Septemuer I, 1908.] 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



407 



The Late Dr. Habirjshaw. 



THE death of Dr. William M. Habirshavv, at his summer 

 cottage at Saratoga Springs, on August 15, came with a 

 suddenness that gave a shock to his friends, though he 

 had long been under the care of a physician. Within the pres- 

 ent year he had made a visit of several months to Europe on 

 account of ill health, returning in June. Apoplexy vifas the im- 

 mediate cause of his passing away. 



William Martin Habirshaw was born in February, 1835, at 

 No. 197 William street, New York. His education was obtained 

 in New York and in Europe. From early manhood until the 

 end his inclinations and his achievements kept him in close 

 touch with scientific matters. He was a member of leading 

 technical societies in the United States and abroad, and num- 

 bered among his friends many men notable in the scientific 

 world. 



Dr. Habirshaw had acquired more than a national reputation 

 as an analytical chemist, after having 

 served in the engineering corps of 

 the United States navy, when he be- 

 came profoundly impressed with the 

 great commercial possibilities of elec- 

 tricity, and realized how largely its 

 successful application to the needs 

 of mankind would depend upon safe 

 and economical means of insulation. 

 Hence he concentrated his efforts, 

 first upon the production of insula 

 tion compounds, and again upon the 

 improvement of machinery for the 

 application of those compounds to 

 electrical conductors. In both 

 branches of development he was ul- 

 timately very successful, the great 

 manufacturing business which he 

 founded being based upon the merits 

 of his patented inventions. 



Dr. Habirshaw was one of the 

 pioneers of the insulated wire indus- 

 try in America. Early in its devel- 

 opment he was associated for a while 

 with Leonard F. Requa, but their 

 work later caried them into different 

 paths, which led to the formation of 

 separate companies which achieved 

 prosperity. Dr. Habirshaw, in 1886, 



organized The India Rubber and Gutta Percha Insulating Co., 

 of which he became president and general manager, with a fac- 

 tory in New York city, at Twenty-fourth street and Eleventh 

 avenue. It was devoted to the manufacture of the Habirshaw 

 compounds, the demand for which rapidly grew until larger 

 and more eligibly located premises became necessary. About 

 1890 the business was removed to Glenwood, in the city of Yon- 

 kers, which adjoins New York on the north. The company 

 purchased there a disused machinery plant, which was changed 

 to suit its purposes, and with ground enough attached to pro- 

 vide for the constant growth of the works which has since- 

 taken place. 



The products of this company are most varied, being in requi- 

 sition by the government, by great corporations, in private 

 houses and on steamships — not only at home, but wherever elec- 

 tricity is employed commercially. Reference is made to these 

 details to illustrate the success which attended Dr. Habirshaw's 

 efforts in his chosen field of work. In time the company became 

 convinced that its title was unnecessarily long and inconvenient. 



and on January I last the name Habirshaw Wire Co. was sub- 

 stituted for it, this being simply the legal adoption of a title 

 familiar in the electrical trade. Dr. Habirshaw retained to the 

 end important holdings in the company, and gave to it much 

 personal attention, but for several years his health was a matter 

 of concern, and he became especially interested in training and 

 organizing a corps of men who should be ready at any time 

 to assume the whole burden of responsibility. 



The residence of Dr. Habirshaw in New York was at No. 

 341 Madison avenue. Funeral services were held on the morn- 

 ing of August 19 at St. Thomas's Episcopal church. New York. 

 A widow survive?. An only son, William Habirshavv, a young 

 man of great promise, and associated in his father's work, died 

 ten years ago. A brother, J. Habirshaw, also interested in the 

 business, died in 190c. 



Tribute of Respect. 



-At a meeting of the board of trus- 

 tees of the Habirshaw Wire Co., 

 held on August 17, 1908, the follow- 

 ing minute and resolutions were 

 unanimously adopted : 



On Saturday, August 15, 1908, at Sara- 

 toga Springs, New York, William Martin 

 Habirshaw died in the seventy-fourth year 

 of his age. 



From early manhood Dr. Habirshaw oc- 

 cupied an honorable and distinguished po- 

 sition in both the business and scientific 

 world. After retiring from the United 

 States navy, where he served as an engi- 

 neer, he tjegan his career as an analytical 

 chemist, and soon rose to the front ranks 

 in his profession. He became a member 

 of the Chemical Society of London, and 

 of other scientitic organizations both here 

 and abroad. 



At an early date he perceived the com- 

 mercial possibilities of electricity, and or- 

 ganized and became president and gen- 

 eral manager of The India Rubber and 

 Gutta Percha Insulating Co., a pioneer in 

 this line. His sterling honesty and excep- 

 tional scientific ability gave the company 

 a high standing. Its title was recently 

 changed to that of the Habirshaw Wire 

 Co. and he continued to maintain a most 

 active interest in the affairs of this com- 

 pany up to the time of his death. 



For the past five years he has been a 

 suiferer from a disease which he knew to 

 be incurable. During this long period he faced the inevitable with calmness 

 and bravery. His honesty, hospitality, loyalty, and exceptional scientific 

 attainments drew around him a large circle of friends to whom his death 

 will come as a deep personal loss, in which we. his close associates and 

 fellow members of the board of trustees of the Habirshaw Wire Co., fully 

 share. 



Resoh-cd. That as a mark of respect for the character of William M. 

 Habirshaw. and as an expression of our loss in his death, the works and 

 general offices of the company be closed on the day of his funeral, Wed- 

 nesday, .\ugust 19, 190S. 



Resolved, That a copy of these minutes and resolutions be sent to his 

 family. 



Dr. Habirshaw took a keen delight in club life, and was an. 

 active member of the Union League, Century, Chemists, Elec- 

 trical, New York Yacht and other clubs. He was a man of wide 

 culture and liberal tastes ; he was consuUed frequently by leaders 

 in electrical and chemical circles, and enjoyed the intimate friend- 

 ship of the most distinguished men in them. .At his table were 

 entertained likewise authors, actors, artists, army and navy men, 

 financiers and others, all of which classes appreciated him highly. 



