of the entire world. It is 

 simply astounding to see the way it is going ahead by leaps and 

 bounds, as the figures come in showing gains each year over 

 the previous one." There you have it, direct from a practical 

 rubber man, right on the spot, and an "acting" consul. 



Captain Francis H. Appleton, Sergeant Francis H. Appleton, 

 Jr., and Cadet Francis H. Appleton, third, and the rest of the 

 Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company of Boston have ar- 

 rived home from their visit to London, and their confab and 

 hob-nob with King George V., and other notables of Great Brit- 

 ain, and their sight-seeing trip through Europe. The Appletons 

 are well bronzed and are enthusiastic in praise of their trip, but 

 are back again at their desks in their office overlooking the big 

 South Terminal Station, and giving strict attention to the de- 

 mands of their customers, just as if they had never dined with 

 royalty, and had their pictures taken, elbow-to-elbow, with His 

 Majesty. Some account of this trip is given more fully on 

 another page. 



* * * 



The Hood Rubber Co. has made an important move during 

 the month. The new concrete Administration Building in front 

 of the factory at East Watertown having been completed, a large 

 proportion of the business of the company will hereafter be 

 transacted there. The purchasing, bookkeeping and corres- 

 pondence departments, as well as the footwear sample and sales- 

 rooms, have been moved to this new building at East Water- 

 town. The cornpany will retain a portion of the present prem- 

 ises on Bedford street in Boston, and Treasurer A. N. Hood 

 will continue to have his office there, but the larger part of the 

 premises will be sub-let for some other kind of business. The 

 present handsome little domed sample room will be retained, 

 for there may be buyers who will consider it a hardship to spend 

 a quarter hour to go to the factory, either by automobile or bv 

 way of the speedy Cambridge subway. 



And another change is noted in this connection ; namely, the 

 taking over of the Shawmut Tire Co. by the Hood Rubber Co 

 As is well known in the trade, these two companies were prac- 

 tically identical, and all the Shawmut tires are made at the Hood 

 factory. Hereafter the whole business of making, selling, billing 

 and collecting will be assumed by the Hood Rubber Co., all the 

 business in this connection having its headquarters at the Water- 

 town factory and Administration Building. 

 if * * 



Much of the personal news of this month is of the vacation 

 flavor. For instance : 



E. I. Aldrich, general selling agent of the Hood Rubber Co., 

 following his usual custom, spent the first half of August at 

 Northfield, where his family remains during the entire summer, 

 while Mr. Aldrich makes week-end visits. He says the summer 

 conferences and meetings have been unusually interesting this 

 year. 



R. L. Chipman, of George A. Alden Co., vacationized at North 

 Scituate, returning to business about the 20th, well browned up, 

 but without putting an extra pound of flesh on his bones. 



Philip E. Young, of the Acushnet Process Co., was fishing 

 "'Way down in Maine" when last heard from. 



Robert L. Rice, of the Hood Rubber Co., with his family, is 

 rusticating somewhere in the wilds of Nova Scotia. 



