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THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



[March i, 1904. 



licensing of automobiles. The court said that " the speed of 

 the automobile may be regulated and reasonable safety ap- 

 pliances, such as gongs and brakes, may be required, but to 

 compel one who uses his automobile for his private business 

 and pleasure only to submit to an examination and to take out 

 a license (if the examining board see fit to grant it), is impos- 

 ing a burden upon one class of citizens in the use of the streets 

 not imposed upon others. We must, therefore, hold this ordi- 

 nance, so far as it obliges appellee to take out a license before 

 he can use his own automobile, in his own business or for his 

 own pleasure, is beyond the power of the city council, and is 

 therefore void." 



This recalls a similar move that was made when cycling was 

 the rage. The Chicago council passed an ordinance requiring 

 that each bicycle be registered and licensed and provided with 

 a tag and number, and providing for a fee of $1. The ordi- 

 nance was signed by the mayor and then Judge Lorin C. Collins 

 attacked it in the courts. It never got beyond the circuit court, 



however. 



* * * 



The Home Rubber Co. (Trenton, New Jersey) have made a 

 change in their Chicago agency. Mr. H. L. Davis, who for 

 two years has been manager of their branch at No. 17 La Salle 

 street, has been transferred to the main office at Trenton, as 

 general sales agent. The Globe Machinery and Supply Co_ 

 (Des Moines, Iowa) have taken over the La Salle street office, 

 and the Home company have secured a location at No. 83 Lake 

 street, from which Messrs. Howell and Brady will look after 

 the Chicago trade. 



THE RUBBER TRADE IN AKRON. 



BY A RESIDENT CORRESPONDENT. 



TO the Editor of The India Rubber World : Ac- 

 cording to a local rubber man the makers of automobile 

 tires are preparing for a rush of orders which is expected to come 

 pouring in some time within the next few weeks. Local manu- 

 facturers have found this to be a backward spring as far as or- 

 ders for automobile tires are concerned, owing to the fact that 

 the selling agreement among the manufacturers prohibits the 

 selling of tires with the former time allowance. But auto- 

 mobile makers are beginning to send out their 1904 automo- 

 biles, and the demand for tires is increasing. As long as the 

 manufacturers refused to sell tires and allow their customers to 

 pay for them anytime inside of 60 or 90 days, as was frequently 

 done, the auto makers bought tires for their machines before 

 the demand for them commenced, but since the selling agree- 

 ment was put into effect and they cannot secure such advan- 

 tageous terms, the auto manufacturers are waiting until the de- 

 mand for their machines begin. A well known automobile 

 company recently announced that it had already disposed of 

 400 of its 1904 models, and was preparing to ship them at once. 

 This of course means an order for 400 sets of tires, and doubt- 

 less other companies could report similar sales. Tire makers 

 do not doubt that the tire trade this season will exceed that of 

 last, when it was the largest in the history of the trade. 



The B. F. Goodrich and Diamond Rubber companies are 

 among the parties most interested in the present agitation re- 

 garding the preservation of the Ohio canals which is being 

 fought in the state legislature. The factories of these companies 

 are built on the banks of the Ohio canal, and if the canals of 

 the state should be done away with, as is being urged at present, 

 both companies would suffer. All of the water used in the big 

 plants of these companies is secured from the Ohio canal. 



and they will make a spirited fight to have the Ohio canal, at 

 least, retained. Should this canal be done away with by the 

 legislature, it would mean an increase of thousands of dollars 

 annually in the water rent of the companies, which they wish to 

 avoid. There are a number of other factories along the banks 

 of the canal which would also suffer by such action, and the 

 companies have banded together to fight the project. Colonel 

 George T. Perkins, president of the Goodrich company, has 

 been made chairman of the association, and has power to call 

 meetings and make arrangements for conducting the fight. It 

 is said that the local association will spend a great deal of money 

 in helping carry on the work of the Ohio Canal Association 

 in the interest of the canals. 



* * * 



Colonel George T. Perkins, president of The B. F. Good- 

 rich Co., will, it is said, retire from the presidency of the Sec- 

 ond National bank in March, although he will be retained on 

 the board of directors. Mr. Perkins has been connected with 

 this institution for a number of years, and has always been 

 considered one of the ablest financial men in the city. In 

 March the Second National and the Citizen's National banks 

 will be consolidated, forming one of the largest banking insti- 

 tutions in this part of Ohio. The added duties which this will 

 entail are considered too arduous by Colonel Perkins, it is 

 said, and for this reason he will not accept the presidency of 



the new institution. 



* * # 



Mention has been made in these pages of the rubber bowl- 

 ing ball which is being made at the local plant of the American 

 Hard Rubber Co. Previous to this time the ball has been 

 more of an experiment than anything else, but it has now taken 

 its place among the standard products of the company. Dur- 

 ing the week of February 8-13 the national tournament of 

 bowlers was held in Cleveland, Ohio, and at the same time the 

 annual meeting of the American Bowling Congress, their na- 

 tional organization, was held in the same city. This organiza- 

 tion had the power to make or mar the future of the rubber 

 ball business, and a great many bowlers believed that it would 

 place a ban upon the rubber ball, thus destroying a profitable 

 business for hard rubber companies. One thing which caused 

 the bowlers of the West to believe that the hard rubber ball 

 would be knocked out was the fight which was being waged 

 against it by the Brunswick-Balke-Collander Co., manufactur- 

 ers of bowling alleys and equipment. They, of course, were 

 opposed to the hard rubber ball, as the general use of the ball 

 would deprive them of a considerable income, and it is said 

 that they made a hard fight against its use. They were able to 

 do this by reason of the fact that several of their employes 

 were members of the executive committee, and they were aided 

 by the fight of the Eastern bowlers for an all-wood ball. [See an 

 article on this subject following this letter. — The Editor.] But 

 when the matter came up in the meeting of the executive com- 

 mittee the hard rubber ball was not legislated against, and the 

 American Hard Rubber Co. are now preparing to place them 

 on the market. The cost of the ball may prevent it from be- 

 coming general in use, although when once bought it will last 

 a lifetime. But the fact that a lignum vitae ball costs about 

 one fifth as much as the hard rubber ball will prevent it from 

 becoming as common as the wood ball. The crack bowlers, to 

 whom expense is not an object, will, of course, use the ball, and 

 a big trade is predicted. One of the features of the tourna- 

 ment was the exhibit of hard rubber balls in the big armory 

 where the tourney was held. This exhibit was in charge of 

 Joseph Dangel, superintendent of the American Hard Rubber 

 Co. plant, and it attracted much attention. A team of bowl- 



