February 1. 1917. 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



287 



THE RUBBER TRADE IN BOSTON. 



By Our Regular Correspondent. 

 /^N December 28, George E. Hall, general manager and 

 ^^ vice-president of the Boston Woven Hose & Rubber Co., 

 of Cambridge. Massachusetts, entertained the heads of the 

 45 departments of the factory and business offices, at a dinner 

 given at the City Club in Boston. The utmost good fellow- 

 ship prevailed and a number of humorous "stimts," followed by 

 a motion picture show, provided entertainment. Five reels 

 showed the rubber industry from gathering the latex in a Bra- 

 zilian forest, through the various manufacturing processes in 

 the factory of the company, to completion in the form of the 

 various products which the firm manufactures. This was supple- 

 mented by several reels along other lines, presenting pictures 

 of comedy and human interest. 



The Boston Woven Hose & Rubber Co. recently announced 

 that, beginning January 15, all employes who had com- 

 pleted two years of continuous service with the company 

 would be presented with an insurance policy amounting to 

 at least $500 and providing for an increase in value for each 

 additional year of service from the above date. The com- 

 pany, as a reward for long service, also distributed gold 

 pieces to employes of ten or more years' standing. The 

 coins ranged from $5 to $20. 



^ ^ * 



Honors seem to come thick and fast to Thomas A. For- 

 syth, president of the Boston Belting Co. Last month it 

 was chronicled in this column that he had been made an 

 honorary member of the Sigma Delta Sigma Fraternity — 

 the first person outside the dental profession to be admitted 

 to that society iif the last 50 years. That the dentists of this 

 country appreciate Mr. Forsj-th's broad philanthropy, in giv- 

 ing to this city the great dental infirmary, was further evi- 

 denced last month when over SCO dentists from all over the 

 country tendered him a dinner, while members of the pro- 

 fession, not on.ly in this country, but even as far away as 



Japan, observed "Forsyth 

 Day" in his honor. 

 There were present the 

 Governor of Massachu- 

 setts, the Mayor of Bos- 

 ton, the presidents of 

 Harvard University and 

 Tufts College, the presi- 

 dent and the president- 

 elect of the Xational 

 Dental Association, the 

 president of the Massa- 

 chusetts Dental .Associa- 

 tion, Dr. Harvey W. 

 Wiley, and many other 

 distinguished men. 

 Mayor Curley in his ad- 

 dress announced that a 

 street near the Boston 

 Belting Co.'s factory had 

 been renamed Forsyth 

 street, and Dean Friesell, 

 of the dental department 

 of the University of Pittsburgh, reported that its trustees had 

 voted to confer on Mr. Forsyth the degree of Doctor of Laws. 

 But the feature of the evening was the presentation of a beautiful 

 silver loving cup subscribed for by dentists all over the world. 

 This massive cup, shown by an accompanying illustration, is of 

 graceful design, depicting in high relief 18 figures of children in 

 graceful postures, while around the rim runs an appropriate in- 

 scription. Mr. Forsyth accepted the cup with a brief and graceful 

 expression of appreciation and the happiness which this gift, as 



Thk Forsyth CtJP. 



well as the work of the infirmary, would always give him. The 

 affair was a fitting tribute to the man who has spent millions 

 of dollars to alleviate suffering by the children of this city. 



* * * 



A fire starting in the churn room of Stovve & Woodward Co., 

 Newton Upper Falls, Massachusetts, rubber manufacturers and 

 proofers, practically demolished the entire spreading plant, with 

 an approximate loss of $20,000. Fortunately, the power plant, 

 storehouse and hard rubber department were not damaged, and 

 the company is now making plans to put up a cement building 

 somewhat larger than the former wooden building and expects 

 to be running again in two or three months. Meanwhile, orders 

 in the spreading line are being cared for at the Campello, Massa- 

 chusetts, factory of the company. 



* * * 



.\nother fire, which might have been much worse, was 

 that at the Converse Rubber Shoe Co.'s plant in Maiden on 

 January 21, where a frame structure, used as a temporary 

 storehouse, gave the firemen three hours of lively work, 

 keeping the flames away from another building in which 

 solvents were stored. The loss to the company was com- 

 paratively small. 



* * * 



Superintendents and foremen cannot impress too strongly 

 upon workmen the danger attending the handling of gasolene, 

 naphtha and similar solvents. Only last month two men in 

 the employ of Bartels & Thelan Shoe Co., Chelsea, were sent 

 to the storehouse to get some rubber cement. The store- 

 house was dark, and one of them held a match over the bung- 

 hole of a cement barrel. The result was an explosion; both 

 inen were severely injured and several hundred employes 

 rushed from the factory in disorder, returning, however, upon 

 learning that there was no further danger. The fire depart- 

 ment was called out, but the monetary loss was small. 



* * * 



An accident occurred last month in a dry-cleansing plant 

 in Lewiston, Maine, where nails in a workmen's heel struck 

 a spark which ignited gasolene vapor, and in an instant the 

 whole establishment was ablaze and a loss of $4,000 resulted. 

 This is a phase of the danger from rubber solvents which it 

 may be well to recall. Many factories nowadays have con- 

 crete floors, and friction from heel-nails is quite likely to 

 create a spark, with disastrous results. The moral is for 

 rubber employes to wear rubber heels. 



* * * 



The main shaft at the Boston Rubber Shoe Co.'s plant in 

 Maiden was fractured a few weeks ago, requiring a shut- 

 down of two days in several of the departments. This shaft 

 was 17 inches in diameter and was driven by a 1,200-horse- 

 power engine. A number of emergency motors were brought 

 into use, thus enabling some of the machinery to be run. 

 The break happened at an unfortunate time when the factory 

 was running to full capacity on orders, in many departments 

 double shifts of workers being employed. 



The Hood Rubber Co.. East Watertown, has completed 

 plans for the erection of a foundry and pattern shop on land 

 contiguous to the factory. The new building will measure 

 80 by 160 feet, two stories high. 



^ * 3|( 



The prevailing high footwear prices and the growing demand 

 for rubber-soled shoes, also the increasing call for rubberized 

 fabrics, rubber and fiber compositions in the manufacture of 

 footwear, were concisely explained by W. E. Barker, manager 

 of sales of the United States Rubber Co., at a recent luncheon 

 of the Xational Shoe Wholesalers' .Association in Boston, when 

 he stated that .American stocks of manufactured footwear today 



