62 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



[November i, 1903. 



THE RUBBER TRADE IN AKRON. 



BY A RESIDENT CORRESPONDENT. 



TO the Editor of The India Rubber World: The sec- 

 ond annual convention of the Amalgamated Rubber 

 Workers' Union of America was held at Akron during the four 

 days October 12-15. Fourteen unions, affiliated with the na- 

 tional organization, were represented by delegates. At the 

 opening session of the convention, on Monday afternoon, 

 Mayor C. W. Kempel.a union man, who was elected by the 

 working men of the city, delivered an address of welcome. J. D. 

 Thomas, president of the Central Labor Union of Akron, de- 

 livered a welcoming address in behalf of organized labor in this 

 city, and, together with the mayor, took an active part in the 

 convention. On Monday evening the visitors were the guests 

 of the Central Labor Union. On Tuesday and Wednesday the 

 sessions were of a business nature and were behind closed 

 doors. On Wednesday afternoon the question of child labor 

 was discussed, and the union pledged itself to attempt to secure 

 legislation unfavorable to the employment of children in fac- 

 tories and to the employment of women between the hours of 

 6 p.m. and 6 a.m. The delegates present were : 



Chicago Local, No 1. — John Dean, W. T. Dunn, Harry Brick. 



Concord Junction Local, No. 2. — Clarence E. Akerstrom, Charles 

 H. Stevenson. 



Cambridge Local, No. 3. — Thomas J. Edwards. 



Trenton Local, No. 4. — James O'Donovan, Harry Archer, E. 

 Thomas Staunton. 



Akron Local, No. 5. — William Labbe. 



Kokomo Local, No. 6. — Clem Jackson, Fred Cooper. 



Port Dalhousie (Ontario) Local, No. 7. — John J. Phillmore, Frank 

 Blaine. 



Montreal Local, No. 8.— J. E. Bernard. 



* Montreal Local, No. 9. — Maud Jerett. 



New York Local, No. 10. — Robert Gorham, Edwin Turnberger. 

 Toronto Local, No. n. — George A. Martin, Geale Woodall. 

 St. Louis Local, No. 12. — Wilbur Walton, J. M. Cannon. 

 Hamilton Square (New York) Local, No. 13. — William Scudder, 

 John J. Redwood. 



* New Haven Local, No. 14. — Maud Heaney, Agues Donahue. 



[♦These unions are composed of women.) 



Officers for the ensuing year were elected as follows: 



President — Thomas J. Edwards, Cambridge, Massachusetts (re- 

 elected). 



First Vice President— Harry Archer, Trenton, New Jersey (succeed- 

 ing C. H. O'Bovle). 



Second Vice President— Charles H. O'Boyle, of Chicago (succeeding 

 C. H. Stevenson). 



Third Vice President — John J. Phillmore, of Port Dalhousie, Ontario 

 (succeeding M. E. Mahoney). 



Secretary and Treasurer — Clarence E. Akerstrom, of Concord, Mas- 

 sachusetts (reelected). 



General Organizer — James O'Donovan, of Trenton (succeeding W. 

 T. Dunn). 



The next annual convention will be held in Trenton, in 1904. 

 In discussing the question of differences between workmen and 

 their employes, President Edwards said to your correspond- 

 ent : "I find that the Eastern manufacturers do not feel the 

 same toward organized labor as does the Western manufac- 

 turer. There exists in the East a perfect understanding be- 

 tween organized labor in the rubber trade, and there is little 

 trouble. Here no such feeling exists, or at least only in a lim- 

 ited degree, and to cultivate such a feeling was one of our ob- 

 jects in coming here." 



• * » 



The annual meeting of the Diamond Rubber Co. was held in 

 Akron on October 13, and the election resulted in the old offi- 

 cers being chosen for another year, as follows : 



President— Y . A. Hardy, of Chicago. 



Vice President and Superintendent — A. H. Marks, Akron. 



Secretary— W . B. MlLLKR, Akron. 



Treasurer — A. H. Noah, Akron. 



These officers, with O. C. Barber, Akron; J. K. Robinson, 

 New York ; and W. B. Hardy, Chicago, constitute the board,of 

 directors. The question of the erection of a new building was 

 not taken up. Treasurer A. H. Noah states that the company 

 have no intention of erecting an office building at the present 

 time. " The business of the company during the past year was 

 excellent," said Mr. Noah. " The tire trade was the best in the 

 history of the company, especially in automobile and bicycle 

 tires. Naturally the automobile tire trade was better than ever 

 before owing to the increase in the number of machines on the 

 market, and our company made more bicycle tires than ever 

 before." When asked if there is any reason to expect that the 

 trade in bicycle tires next year will exceed this year's busi- 

 ness, Mr. Noah stated that he knew of none. The results 

 achieved in the use of Diamond tires in the automobile endur- 

 ance contests were a source of great satisfaction to the officers 

 of the company. 



* * * 



The Lilly Rubber Manufacturing Co., of Barberton. have in- 

 creased their capital stock from $10,000 to $50,000. The com- 

 pany will place a limited amount of stock on the market, and 

 with the proceeds will increase the capacity of their plant. The 

 officers of the company are: Charles Ammerman, president; 

 E. E. Beam, vice president ; H. Benner, secretary and treasurer; 

 W. C. Lilly, general manager. In speaking of the increase of 

 capital stock, President Ammerman said : "The Lilly Rubber 

 Manufacturing Co. have been remarkably successful for a new 

 company — we were organized only a little more than a year 

 ago — and during the past year we have built up a trade which 

 warrants us in increasing our capital stock. We expect to 

 greatly increase the capacity of our plant, and to turn out 

 more goods than ever." 



* * * 



In the common pleas court at Akron on October 6, on the 

 application of Ossian G. Lyon, vice president of the Lyon Rub- 

 ber Co., a receiver was appointed for that concern, the court 

 naming A. E. Kling for that position. With the exception of 

 the People's Hard Rubber Co., this is the first instance of the 

 failure of a rubber company in the history of Akron. The pres- 

 ent case is not one of importance, the Lyon Rubber Co. having 

 been capitalized at only $10000, and its business never having 

 reached large proportions. The company was incorporated 

 October 1, 1902, by several Akron business men, none of whom 

 had had any experience in the rubber business, to succeed a 

 small partnership business formed a few months previously. 

 Receiver Kling informs your correspondent that he will not 

 continue the operation of the plant, but will apply for an order 

 of sale for the property. If the accounts due can be collected 

 — and he thinks that the greater part will be — the creditors 

 can be paid in full. 



» » * 



REFERRING to the agreement among the rubber tire makers, 

 mentioned in the last India Rubber World, an Akron rub- 

 ber manufacturer said to your correspondent: "It has been 

 proved to the satisfaction of all, that manufacturers of rubber 

 tires are able to meet any demand for tires. If the makers of 

 automobiles desire cheap tires, we can make them, no matter 

 how badly we dislike to do so. Competition in the rubber tire 

 trade is so keen now that the manufacturer must meet the de- 

 mands of his customers, no matter what they may be. If one 

 company refuses to make a cheap tire others stand ready to do 

 so, and the company which desires to put only the best grade 

 of goods on the market have no choice but to follow. It is an 

 unfortunate thing that the automobile makers have not recog- 

 nized the fact that cheap tires are a bad thing. Just as a chain 



