February 1, 1917.] 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



289 



in furthering an intelligent conception of American principles of 

 government and other matters calculated to increase the useful- 

 ness of these men in the land of their adoption. In this con- 

 nection it is interesting to note the new division of the company's 

 school which has been inaugurated for deaf mutes, about 200 

 of these "silent" workers now being employed at the Goodyear 

 plant. 



Charles Seiberling, son of C. W. Seiberling, vice-president of 

 the Goodyear company, and L. G. Odell, of the crude rubber de- 

 partment, recently departed for India on an extended tour. 



* * * 



At the recent annual meeting of the General Tire & Rubber 

 Co. the officers were reelected and the following directors 

 named: M. O'Neil, W. F. O'Neil, W. E. Fouse, G. F. Burk- 

 hardt, J. A. Diebolt and T. F. O'Neil. M. O'Neil is president; 

 W. F. O'Neil, vice-president and general manager; W. E. Fouse, 

 secretary and Charles Herberich, treasurer. A quarterly dividend 

 of 1J4 per cent was declared on the $200,000 issue of preferred 

 stock. The company has also $300,000 outstanding in common 

 stock and is building an addition to its factory in East Akron. 



* * * 



The annual report of the Portage Rubber Co. recently sub- 

 mitted to shareholders showed a net profit of $232,000. This 

 is approximately 16 per cent on the present outstanding stock 

 and shows a net increase of 81 per cent over the previous year. 

 B. J. Wildman, former Chicago manager, was elected secretary 

 to succeed W. J. Anderson, who is no longer with the company. 



* * * 



The Mohawk Rubber Co. has increased its common capital 

 stock from $500,000 to $1,000,000. The company retains the 

 $50,000 of preferred stock which it had, thereby securing a 

 total capitalization of $1,050,000. The new stock has not been 

 placed on the market, but will be partially distributed among 

 the stockholders as a stock dividend, and the balance held in 

 the treasury temporarily. This increase was made necessary by 

 recent additions to the factory and increased business. 



* * * 



The Akron Biltwell Tire & Rubber Co., notice of whose in- 

 corporation appears elsewhere in this issue, will shortly com- 

 mence the erection of a factory in the eastern part of the 

 city. The main building will be of brick construction, 60 by 

 ISO feet, two stories high. 



* * * 



John W. Herron, formerly assistant to H. H. Henderson, suc- 

 ceeds the latter as manager of the Akron office of Henderson 

 & Korn, crude rubber importers, Mr. Henderson going to the 

 New York City office of the company. 



THE RUBBER TRADE IN RHODE ISLAND. 



By Our Regular Correspondent. 

 'T'HE rubber factories throughout Rhode Island continue to 

 *■ be rushed to their capacity with business in all Hnes. with 

 no indications of any immediate cessation either in orders or 

 operations. The makers of tennis and other shoes are espe- 

 cially busy. Nearly all of the plants have been closed for a 

 few days each for the taking of an inventory, but have re- 

 sumed under a higher pressure than, ever, frequent newspaper 

 warnings that retail prices on rubber goods were to be ad- 

 vanced having resulted in exceptional demands. 



One of the greatest handicaps that the rubber manufacturers 

 in this vicinity have had to face during the past year and a 

 half has been the scarcity of help of even mediocre ability, while 

 expert rubber workers have been almost priceless. Even the pay- 

 ment of the highest scale of wages ever paid in Rhode Island 

 rubber plants has failed to secure the desired number of opera- 

 tives. 



The O'Bannon Corporation, with extensive holdings in West 

 Barrington and East Providence, has purchased the Interna- 

 tional Rubber Co.'s plant, also at West Barrington, and will 

 change the firm name to the International Rubber Cloth Co. 

 Richard LeBaron Bowen, general manager, announces extensive 

 enlargement, and the employment of fully a hundred more oper- 

 atives. The International Rubber Co. has been engaged for 

 some time in making automobile tops, rubber coverings and 

 other goods, employing approximately 125 persons. The O'Ban- 

 non Corporation also has a large plant at Phillipsdale, known 

 as the Nonnabo Chemical Co., where cellulose products are 

 made, and a second at West Barrington, where artificial leather 

 is manufactured. The concern will employ approximately 1,500 

 persons in its three plants. \ 



* * * 



Another phase of the various suits against alleged infringe- 

 ment of the so-called Osburn patents for flexible electrical con- 

 duits was brought up before Judge Arthur L. Brown in the 

 United States District Court for Rhode Island recently, with 

 the hearing of the case of W. C. Robertson et als against the 

 Tubular Woven Fabric Co., of Pawtucket. 



According to the allegations made by the plaintiffs, the Tubular 

 Woven Fabric Co. is now making a conduit which is an infringe- 

 ment of the Osburn patent, as was the original product of this 

 concern, which it stopped manufacturing when it was adjudged 

 guilty of infringement through previous proceedings. The plain- 

 tiffs have therefore now brought a supplementary bill to deter- 

 mine whether the new product of the defendants is also an 

 infringement. Two days were required in the presentation of 

 the arguments, during which numerous samples of the conduits 

 manufactured by the two companies were brought into court 

 for inspection. The matter was taken under advisement by 

 Judge Brown. 



* * * 



The Millbury Rubber Co., Millbury, Massachusetts, has been 

 incorporated under the laws of Massachusetts, with a capital 

 stock of $90,000, in which Worcester men are largely interested. 

 The new concern will take over the plant of the Stoddard Rub- 

 ber Co., Inc., and operations will begin in a few days. » 



The new company is authorized to issue $30,000 in preferred 

 stock and $60,000 in common stock, practically all of which will 

 be held in Worcester. The permanent officers of the corporation 

 under the reorganization are as follows : DeForest E. Martin, 

 president; Albert W. Blackmer, treasurer and clerk; DeForest 

 E. Martin, Albert W. Blackmer, Warren F. Holden, Albert F. 

 Richardson and Francis H. Dewey, Jr., directors. Automobile 

 tires and other rubber goods will be manufactured on an ex- 

 tensive scale, new equipment being installed and additional em- 

 ployes taken on as rapidly as business conditions warrant. 



* * * 



The great success that has attended the introduction of special- 

 ized sand blast machines in rubber plants for use in automatically 

 cleaning automobile truck tire rims, cutting off any barbs that 

 may occur, and in reducing inequalities has caused an increasing 

 demand during the past year. H. J. Astle & Co., Providence, 

 has installed several in the United States, also in Canada, Eng- 

 land, South America and elsewhere. At present two large 

 machines are being constructed, one for the Russian-American 

 India Rubber Co.'s plant at Trengolnik, Petrograd, Russia, and 

 the other for the Canadian Consolidated Rubber Co., Limited, 

 Kitchener, Ontario. 



* * * 



The Tamarack Co. has started the erection of a large addi- 

 tion to its Pawtucket plant to take care of heavy orders for the 

 manufacture of automobile tire fabric. 



The new building will be 110 by 193 feet, of mill construction, 

 three stories and basement. It will increase the floor space by 



