180 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



[JANIARY 1, 1916. 



The Obituary Record. 



Dodge. 



JAMES MAPES DODGE. 



THE chairman of the board of directors of the Link-Belt Co., 

 Chicago, Illinois, James Mapes Dodge, known to the rubber 

 inihistry of the United States, died at his home in Philadel- 

 pliia, Pennsylvania, on December -4, I'd.^. in tlu- d-tth \ tar nf his age. 



Mr. Dodge was 



born at W a v e r 1 y , 

 New Jersey, his 

 grandfather b e i n g 

 Professor James J. 

 Mapes, his motlier 

 Mary Mapes Dodge, 

 well known in liter- 

 ary circles and for a 

 number of years edi- 

 tor of the St. Nich- 

 olas magazine. He 

 spent three years 

 at Cornell University 

 and a year at Rut- 

 gers College, where, 

 under the late Pro- 

 fessor George H. 

 Cook, State Geolog- 

 ist of New Jerse}',he 

 took a special course 

 in chemistry. His ac- 

 tive work in the 

 business world com- 

 menced with a brief 



engagement at the Morgan Iron Works, New York. He then en- 

 tered the shops of John Roach, the shipbuilder, at Chester, Penn- 

 sylvania, where his marked mechanical ability and ingenuity took 

 him rapidly through the stages of journeyman and foreman to the 

 post of superintendent of erection. 



In 1876 he left the shipyard, and after several years' experience 

 in the East, went to Chicago, where he became acquainted with 

 William D. Ewart, inventor of the Ewart Link-belt, with w-hom 

 and his associates Mr. Dodge entered on the development of 

 the chain belt business. 



Later he returned East and, with Edward H. Burr, formed the 

 firm of Burr & Dodge. This partnership resulted in the organ- 

 ization in 1888, of the Link-Belt Engineering Co. 



In the planning and arranging of equipment to secure the most 

 economical and efficient handling of products in both the raw and 

 finished state, Mr. Dodge was notably successful ; his system of 

 handling coal, in and out of storage, bringing him the Elliott 

 Cresson gold medal of the Franklin Institute of Philadelphia, 

 Pennsylvania. 



When it is remembered that while developing inventions on 

 which upwards of 100 letters patent were granted, he at the same 

 time directed the operations of such important corporations as 

 the Link-Belt Engineering Co. and the Dodge Coal Storage Co. — 

 of which companies he was elected president in 1892, to become 

 chairman of the board of directors of the Link-Belt Co., when it 

 was organized in 1906 as a result of the merger of the allied 

 companies — the Link-Belt Engineering Co., Philadelphia, Penn- 

 sylvania, the Link-Belt Machinery Co.. Chicago, Illinois, and the 

 Eivart Manufacturing Co., Indianapolis, Indiana — some idea of 

 his diligence and versatility may be formed. 



.\mong his designs and inventions were the links and attach- 

 ments of all link-belting in use, the bushed joint that made the 

 silent chain possible, etc. 



With all these activities, he took deep interest in the personal 



welfare ol his employees and encouraged in them the develop- 

 ment of a spirit of ambition and responsibility. Mr. Dodge was 

 recognized as a leader in the various societies and clubs of 

 which he was a member, including the American Society of 

 Mechanical Engineers, of which he was a past president; Frank- 

 lin Institute, vice-president ; Stevens Institute of Technology, 

 Hon. Sc.D. ; School of Design, Philadelphia, trustee: Union 

 League Club, Philadelphia ; University Club and Zcta Psi Fra- 



CHARLES H. WILLIAMS. 



Charles II. Williams, vice-president of the Williams Foundry 

 iS: Machine Co., .\kron, Ohio, died on December 3, at a hospital 

 m Cleveland, Ohio, where he had undergone an operation. De- 

 ceased, who came to .\kron from Footville, Wisconsin, 12 years 

 ago. engaged in the foundry and machine business with his 

 brother. J. K. Williams. The firm was notably successful in the 

 manufacture of special machinery, molds and dies for rubber 

 manufacturers, including hydraulic and hand presses, patent steam 

 vulcanizers, etc. Lloyd Williams, son of the deceased, is master 

 mechanic for tlie Williams company. 



EDMUND R. HAWKINS. 



Edmund Ricliard Hawkins, for the past four years a partner 

 in the firm of H. .A. .\stlett & Co., crude rubber dealers and e.x- 

 port commission merchants, 117 Pearl street. New York, died 

 November 30, 1915, 

 at his residence in 

 White Plains. New 

 York. 



Mr. Hawkins, who 

 was 45 years of 

 age, was born in In- 

 dia, where his 

 father held an im- 

 portant government 

 post. His early life 

 was spent in Leices- 

 ter. England, and he 

 w-as educated at the 

 Leicester grammar 

 school. As a young 

 man he entered the 

 employ of the Lon- 

 don & Brazilian 

 Bank, of London, 

 and was first sent 

 out to Lisbon, Por- 

 tugal, then to Rio 

 Grande do Sul, Para 

 and Manaos, Brazil, 

 where he filled the 

 position of accountant. Coming much in contact with the crude 

 rubber dealers, he acqiiired a knowledge of the trade, and ulti- 

 mately resigned his accountancy to engage in business in Manaos, 

 and later in Para, as a rubber broker. Here he made many 

 friends, by whom he will be remembered with affection and 

 esteem. Keenly interested in athletics, he was often instru- 

 mental in diverting the attention of the younger members of 

 the foreign colony from unprofitable pursuits to healthful, out- 

 door sports and exercise. When he came to New York he left 

 many friends, who greatly regretted the loss of his genial com- 

 panionship. 



Mr. Hawkins possessed a fine tenor voice, and frequently took 



E. R. Hawki 



