March i, 1904.] 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



211 



ers from the rubber factory, captained by Mr. Dangel, rolled in 

 the tournament, each man using a hard rubber ball. The mem- 

 bers of the team are Joseph Dangel, T. M. Guenther, Louis 

 Ball, Harry King, and Edward Bullock. While the team did 

 not win any prizes, it advertised the hard rubber ball well, and 



accomplished its purpose. 



* * * 



Capitalists of Alliance, Ohio, are trying to secure the plant 

 of the Woodruff Automobile Co., of Akron, and it is claimed 

 that they will be successful. They have made good offers to 

 the company, and it is stated that they will be accepted. 



Aaron Stauffer, an employe of the Diamond Rubber Co., has 

 instituted suit against that company for $6000 damages, alleg- 

 ing that through the explosion of gases in the reclaiming plant 

 of the company on February 24, 1903, he was badly burned, 

 suffered the lossof two fingers, and had his eyebrows and lashes 

 and mustache burned off. He alleges that on account of the 

 fact that the room in which he was working was improperly 

 lighted it became necessary for him to strike a match, thus 

 causing the explosion. 



Rumors which have found place in the newspapers of Col- 

 lege Point, New York, where additions are being made to the 

 plant of the American Hard Rubber Co., to the effect that the 

 company's plant at Akron is to be closed, naturally caused 

 some concern here. All knowledge of such intended change, 

 however, is denied at the Akron branch of the company. 



At the annual meeting of the Northern Ohio Traction and 

 Light Co., Mr. Will Christy, president of the Firestone Tire 

 and Rubber Co., was elected first vice president. Mr. Christy 

 has served in this capacity for a number of years, and is one of 

 the best known traction men in the middle West. 



THE RUBBER STRIKE AT TRENTON. 



THE RUBBER BOWLING BALL. 



THE use of the hard rubber ball for bowling is something 

 new but it opens up a new use for the material, and may 

 result in the exclusive use of this ball and the relegation of the 

 wooden ball to the realm of the "has beens." At present the 

 hard rubber balls are not numerous but they are growing in 

 number, and they have been recognized by the national bowl- 

 ing congress. In speaking of the Cleveland meeting and the 

 discussion of the rubber ball, Mr. A. F. Troescher, the treasurer 

 of the Brunswick- Balke Callender Co. (New York) said : " We 

 did not oppose the recognition of the rubber ball. In fact it 

 was none of our business, and if it had been we would have had 

 no voice in the matter, for the national congress of bowlers was 

 specially a nxious that no tradesmen should take any part in 

 ts affairs. We have no objection to the rubber ball; in fact 

 they are made for us by the American Hard Rubber Co., and 

 we sell them whenever we can. We have been endeavoring for 

 ten years to find some ball which will take the place of the 

 lignum vitae — for the wood is getting scarce — and we rather 

 incline to the idea that hard rubber has solved the problem. 



"The hard rubber ball does not wear out anything like as soon 

 as the wooden one ; the finger holes do not crack, and if they 

 did hard rubber balls could be repaired. The main objection 

 to the rubber ball is its high cost. The only opposition to the 

 use of rubber that I have heard of comes from the New York 

 Bowling League. This organization has adopted rules of its 

 own, regardless of the national congress. These rules, which 

 govern matches, require the use of balls made entirely of wood 

 and weighing not more than 16 pounds, f think that in future 

 rubber balls will be more generally used." 



The above article should be read in connection with the pre- 

 ceding correspondence from Akron. 



BY A RESIDENT CORRESPONDENT. 



TO the Editor of The India Rubeer World : Local No. 

 4, Amalgamated Rubber Workers' Union of America, on 

 January 25, inaugurated a general strike in the rubber factories 

 in Trenton on January 25, affecting nine establishments, and 

 which is still in progress. 



As early as April last a request was made to each of the nine 

 rubber manufacturing concerns in the city that a committee of 

 the Rubber Workers' Union be met, to talk over the matter of 

 the manufacturers using the union label on all their products. 

 As a result of this request, an informal meeting of the manu- 

 facturers was held, at which all the local factories were repre- 

 sented. The entire subject was gone over carefully, when it 

 was decided that, while the using of the label might in itself ap- 

 pear a small matter, it would involve distinctly a recognition of 

 the union, and the demand was refused. 



The strike in January was preceded by a demand for a uni- 

 form increase in wages, which was refused by the compa- 

 nies, acting separately. The position was taken that the man- 

 ufacturers would treat with their employes as individually, and 

 not through the medium of their labor union. Upon the de- 

 claring of the strike, the factory owners organized " The Rub- 

 ber Manufacturers' Association of the City of Trenton," for the 

 promotion of their mutual interests, with these officers: Wat- 

 son H. Linburg, president; W. L. Blodgett, secretary; W. J. 

 B. Stokes, treasurer. From an official of this organization your 

 correspondent is advised as follows, as to the manufacturers' 

 position. 



"On the Monday before the strike was ordered each rubber 

 manufacturing company received a written notice from the 

 union demanding (1) the recognition of the union, (2) the 

 adoption of the union label, and (3) the adoption of the scale of 

 wages submitted with the demand. With the notice was a 

 statement that if the demand was not granted, drastic methods 

 would be taken to enforce it. Inasmuch as the scale asked fur 

 was all out of conformity with the wages being paid, the ad- 

 vance was denied. The manufacturers claimed that their men 

 were being paid according to their skill and ability, and that 

 many were receiving higher wages than they would receive un- 

 der the scale asked for. Aside from these cases the new scale 

 was, on an average, an increase of 10 per cent. 



"The refusal of the manufacturers to grant the increase was 

 followed by the strike. The men refused to work and picketed 

 from 25 to 100 strikers at each mill to keep out non union work- 

 men. Steps were at once taken to fill the strikers' places and 

 all but two of the companies were able to run their mills with 

 reduced forces. On an average about 25 per cent, of the usual 

 force was at work. At two mills no attempt was made to run, 

 the companies preferring to give their men a week's time to 

 consider the matter. These mills resumed shorthanded the 

 second week, with the help of green hands, secured some here, 

 and others imported. The appearance of the non union work- 

 men on the streets at quitting time led to trouble in two or 

 three instances. The most serious trouble took place at the 

 plant of the Grieb Rubber Co., where squads of police were or- 

 dered out as guards as the men left for their homes. Several 

 companies met this situation by arranging eating and sleeping 

 accommodations in their mills and housing the new men 

 there." 



At this writing this official states that the mills are being 

 operated smoothly. The forces of workmen are not quite up 

 to the normal, but he says the mills are all doing well and the 

 strike is practically broken. A number of defections in the 



