March i, 1904.] 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



205 



he buy imported ones? But all these conditions have not ex- 

 isted in the past, and I think it probable that the number of 

 tires imported in 1903 was double that of the year before. But 

 the value (including duty) would have been only $200,000 if 

 2000 pairs of tires had been imported, and this would have been 

 enough to refit every foreign machine in the country. But 

 what will do most to prevent the growth of imports of rubber 

 tires is the improvement of American automobiles, so that our 

 people need no longer go abroad for high class machines." 



SURGICAL GOODS." 



George Tiemann & Co., No. 107 Park row, New York, are 

 not only extensive dealers in surgical instruments, but one of 

 the oldest houses in the country, dating from 1826. At their 

 office it was stated that as far as they were able to judge, few 

 rubber goods in their line were imported. " We did not buy 

 $30 worth of imported rubber goods last year," was asserted, 

 "because we have made in this country for our trade all the 

 rubber goods we need. The appliam es made in this country 

 are as good as any made abroad, and cost us less. I should 

 say that the importations of surgeons' rubber goods have been 

 falling off every year." 



Mr. Brand, manager of the rubber department of the Kny- 

 Scheerer Co., wholesale dealers in surgeons' and physicians' 

 materials, No. 225 Fourth avenue, was of the same opinon. 

 " I am certain," said he, " that the importations of rubber 

 goods for our lines is falling off every year. I believe it was 20 

 per cent. less last year than the year before, and 100 per cent, 

 less than half a dozen years ago. Our rubber factories are wide 

 awake and furnish everything we need. The imported goods 

 are no better than the home made." 



At the drugstore of William B. Riker & Son Co., No. 373 

 Sixth avenue, is a rubber goods department, the manager of 

 which said : " If there has been any increase in the imports of 

 rubber goods, it has not been in our line. I am positive that 

 fewer surgical appliances and druggists' sundries were brought 

 in last year than ever before. The reason for this is simply be- 

 cause we are making better products in this country all the 

 time. I hardly know of an article now which can be bought 

 abroad that is any better than can be made, and is made, at 

 home. Take for instance such goods as soft rubber catheters, 

 alimentary tubes, etc.; a few years ago they were largely 

 bought abroad but now they are almost entirely made in this 

 country. Ours are just as good and much cheaper. They may 

 not have exactly as high a finish as those that are imported, 

 but they are just as well made. In other goods in our line 

 there is very little bought abroad. In fact, it is a rare thing to 

 see a water bottle or a fountain syringe from the other side, 

 and when you do they look antiquated and out of date. I 

 should say that the importations of surgical goods last year 

 were from 20 to 40 per cent, less than for the year previous. In 

 fact they grow less every year. The American manufacturers 

 are supplying the demand." 



CLOTHING. 



Inquiries in regard to waterproof clothing failed to elicit 

 any details having a bearing upon the increased imports of rub- 

 ber goods. At several department stores it was stated that there 

 had been no increased demand for foreign mackintoshes or rub- 

 ber coats. " I cannot say that we import any more stuff in value 

 now than formerly," said the manager of the rubber department 

 in one of the largest stores. " The situation has changed in 

 this way : Formerly we imported many kinds of cravenettes and 

 waterproof clothing. These things are all made in thiscountry 

 now and made as good as they are abroad. The cravanette 

 business grew so rapidly, and so enormously, that the original 



makers could not come near supplying the demand, so the Amer- 

 icans entered the field, and their goods are just as satisfactory 

 as the imported. There is a great deal more cravenetted cloth 

 made and sold here than is imported. The only lines there 

 could possibly have been an increase of imports in is in the very 

 high priced and fancy lines of silk waterproofs which are main- 

 ly used by automobilists. There has been a big increase in this 

 line, of course, because two years ago there was nothing at all 

 done in it. But even now 1 do not think thatall told more than 

 .$20,000 worth of such goods is imported. There are some very 

 fair silk waterproof garments made now in this country, and if 

 will not be long until we will cut into the foreign trade." 



At the store of the Goodyear Rubber Co., Mr. James Kipp, 

 the manager, declared that if there had been any great increase 

 in the importations of rubber goods, it was not in rubber shoes 

 and clothing. "The truth of the matteris," said he, "that the im- 

 portation of rubber clothing is constantly growing less. This is 

 because we are making better rubber clothing in this country 

 every year. An English mackintosh is no better than an Amer- 

 ican mackintosh, and it costs more when imported. I do not see 

 how there could have been much increase in the imports, for 

 we do not meet the goods in the trade." 



SOME RUBBER GOODS IMPORTS LOCATED. 



One place where some ideas as to the increase of importa- 

 tions could be gathered was the large importing house of 

 George Borgfeldt & Co., American agents of The Hanover 

 Rubber Co.. Limited. While reticent as to the details of the 

 growth in importations, Mr. Julius Lehmann, manager of the 

 rubber department, admitted that there had been a material 

 increase. " We imported," said he, " more goods last year in 

 almost every line than ever before, and in some lines many 

 times the amount of the previous year. In this connection you 

 might mention rubber sponges, which are comparatively a new 

 article, but which are selling so rapidly that we cannot keep up 

 with our orders. Two years ago there was nothing done in 

 sponges ; 1 don't think it is an over estimate to say that there 

 were several hundred thousand dollars worth brought in last 

 year. So you see that this is altogether gain and would do 

 much toward explaining the increased importations. Another 

 line in which the increase has been very marked is red rubber 

 toys and rubber balls. The American manufacturers, while 

 they imitate these things closely and with considerable success, 

 have never yet been able to get the finish on the toys or the air 

 retaining qualities in the balls. The Germans are past masters 

 in the art of making toys. The originate all the novelties and 

 they secure a softness of texture which makes them unbreak- 

 able. In the airtight balls the Germans have a secret process 

 of treating the air which is forced inside, that of itself preserves 

 the inner lining and prevents leaking. Then in design and 

 decoration the balls are unapproachable by the American 

 make. Doubtless twice as many toys and balls were imported 

 last year as in the year previous. In other soft rubber goods 

 there was also some increase. There is nothing like the Ger- 

 man acid proof tubing for laboratory and surgical work, and 

 the amount of these imports increased. Then in high class 

 bulbs the Americans have never reached the Germans in soft- 

 ness and in lasting qualities. This double bulb affair for pyrog- 

 raphy, for instance, is not made in this country at all, and there 

 are large numbers of them sold." 



Another line in which there has been an increase in imports 

 is rubber sponges. A. H. Smith, No. 84 Chambers street, New 

 York, stated to The India Rubber World that in July, 1901, 

 he imported 36 dozen of the Russian make of sponges. By the 

 end of the year he had imported and sold 862 dozen, since 

 which time the demand has grown steadily. He reports hav- 



