November 1, 1916.] 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



91 



Rubber Men and Bankers Guests of Colonel Colt. 



NEARLY 150 men prominent in tinancial circles were the 

 guests of Colonel Samuel P. Colt, president of the United 

 States Rubber Co., at his stock farm at Bristol, Rhode 

 Island, on September 30. The invitations read : "To meet the 

 president and directors of the Industrial Trust Co., of Provi- 

 dence, Rhode Island." The program, which was to some extent 

 informal, included a lunch served in a large tent on the lawn 

 opposite the casino, and inspection of the farm, during which 

 there was an exhibition of the milking by an electrically operated 

 device, of fine blooded cattle of pedigreed stock. 



At 2 o'clock dinner was served in the casino, botli the in- 

 terior of the building and the spacious veranda being occupied. 

 The interior was tastefully decorated with autumn foliage and 

 with flowers from Colonel Colt's conservatories. .-\ real Rhode 

 l!.land clam-bake dinner was served which was fully appreciated 

 hy all the guests. 



Colonel 

 Colt, in 

 opening the 

 more formal 

 e X e r cises. 

 p r o p o sed 

 toasts to the 

 President of 

 the United 

 S t a tes. R. 

 L i V ingston 

 Bee ckman, 

 Governor of 

 Rhode 

 Island, 

 and others. 

 T h e p r i n - 

 cipal speak- 

 e r s were 

 G o V e r nor 

 Bee ckman, 

 C o 1 onel H. 

 Martin 

 Brown, pres- 



drew \V. Anthony, of the National India Rubber Co., Bristol, 

 Rhode Island, and the following officers of the United States 

 Rubber Co. : J. Newton Gunn, vice-presfdent ; W. G. Parsons, 

 treasurer ; Samuel Norris, secretary ; John D. Carberry, assistant 

 secretary ; William E. Barker, manager of sales ; Walter S. Bal- 

 lou, Wilson H. Blackwell, Frank W. Roche and others. 



An orchestra furnished music during the repast, and the 

 formal exercises were appropriately closed with a rendition of 

 "The End of a Perfect Day." 



ident of the 



I n d u strial Main Extr.\xi.e to Colt Fak.m. Magnificent "Private Property," Where the Public Is Welcome 



Trust Co., of 



Providence; Francis L. Mine, president of the First National 



Bank of New York City; Senator Le Baron B. Colt, William 



Cameron Forbes, former governor of the Philippine Islands; 



Colonel Samuel M. Nicholson, vice-president of the Industrial 



Trust Co., and Howard Elliott, president of the New York, New 



Haven and Hartford Railroad. 



Naturally, most of the addresses treated of the present in- 

 dustrial prosperity of the country and the financial situation, 

 which was well summed up by Senator Colt, who advised bank- 

 ers to direct their energies to the power of production and the 

 extension of our commerce, both foreign and domestic. 



Besides the presidents and directors of many of the leading 

 financial institutions of the country there were a number of 

 guests who are prominent in the rubber trade, .\mong them 

 were T. H. Rieder, vice-president and general manager, of the 

 Canadian Consolidated Rubber Co., Limited, Montreal, Canada; 

 Roswell C. Colt, assistant secretary, and 'Victor E. Mitchell, of 

 the same company; E. J. Hathorne, treasurer. Rubber Goods 

 Manufacturing Co., New York City; E. H. Broadwell, vice- 

 president, Fisk Rubber Co., ChicopeerFalls, Massachusetts; An- 



PRESIDENT BOWERS TO RETIRE. 



William F. Bowers, founder and president of the Bowers 

 Rubber Co., San Francisco, California, a pioneer rubber manu- 

 facturing concern on the Pacific Slope, having sold his 

 interests, will retire from business. Mr. Bowers has had a most 

 interesting record. He went to California from Lynn, Massa- 

 chusetts, as 

 a representa- 

 tive of the 

 Gutta Per- 

 cha & Rub- 

 b e r Manu- 

 f a c t u r ing 

 Co. in the 

 late seven- 

 ties. In 1882 

 h e formed 

 the Bowers 

 Rubber Co., 

 which \v a s 

 incorporated 

 with a capi- 

 tal of $300,- 

 000, to take 

 over the San 

 F r a n c i sco 

 plant of the 

 Gutta Per- 

 cha & Rub- 

 ber Manu- 

 facturing Co. 

 and engage 

 in making 

 goods on an independent basis. Tliis was the first company to man- 

 ufacture rubber goods west of the Rockies on a large scale, and 

 later was the pioneer manufacturer of fabric fire hose on the Coast. 

 The company prospered from the start, and later acquired a plant 

 of about 12 acres in the city of San Francisco. The works built 

 there withstood the shock of the earthquake in 1906, only to be 

 totally destroyed by the fire which followed. A new and more 

 extensive plant was built at Black Diamond, California, and was 

 steadily enlarged as the business grew. For many years this com- 

 pany furnished all the fire hose used in the City of San Francisco, 

 did business all along the Coast and filled several contracts for 

 dreiige sleeves and suction hose for the Panama Canal Commis- 

 sion. The company now manufactures a full line of mechan- 

 icals and has recently taken on the production of tires and tire 

 tubes. 



Mr. Bowers has taken out many patents for hose, hose reels, 

 packing, etc. 



He was very highly regarded by all connected with him in 

 business and popular with his employes. So prominent a figure 

 in. the Pacific Coast rubber trade will not drop out of it without 

 much regret on the part of- all with whom he came in contact. 



