THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



181 



part ill musieales and church entertainments at White Plains. 

 He leaves as his immediate family a widow, and two sons, 

 aged respectively, two and seven years, to whom the sincere 

 sympathy ot his many friends is extended. 



WILLIAM ANDREW CONNEB. 



William .\ndrew Conner, first vice-president of the Standard 

 Underground Cable Co., Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, died suddenly 

 at his office in Perth Amboy, Xew Jersey, on December 6, 1915. 

 Mr. Conner was born at Baltimore, Maryland, September 12, 

 1859. He began his business career in Pittsburg in 1876, in the 

 oil relining industry, and ultimately became assistant manager for 

 the Standard Oil Co. 

 Ill 1885 the Standard 

 Underground Cable 

 Co. built its first 

 plant in Pittsburg. 

 Mr. Conner took 

 charge, and from 

 that time until his 

 decease, remained at 

 the head of the 

 company's manufac- 

 turing business. 

 During this period 

 he planned and su- 

 pervised the erection 

 of the company's ex- 

 tensive plants at 

 Pittsburg, Pennsyl- 

 vania ; Perth Am- 

 boy, New Jersey ; 

 Oakland, California, 

 and Hamilton, Can- 

 ada. Since 1909 he 

 has been vice-presi- 

 dent of the Standard 

 Underground Cable Co., of which he was a director for ten years. 

 He was also vice-president and a director of the Standard Under- 

 ground Cable Co. of Canada, Limited, and was actively interested 

 in the organization of the Perth Amboy Trust Co., Perth Amboy, 

 A'ew Jersey, of which he was vice-president. 



Mr. Conner had been a resident of Plainfield, New Jersey, since 

 1904, when he moved there from Pittsburg. He leaves a widow, 

 who was a Miss Tupper. of Michigan ; a brother, Edward Conner, 

 •of Orange, New Jersey, and a sister, Mrs. Roak, of Brooklyn, 

 New York. 



A 32nd degree Scottish Rite Mason and a Knight Templar, a 

 member of the Duquesne Club, of Pittsburg, the Hamilton Club, 

 of Hamilton. Canada, and the Plainfield Country Club, Mr. Con- 

 ner had many warm friends, by whom he was highly esteemed. 

 The ofiicers and principal employees of the Standard Under- 

 ground Cable Co. and many friends attended the funeral services 

 conducted at his late residence by the Rev. Dr. Phillip B. Strong, 

 Plainfield, New Jersey, and the Rev. Dr. Lemuel C. Barnes. 



New York. 



A PRIZE SHOW OF RUBBER FOOTWEAR. 

 With a view to assisting the weather bureau in interesting the 

 pedestrian in rubber footwear, a National Rubber Sole and Heel 

 Week is suggested by the "Boot and Shoe Recorder." The scheme 

 is to devote the week of January 3-11 to a publicity campaign on 

 behalf of rubbers, rubber boots, rubber heels and soles, and 

 similar rubber devices for protection against wet feet and elim- 

 inating the shock and jar incidental to pounding hard leather 

 shoes on harder pavements. The weather usually prevalent at 

 this period is almost certain to be helpful to the plan and make 

 an attractive window display of rubber footwear timely. Our 

 contemporary offers prizes for the best display made during the 

 period in question 



THE EFFECTS OF THE LOGWOOD EMBARGO. 



•"PHI-; present situation as regards the dyestuff question is an 

 *^ embarrassing one in many lines of industry, and, as is usually 

 the case under such conditions, the rubber trade suffers in 

 some of its manifold classes of production. When the supply 

 of coal tar dyes was cut off through the discontinuance of 

 German commerce the use of logwood, or its extract, partially 

 filled the gap. About the first of last month the British Govern- 

 ment declared an embargo and no logwood could be sent out of 

 Jamaica— the principal source of supply— except to British ports. 

 In fact one or two ships were unloaded which were almost ready 

 to sail to the United States, and the last cargo leaving that island 

 for this country was sunk off Delaware breakwater. Textile men, 

 dyers and felt manufacturers held a meeting in New York, and 

 the United States Government was petitioned to use its influence 

 to remove the prohibition, but about the middle of the month 

 the embargo was further extended to include logwood chips and 

 extract, thus further emphasizing the crisis. Several industries 

 must suffer from the almost total absence of these dyestuffs and 

 it is stated that they are so scarce that some mills and dyeing 

 establishments must cancel their orders and shut down. 



Several branches of the rubber industry w-ill suffer. The 

 rubber footwear industry will be affected, much textile and felt 

 goods being used in making overshoes and arctics. The felting 

 mills are using logwood dyes and have some supplies on hand. 

 When these supplies are gone they will be forced to rescind 

 their contracts unless the embargo is modified. However, there 

 seems to be a falling off in the demand for arctics, though this 

 may be balanced by a larger demand for high buckle overshoes, 

 which are now being called for in place of rubber boots. Linings 

 for rubber boots are principally of knit goods in light or natural 

 colors, and felt linings are not dyed. Many rubber plants now 

 turning out great numbers of black canvas tennis shoes are likely 

 to be affected. 



The manufacturers of mackintoshes use large amounts of cot- 

 ton, worsted and woolen textiles, and the larger manufacturers 

 are well supplied with these fabrics, though more are contracted 

 for. Prices advanced when the scarcity of aniline dyes became 

 noticeable, and immediately the embargo was placed upon log- 

 wood cotton goods in blacks and some colors advanced from 

 30 to 50 per cent., and woolens and worsteds from 15 to 30 per 

 cent., which must affect prices of garments as soon as present 

 stocks of textiles are exhausted. 



Carriage cloths come under the same general conditions. 

 These are mainly of such colors as need aniline or logwood dyes, 

 and prices of treated textiles so largely used in the automobile 

 trade are similarly affected. 



The elastic fabric manufacturers will undoubtedly feel the 

 eft'ects of the embargo in the near future. While some concerns 

 purchase their yarns already dyed, one of the largest producers 

 in this country purchases its yarns in the natural color, and has 

 them dyed to order. At present the dyers have large amounts to 

 color and deliver, and are under contract, which will make present 

 advanced costs fall upon the dyers instead of upon the weavers. 



It is expected, however, that the British Government will later 

 remove the embargo, or so modify it that our industries may 

 again be placed in as effective a position as they were previous to 

 this latest prohibitory enactment. 



District managers of The Fisk Rubber Company, Chicopee Falls, 

 Massachusetts, to the number of about 100, met in conference on 

 December 17 at the Hotel Kimball, Springfield, Massachusetts. 

 The purpose of the gathering was to bring the company's repre- 

 sentatives in all parts of the country into closer touch with each 

 other and to discuss important questions of commercial policy. 

 .\ dinner given by the company to the visiting managers and 

 heads of departments brought the convention to a close. 



