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THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



[December i, 1903 



= George S. Miller has resigned as president, treasurer and 

 general manager of the New England Rubber Shoe Co. (Bos- 

 ton), to take charge of the Chicago house of Edward R. Rice, 

 selling agent for the Joseph Banigan Rubber Co. On the 

 evening of November 16 he gave a dinner to the selling staff 

 of the company at the Boston Yacht Club. Edward B, 

 Swett, who has been assistant to Mr. Miller, has been elected 

 treasurer and general manager of the company. In Chicago 

 Mr. Miller succeeds J. D. McDonald, who on his retirement 

 from the house was presented by the salesmen with a hand- 

 some gold headed cane of solid ebony, inscribed " From the 

 Banigan Boys, 1903." 



= The annual auction of rubber boots and shoes at Montreal, 

 at the salesrooms of Benning & Barsalou, realized about $50,- 

 000, at prices 10 to 20 per cent, higher than last year. 



= Mr. A. H. Marks, of the Diamond Rubber Co. (Akron, 

 Ohio) is in Liverpool, in connection with the business of the 

 Northwestern Rubber Co., Limited, of which he is president. 



NEW TRADE PUBLICATIONS. 



THE Northwestern Rubber Co., Limited (Liverpool) issue 

 a handsome booklet entitled " Reclaimed Rubber," in 

 which is given in condensed form considerable information re- 

 garding rubber reclaiming methods and suggestions for the use 

 of reclaimed rubber in the manufacture of goods. The com- 

 pany control the process patented about six years ago by Mr. 

 A. H. Marks, which consists in treating ground rubber scrap 



with a dilute alkali solution at a comparatively high temperature, 

 then washing, drying, and sheeting. A number of illustrations 

 in the pamphlet show the mechanical equipment of the com- 

 pany's works, together with interior views of their offices. The 

 works are described as covering sixteen acres. The directors 

 of the company are Arthur H. Marks (president). William Al- 

 exander Smith (vice president and treasurer), W. B. Hardy, O. 

 C. Barber, H. G. Wright, Dr. Joseph Torrey (technical mana- 

 ger), and Ernest E. Buckleton (general manager and secretary), 

 [6"X9^". 16 pages,] 



The Gutta Percha and Rubber Manufacturing Co. 

 of Toronto, Limited, issue an illustrated priced catalogue of 

 Yachting, Tennis, Lacrosse, and Vacation Shoes, for the season 

 of 1904, showing an attractive line of goods. [?, : )i"yit>ys". 12 

 pages.] 



Phil. Penin Gummiwaaren- Fabrik Actiengesell- 

 SCHaft (Leipzig) issue a booklet in connection with their 

 twenty-fifth anniversary, giving details of the growth of their 

 business and views of their former and present factories- 

 [5^"X8K". 10 pages.] 



ATa meeting of shareholders of Isidor Frankenburg, Limited, 

 at Manchester, England, on October 26, it was resolved, owing 

 to the sons of the governing director now taking a great inter- 

 est in the business, and being large shareholders to identify 

 them with the name of the company, and, therefore, to alter the 

 name of the company to I. Frankenburg & Sons, Limited, to 

 date from November 16, 1903. This alteration will not involve 

 any change in the directorate or management of the business. 



REVIEW OF THE CRUDE RUBBER MARKET. 



THE condition of the market has been one of uncertainty 

 and constant fluctuation since the culmination, two 

 months ago, of the exceptional advance in prices. As 

 is always the case, that sudden rise — to a figure which 

 practically prohibited buying— was followed by an equally sud- 

 den decline, though not to the old level. The market has 

 since been in a position of seeking a normal basis. The ad- 

 vance at the beginning of September, under what might be 

 called panicky conditions, of course went for a moment higher 

 than was justified by any conditions of supply and demand. 

 Similarly, the reaction may have carried prices to a point lower 

 than those conditions justified. Whatever the cause of these 

 changes, the effect is to render consumers uncertain as to the 

 best course to pursue, and to unsettle prices of manufactured 

 products and the sale of them. 



It is ever easy to revive talk of " speculation " as the cause 

 of market changes. That is a word capable of many applica- 

 tions, since all buying and selling involves speculation. The 

 manufacturer who, fearing a rise in the market, lays in a sup- 

 ply of rubber beyond his current needs, engages in speculation. 

 If rubber should advance, he has an advantage over competi- 

 tors who postpone buying until actually in need of rubber; if 

 there should be a decline, the advantage will be on the side of 

 the competitors. The crude rubber merchant must take, long 

 chances in his business, which is more speculative than many 

 other branches of buying and selling, because of greater risks 

 involved. 



But in the sense in which speculative manipulation of the 

 market is usually meant — the securing control of all available 

 stocks and compelling manufacturers to pay exorbitantly for 

 them — it is safe to assert that crude rubber prices are seldom 

 made in this way, and certainly not for any length of time. 

 Stocks of rubber of late have been very low, and the demand 



for rubber active, and in the natural order of things high prices 

 would result, just as turkeys cost more at the Thanksgiving 

 season than at times when the demand is less general. Natural- 

 ly the holders of stocks of rubber at such a time ask more and 

 obtain more than under other circumstances, and it would not 

 be surprising if, somewhere, the asking price should be put un- 

 reasonably high, but the fact that with the first new arrivals 

 the prices decline is proof that supplies as a whole are not un- 

 der control by any single or central influence. 



It must be remembered, too. that speculative movements in 

 crude rubber may have for their object " bearing " prices as 

 well as " bulling " them. Different views as to the future of the 

 market are held by different merchants at any given time, one 

 party figuring on a decline and the other on an advance, and 

 making their future plans accordingly. If there was any con- 

 certed speculative action, all the merchants would be found on 

 one side of the market. However, every member of the trade 

 is entitled to his own opinion, and that all sides may have a 

 hearing, The India Rubber World this month presents on 

 another page a number of interviews with manufacturers ana 

 crude rubber merchants, including expressions on other points 

 than whether rubber prices have been controlled of late by 

 manipulation. 



The rubber factories are perhaps less busy, now that the end of 

 the year is near. But this does not imply dullness : during most 

 of the year the capacity of the factories had been taxed, so that 

 the production of goods is perhaps normal. 



Prices at the close of the month are higher than at the mid- 

 dle, and the present level is materially higher than at this time 

 last year. The market in New York is very firm, correspond- 

 ing with conditions elsewhere. Receipts of rubber at Para 

 since the beginning of the crop season, as compared with the 

 same months for the three years preceding, were as follows: 



