Jlly I, 1908.] 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



343 



THE RUBBER TRADE AT SAN FRANCISCO. 



BY A RESIDENT CORRESPONDENT. 



'T'HK coiulitiiin of the trade has changed very little during 

 * the month, and although the merclumts would have been 

 pleased to have seen a great increase in business, they must be 

 content with the little improvement which has been shown, and 

 rely on the good indications of better business ahead. Almost 

 all of the rubber houses are experiencing some new activity 

 just now, but most of the manufacturers and jobbers do not 

 now look for the market to get back to normal before next fall. 

 All of the big industries, the mining, lumbering and the lesser 

 industries are being operated in a limited way, owing to the 

 continued difficulty in getting money, and there are more men 

 out of employment than should be the case at this time of the 

 year. This sort of a gingerly way of doing business is not a 

 thing that the local merchants are accustomed to, and even 

 when they are doing a business which could be considered 

 flourishing, under the -circumstances, they talk of it as though 

 it were exceedingly quiet. The conditions of crops on the coast 

 is entirely favorable, and the general run of conversation now 

 places the beginning of active times at the commencement of the 

 fall season. 



The inactivity of the lumber mills along the northern coast, 

 and the threat of the shipowners to stop running the steam 

 schooners that ply between San Francisco and along the coast 

 is attracting the attention of the rubber merchant^ of San Fran- 

 cisco. As each mill opens in the mountains it usually puts in 

 an almost entirely new stock of rubber supplies, and the rub- 

 ber houses here look forward to that trade as a very lucrative 

 one. Whether it is a desire on the part of the lumber men to 

 break the strength of the labor unions, or whether it is merely 

 because money is hard to get to carry on big business under- 

 takings, the fact remains that the mills are not starting up as the 

 rubber houses would like to see them do. The market in lumber 

 is probably in a poorer shape now than for a long time past 

 in San Francisco, although as soon as money gets to moving 

 more freely and the demand increases the market will begin 

 to rise rapidly. Of about 135 steam schooners which come and 

 go here, each carries some 400 feet of hose, and for each trip 

 that they make to San Francisco the local rubber merchants 

 figure on selling them on an average of 50 feet. If the 

 schooners should be called out of service the loss to the rubber 

 business will be considerable. 



Moore & Sheehan, who are among the most extensive local 

 dealers in druggists' sundries, and agents for the Davol Rub- 

 ber Co., report that the demand for sundries has shown a 

 marked increase. E. A. Heinze, with the firm, has just re- 

 turned from a trip through the Napa and Sonoma valleys, and 

 states that from his observation the business situation is very 

 favorable. 



The Goodyear Rubber Co. are at last installed in their new 

 quarters in the new ten-story steel building at Nos. 587-591 

 Market street, corner of Second. The entrance and portion for 

 samples and offices is the Market street entrance, and the firm 

 also occupies the large store furnished by the building next to 

 the Balboa building, on Second. The Market street store is 

 provided with a balcony which affords additional space, and 

 the fixtures which are now being completed are of the finest. 



The merchants who handle rubber in this city have set a 

 good pace to other merchants in the matter of speedily providing 

 themselves with modern stores. Only two years have elapsed 

 since their old locations were all destroyed, and now every one 

 of the prominent rubber establishments is located in quarters 

 which are far ahead of anything which they occupied previous 

 to the big conflagration. 



The Diamond Rubber Co. are now well settled in a tine new 

 location at the corner of Second and Mission streets. The 

 offices are subdivided in the front of the store and the fi.xtures, 

 finished in golden oak, are unusually attractive. 



Richardson & Erlin Co., at Xo. 580 Mission street, representa- 

 tives of the Davidson Rubber Co., are enjoying an increase in 

 the business of druggists' sundries this month over that of May. 



Mr. Norton, president of the Pacific Coast Rubber Co., has 

 recently returned from Portland, Tacoma, and Seattle, and states 

 that he noticed a marked improvement in conditions throughout 

 the northwest. In San Francisco he states that business has 

 picked up quite a bit during the past few weeks, and that al- 

 though it is not as good as they would like to see it, it is much 

 better than it has been since the first of the year. 



The Consolidated Rubber Tire Co., who sell the Kelly- 

 Springfield tires, are now located at No. 567 Howard street. 



Mr. Parish, of the Gorham Rubber Co., states that trade condi- 

 tions still remain quiet, and that the rubber houses are mostly 

 waiting for fall before they expect money to loosen to any great 

 extent. Then the jobbers can get what they want and trade will 

 improve right down the line. A considerable improvement in 

 business is reported from the firm's Seattle branch. 



The temporary quarters of the Sterling Rubber Co. have been 

 abandoned for the company's new and permanent building, and 

 they are now actively taking care of the business at the new 

 rtore. 



P.\CIFIC RlRBER Co.'S "B.^TTLESHIP. " 



During the recent visit to the Pacific coast of the American 

 battle fleet part of the scheme of decoration w'hich was universal 

 in the coast cities was the ornamenting of the windows of stores 

 with designs suggested by the occasion. In very many San Fran- 

 cisco store windows the decorations took the shape of battleship 

 displays. For instance, the Pacific Coast Rubber Co., at No. 416 

 Mission street, displayed a battleship entirely of rubber and 

 kindred articles, which probably was unique. This ship they 

 named the Ribaiio, and it was built as nearly upon the lines of 

 the California as possible. A view of this display, reproduced 

 from a photograph, is shown here. The Ribano was composed 

 of the following articles : 



Hull — Imperial stitched rubber belting; guns — hose mats — ■ 

 underwriters' hose pipes; Tunnels — double jacket fire hose; 

 turrets — Hoyt's belt cement; deck — asbestos gaskets; ven- 

 tilators — elbows and couplings with reducers ; mortars — reducers 

 and spool of wire lace; fighting tops — leather belting; bridge — 

 packing ; anchor — w'asher cutters ; port holes — jar rings ; boom — 

 Tabor spanner ; search light — bucket ; wireless telegraph — gage 

 glasses and wire lace; life boats — tennis shoes; launches — rub- 

 ber shoes ; rigging — wire lace and belt plates. 



This boat was designed by two ingenious young men in the 

 store, and was much admired by the public. The name given to 

 the boat — Ribano — was made up from the names of Messrs. 

 Richter, Basse, and Norton, of the Pacific Rubber Co. 



