October 1, 1915.1 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



N 



THE RUBBER TRADE IN BOSTON. 



By Our Rcsidar Correspondent. 

 EVV EN'GLAND rubber conditions as a whole have im- 

 proved materially during the past six weeks and the out- 

 look is promising. The tire, rubber shoe manufacturers and 

 proofers are especially busy, but makers of mechanical goods 

 with certain exceptions are only fairly active. Some of the 

 tire factories are working double shifts, and the product being 

 turned out is, as nearly as can be learned, mainly for domestic 

 consumption. 



The newly formed Rain Coat Manufacturers' Association held 

 its first official meeting in the committee rooms of the Kimball 

 Building, 18 Tremont street, on the afternoon of Saturday, Sep- 

 tember 25, for the purpose of electing officers, drafting by-laws 

 and converting the benevolent organization agreed upon on the 

 Wednesday preceding into a corporation. The membership of 

 the Association, which includes all but one large and two small 

 companies of this class of raincoat manufacturers, is confined 

 within a radius of 25 miles of Boston. The recent strike has 

 been virtually settled, as over 95 per cent, of the workers have 

 returned to work. The officers of the association are William 

 Lichtenstein, president; Samuel Goldstein, vice-president; H. P. 

 Gordon, treasurer, and Daniel Harris, secretary and general 

 counsel. 



The directors are William Lichtenstein, Samuel Goldstein, 

 H. P. Gordon, Barney Bennett, Lewis Fein, Louis Simmons and 

 D. S. Shapiro. The attorneys for the association are Harris & 

 Harris, 18 Tremont street, Boston. Included in membership are 

 the following twenty raincoat companies : Bay State Raincoat 

 Co.. Bennett Bros. Raincoat Co., C. & C. Raincoat Co., Crowne 

 Raincoat Co., Eagle Raincoat Co., Goodrich Raincoat Co., Hub 

 Raincoat Co., International Raincoat Co., Metropolitan Rain- 

 coat Co.. Monarch Raincoat Co., New England Raincoat Co., 

 Panama Raincoat Co., Red Cross Raincoat Co., Star Raincoat 

 Co., Tremont Raincoat Co., United Raincoat Co., Universal 

 Raincoat Co., Washington Raincoat Co., Rubin Mfg. Co., 

 Weatherproof Garment Co. 



Building materials worth $15,000 and four freight cars were 

 destroyed by fire and a gasolene explosion in the yard of the 

 Fisk Rubber Co., Chicopee Falls, on July 15. The company's 

 buildings were in great danger and the chief of the fire depart- 

 ment has received a letter of commendatiion with a check for $25 

 enclosed for the Firemen's Benefit Association, in appreciation of 

 the work of the department in checking further damage. 



A rumor has been afloat that the explosion was due to a pro- 

 German plot, possibly the act of a "crank"; but there seems 

 to be no foundation for this, save the present excitable state of 

 the public mind. 



"Fisk Day" was celebrated on September 4 by a holiday with 

 pay for all the employees of the company, the total cost in free 

 wages amounting to close upon $10,000. 



The .\lden Rubber Co., 58 Thayer street, succeeds the Hoyt 

 Rubber Co. of the same address. The present officers of the 

 company are G. Edwin Alden, president; B. E. Phillips, treas- 

 urer, and John Alden, secretary. They are making a general 

 line of molded specialties. 



The Boston employees of The B. F. Goodrich Co. recently 

 held their annual outing at Lexington Park, Lexington, 250 being 

 present. After a ball game there were field sports, all well con- 

 tested, including some novelties, among them the "Inner Tube" 

 race, the "^Vhite Boot" endurance run, and the "Hipress" race. 

 The Goodrich delegation of footwear salesmen, headed by Direc- 

 tor of New England Sales on Footwear, J. S. Capen, took promi- 

 nent parts in these events. It is a question who enjoyed the fea- 

 ture races the more, the participants, or the audience. Luncheon 



was served in the grove. In the evening, a theatre party was 

 enjoyed, after which special cars were waiting at the Park en- 

 trance for the return trip. 



The King Rubber Co., Hyde Park district, have just com- 

 pleted a brick factory, 125 x 65 feet, and are about ready to 

 move in. They will shortly put out a most attractive line of 

 tobacco pouches, said to possess a number of new features. 



C. P. Lovering Co., East Cambridge, are making a composition 

 sole and heel with a rubber binder, which they claim is as 

 durable as leather and will hold stitches as firmly. This is a 

 resilient product which does not draw and it can be success- 

 fully attached to McKay and Turn Shoes, in the soling and 

 heeling of which only the best leather has been previously used. 

 This company also makes a line of rubber soles and heels as well 

 as molded insulation. 



This is the day of clubs and associations ; and they are good 

 things. One of the most interesting is the Friction Plug-Heel 

 Manufacturers' .Association, with headquarters in Boston. The 

 representatives meet semi-occasionally, swap trade gossip, have 

 a dinner and, incidentally, get exceedingly well acquainted with 

 each other. 



The first unit of the factory building of the Atlantic Ruliber 

 Co., of Atlantic, designed by J. A. DeWolff, has recently been 

 completed and is a model of factory construction and arrange- 

 ment. 



The B. & R. Rubber Co., of North Brookfield, has purchased 

 control of the Wills carton erecting and filling machine for jar 

 rings. 



The Duxfut, "the sole that floats," and the Para Oak soles, 

 according to shoe manufacturers, are the equal if not the superior 

 of leather soles. The A. & A. Rubber Co., of South Framing- 

 ham, is to be congratulated for their production. 



The Plymouth Rubber Co., Canton, Massachusetts, is making 

 a very energetic and successful push on its "Durable-Kompo" 

 soles, which is particularly timely, as the price of sole leather 

 soars higher and higher. 



The Annual Fall Convention of the salesmen of the B. & R. 

 Rubber Co., was held at the factory. North Brookfield, during 

 the second week of September. 



Captain Francis H. Appleton recently returned from a very 

 pleasant trip to the Panama Exposition at San Francisco, which 

 he attended as one of four delegates from Aleppo Temple to 

 the Imperial Council of The Mystic Shrine, which convened at 

 Seattle. The delegation, which included J. W. Work, the well- 

 known maker of lasts for rubber footwear, traveled in a private 

 car and were accorded most cordial receptions at Seattle, and 

 other western cities. Captain Appleton, who was accompanied 

 by Mrs. Appleton, stopped over at Buffalo and Lake George, 

 where they spent a delightful month on the return trip. 



The captain gave a dinner to Colonel Sidney Hedges on the 

 occasion of that gentleman's 71st birthday on Monday, Septem- 

 ber 27, at the Algonquin Club, Boston. Colonel Hedges was 

 for more than 25 years the New England manager of the Mu- 

 tual Benefit Life Association of Newark, New Jersey, retiring 

 last year. He is prominent in masonic and military circles, and 

 was formerly in command of the Ancient and Honorable Ar- 

 tillery Co. of Boston. 



* * * 



Charles A. Coe, Eastern selling agent of the United States 

 Rubber Co., 140 Essex street, recently started West on his annual 

 trip. He will cover Middle Western states and will be away 

 four or five weeks. 



Harold P. Fuller, of F. H. Clapp Rubber Co., returned last 

 Saturday from a week's tour of Canada. He states that busi- 

 ness conditions there are very favorable. 



