March i, 1904.] 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



195 



NEW ENGLAND RUBBER CLUB'S ANNUAL DINNER. 



THE fifth annual banquet of the New England Rubber 

 Club, at the Hotel Somerset, Boston, on the evening 

 of February 17, was attended by 170 members and 

 guests. It proved a thoroughly successful and enjoy- 

 able occasion, in every respect, and was voted by many present 

 to be the best of the social features yet planned by the Club, 

 while the members of the various committees in charge were 

 liberally complimented upon the excellence with which their 

 work had been done. 



The invitations had announced that a reception would be 

 held in the handsome parlors of the hotel until 5.50 o'clock, 

 when a bugle call would give notice that the tables were in 

 readiness. The members and their guests were received by 

 the Hon. L. Dewart Apsley, president of the Club; his Excel- 

 lency John L. Bates, governor of Massachusetts; the Hon. 

 William H. Moody, secretary ol the navy of the United States '< 

 and the Hon. D. A. De Armond, member of Congress from 

 Missouri, the introductions being made by the Club's reception 

 committee, consisting of Messrs. A. W. Stedman, Joseph Davol 

 C. C. Converse, F. C. Hood, and 

 R. D. Evans. 



Precisely on time the bugle 

 sounded, when the diners formed 

 in procession and, headed by 

 President Apsley and Governor 

 Bates, marched to the beautiful 

 gold and white ballroom of the 

 hotel. The room, beyond its own 

 wealth of ornamentation, bore no 

 decoration — and needed none — 

 except that over the head table 

 were displayed four American 

 flags and the personal flag of the 

 secretary of the navy. Previous 

 to the march each guest had 

 been presented with a printed list 

 indicating his position at table. 

 Every one was pleased with the 

 seating plan, which, instead of providing 

 long rows of tables, showed a number of 

 circular tables, each surrounded by fine 

 gilded chairs. At the head table, reaching 

 across the room, President Apsley was 

 seated, with the guests of honor, as shown 

 in an accompanying plan. A copy of the 

 menu is also presented herewith. 



PLAN OF QUESTS' TABLE 



At 8 o'clock, President Apsley rapped 

 for order and said : 



Gentlemen : I desire to remind you that the New England Rubber 

 Club was organized some five years ago by about twenty gentlemen and 

 that it now has 190 members. During these years we have met on many 

 similar occasions and it is with pleasure that I recall those enjoyable 

 times. Our midsummer outings have not been less enjoyable, but I am 

 sure that this occasion, both in pleasure and profit, will be remembered 

 longest, and is quite in harmony with the growth of the Club. 



These social gatherings are in themselves good, but the desirability 

 and prosperity of this Club rest on something more important, for in no 

 business that I have known anything about has there been so much sus- 

 picion and jealousy as there has been in the rubber trade, and I fear that 

 too much of it still exists. 



But I can with pleasure state, advisedly, that much of this feeling has 

 disappeared through the better acquaintance with each other made pos- 

 sible by the work of this organization. We are learning that the " other 

 fellow," though not perfect, is not so dishonest as we had imagined, and 

 as a matter of fact is quite as honest as we are. 



This Club has the opportunity to wield a powerful influence in this 

 industry, which amounts annually to over $120,000,000, and I speak 

 quite within bounds when I say that more than one-half of these goods 

 are manufactured in New England. One branch of this industry alone, 

 rubber boots and shoes, can lay claim to over one-third, or about $45,- 

 000,000 of this business, and it is safe to say that from 80 to 85 per cent, 

 of these goods are manufactured in New England. These are large fig- 

 ures, but each year will see them larger, as the country is growing and 

 the demands are increasing. We are exporting rubber goods to about 

 every country on the face of the globe, and since the formation of this 

 Club this export business has increased five-fold. 



This organization can exert a powerful influence with its members if 

 it will point out to them the importance and wisdom of manufacturing 

 and sending to foreign countries only goods of a quality that will give 

 satisfaction. Working on these lines, the entire rubber trade and the 



country at large will say, " Prosperity 

 to the New England Rubber Club." 



Gentlemen : I have the very great 

 pleasure of presenting to you His 

 Excellency. John L. Bates, governor 

 of this commonwealth, who will wel- 

 come our honored guests. 

 * * » 



Governor Bates was given 

 a great reception when he arose 

 to welcome the distinguished 

 guests of the club. His first duty, 

 he said, was to extend a welcome, 

 on behalf of the commonwealth, 

 to the Club itself, which he no- 

 ticed was the New England Rub- 

 ber Club. " For," he said, "there 

 is very little in New England that 

 does not belong to Massachu- 

 setts, and I am sure there is nothing in 

 Massachusetts that New Englahd does not 

 claim." 



Remarking that ill winds blew the rub- 

 ber men good, he said that he judged from 

 the appearance of the assembly that this 

 had been a good winter for the rubber 

 business. He felt that he himself had con- 

 tributed to their prosperity, for every- 

 where he had attended a dinner during 

 the season he had lost a pair of rubbers. 

 Continuing he said : 



I am pleased to welcome you, so far as you represent the broader 

 Massachusetts, which is called New England, to the old commonwealth, 

 where the business that you represent was first begun in America. The 

 rubber industry has grown wonderfully within the past twelve or fifteen 

 years, and to-night I recognize that you represent an industry whose 

 product, according to the last census, in Massachusetts alone, was worth 

 something like $30,000,000, and one that employed 11,000 wage earners, 

 representing at least a town of 55,000 inhabitants, that might be said to 

 be dependent upon the various industries known as the rubber industries 

 of this commonwealth. In extending wishes for your prosperity. I know 

 I am extending wishes for the prosperity of the commonwealth itself. 



George H. Hood 



Arthur W. Stedman 



Hon- L. A. Frothingbam 



Hon. George H. Lyman 



Congressman D. A. DeArmond 



Governor J. L. Bates 



Hon. L. D. Apsley, President 



Secretary William H. Moody 



Ex-Governor A. O. Bourn 



George A. Alden 



Hon. J. J, Myers 



C. C. Converse. 



Robert D. Evans 



