236 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



[April i, 1908. 



News of the American Rubber Trade. 



XTNITED STATES HUBBER CO.S NEW ITJNDING NOTES. 



THE United States Rubber Co., during the past month, ar- 

 ranged for the refunding of their $8,000,000 of 5 per cent, 

 gold note indebtedness, by the issue of a like amount of notes 

 due September 15, 1909. The new notes were offered for sub- 

 scription at 97}^ and interest, to yield 7 per cent, on the in- 

 vestment. They are secured by the deposit with the trustee of 

 of notes of the subsidiary companies, aggregating $12,000,000. 

 The trust agreement provides that the United States Rubber Co. 

 shall not create any mortgage debt while these notes remain 

 outstanding, and that the net cash assets shall at no time be of 

 less value than $15,000,000 over and above all indebtedness, ex- 

 cept the funding notes. 



The treasurer of the company states that "as of December 31, 

 1907, the net cash assets of the United States Rubber Co. and 

 subsidiary companies, including its proportion of the net cash 

 assets of the Rubber Goods ^lanufacturing Co., were $24,- 

 296,000 over all liabilities other than the funding notes. The 

 net earnings of the United States Rubber Co. for the year end- 

 ing March 31, 1907, over all interest charges were $4,590,382, 

 including only $689,308 of the Rubber Goods Manufacturing Co.'s 

 profits of $2,004,484. For the nine months ending December 31, 

 1907, the net earnings of the United States Rubber Co., and its 

 proportion of the net earnings of the Rubber Goods Manufactur- 

 ing Co., were over $4,000,000, after the payment of all interest 

 charges." 



The funding notes of the United States Rubber Co. were first 

 issued in 1902, being secured by a collateral indenture dated March 

 15. [The details of this arrangement appeared in full in The 

 India Rubber World, May i, 1902— page 245.] The balance 

 sheet of the United States Rubber Co. for the year ending March 

 31, 1902, showed a deficit of $1,110,344.15. No dividends had 

 been declared during the year. The president in his annual report 

 for that year stated : "The existence of a large floating indebted- 

 ness from the very inception of the United States Rubber Co. 

 has been a menace to a thorough economic and independent 

 administration of its affairs, and its funding has placed the com- 

 pany in a stronger and more secure position than ever before." 



The notes first issued matured on March 15, 1905, by which 

 time $4,000,000 had been acquired and the remaining $8,000,000 

 were renewed. It will be seen that the notes last issued run for 

 only 18 months, instead of three years, as was the case with the 

 earlier issues. Meanwhile the condition of the company has been 

 vastly improved, as is indicated by the fact that the surplus re- 

 ported on March 31, 1907, after the payment of large dividends, 

 was $6,126,706.44. The new notes were sold to Blair & Co. 

 and the First National Bank, of New York, and Kidder, Pea- 

 body & Co., of Boston. The trustee is the Morton Trust Co., of 

 New York. 



The annual meeting of the United States Rubber Co. occurs 

 this year on May 19. 



The financial editor of the New York Sun, apropos of a recent 

 snowstorm, said : "Years ago when every heavy rain or snow 

 storm was made the basis of a movement in the United States 

 Rubber stocks, weather such as yesterday would have sufficed for 

 a rise in these issues of a couple of points at least. But the 

 reverse happened, and on the sale of a few hundred shares Rub- 

 ber common declined nearly 2 points. It would be interesting 

 to know what the old speculative crowd think of what they must 

 regard as a wasted opportunity. The last few years has certainly 

 witnessed the cleaning up of a lot of the old time speculative 

 counters. rvbber goods dividend. 



The thirty-si.xth regular quarterly dividend of i-Vj per cent, on 

 the preferred shares of the Rubber Goods Manufacturing Co. 

 was payable on March 16 to holders of record March 7. 



Among the securities sold at a public auction in New York on 

 March 11 were $24,500 in first mortgage 6 per cent, gold bonds 

 of the Mechanical Rubber Co., at I02>^(a'i02j4. These bonds are 

 a part of the issue of $2,500,000, in 1893, a considerable part of 

 which has now been retired. The Mechanical Rubber Co. was the 

 first combination of mechanical rubber goods factories in this 

 country, and served as the nucleus for the larger combina- 

 tion known as the Rubber Goods Manufacturing Co., both of 

 which organizations were formed largely through the activity of 

 Charles R. Flint. 



THE RtrBBER FOOTWEAR FACTORIES. 



All the boot and shoe factories of The United States Rubber 

 Co. were closed during the latter part of the past month, for 

 the annual stocktaking and general repairs, in view of the ending 

 of the fiscal year on March 31. At the New Jersey mill exten- 

 sive repairs are being made, and at the factories of the Woon- 

 socket Rubber Co. and the National India Rubber Co. new 

 engines will be installed. The Indi.\ Rubber World is advised 

 that at the other mills necessary repairs will be made, and opera- 

 tions in all of them resumed as early in April as is consistent with 

 the repair work in hand. The Fells factory of the Boston Rubber 

 Shoe Co. closed on March 21, to resume work on April 6. 

 The Edgeworth factory closed on ^larch 18 and the time for 

 reopening has not been announced. The Goodyear Glove factory 

 at Xaugatuck closed on March 14 for two weeks. Generally, how- 

 ever, the dates for resuming work have not been announced. 



A TIRE INFRINGEMENT SUIT. 



A SUIT in equity was filed March 5. 1908, in the United States 

 circuit court at Hartford, Connecticut, against the Hartford Rub- 

 ber Works Co. by the Metallic Rubber Tire Co., of Jersey City, 

 New Jersey, alleging infringement of United States patent 609,320, 

 which relates to the principle of a metal studded leather tread for 

 rubber tires. The Metallic Rubber Tire Co. was incorporated in 

 New Jersey March 14, 1899, and early in 1906 issued a circular 

 stating that their counsel had been directed to bring suit against 

 users of a number of non skidding tires, claiming infringement 

 of patents granted to Calvin Thayer Adams and others, dating 

 back to 1898. The Metallic Rubber Tire Co. at one time exhibited 

 their goods extensively at the bicycle and motor shows, but do 

 not appear to have been active of late. 



PROFITS OF THE MACKAY COMPANIES. 



The annual report of The Mackay Companies for the year 

 ended February I, 1908, states that the corporation owns the 

 whole or part of the capital stock of 102 prosperous cable, tele- 

 graph, and telephone companies in the United States, Canada, 

 and Europe, including all the capital of the Commercial Cable 

 Co. and the Postal Telegraph system, besides being by far the 

 largest stockholder in the organization commonly known as the 

 Bell Telephone Co. The income of The Mackay Companies 

 during the year was $3,830,390.38 ; dividends paid, $3.655,216 ; 

 expenses of admiinistration, $22.250.91 ; balance carried forward, 

 $152,923.47. The preferred shares issued to date amount to 

 $50,000,000 and the common shares to $41,380, 400. 



RUBBER FACTORY AT RUTHERFORD SOLD AGAIN. 



The receivers of the Electric Rubber Manufacturing Co. (Ruth- 

 erford, New Jersey), which company made an assignment at the 

 end of 1906, after having made a sale of the property in June 

 last, resumed possession of the same. Recently they received an 

 offer for the purchase of the company from .-Klbert Freeman, 

 and on March 1 1 the receivers were directed by the chancery 

 court of New Jersey, at Jersey City, to adopt the offer. Mr. 

 Freeman is president of the Trident Tire Co.. No. 1593 Broad- 

 way, New York. 



