June 1, 1917, 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



307 



The Rubber Industry Is "Doing Its Bit." 



MANUFACTURERS of rubber goods were among the first 

 to place their entire facilities at the disposal of the Gov- 

 ernment for war preparation. Because of the importance 

 of rubber products in national defense the leading factories in 

 several lines are already turning out large quantities of many 

 materials with which to equip the great armies soon to be raised 

 by selective conscription. Companies so engaged have placed the 

 national welfare above profit or material advantage and are 

 giving first attention to Government requirements at nominal 

 profits. Several companies are now at work on dirigibles for 

 use by the aviation corps. 



Quite aside from this wholehearted and important work of 

 equipment, many firms and their employes have engaged in addi- 

 tional patriotic enterprises of many sorts. So varied are these 

 wholesome activities that the disposition of the rubber industry 

 as a whole "to do its bit" becomes evident. 



SECURING ADEQUATE RAW MATERIALS. 



A notable committee, of which Bernard M. Baruch is chairman, 

 has been chosen to work in cooperation with the Council of 

 National Defense in superintending the production of raw ma- 

 terials for the war at fair prices. Each material will be in charge 

 of a sub-committee, its chairman being a member of the central 

 committee. H. Stuart Hotchkiss, president of the General Rub- 

 ber Co., and first vice-president of Th« Rubber Association of 

 America, Inc., is chairman of the rubber committee, which also 

 includes A. H. Marks, Diamond Rubber Co., Akron, Ohio ; 

 Frederick C. Hood, Hood Rubber Co., Watertown, Massachu- 

 setts. 



Further, it is reported that Dr. D. Spence, vice-president and 

 general superintendent of the Norwalk Tire & Rubber Co., 

 Norwalk, Connecticut, has been appointed chairman of the Com- 

 mittee on Rubber of the National Research Council of Washing- 

 ton ; this council formed by authority of the President of the 

 United States for safeguarding and developing all scientific 

 knowledge of the country for war purposes. 



PROVIDING FOR WAR DEPENDENTS. 

 Most firms are disposed to provide in some fair manner for the 

 dependent families of enlisted men, and the desirability of some 

 uniform system has resulted in a committee of the Chamber of 

 Commerce of the United States to study the matter and make 

 recommendations. F. A. Seiberling, president of the Goodyear 

 Tire & Rubber Co., Akron, Ohio, is chairman. 



PENSIONS AND RETIREMENTS. 



Several rubber companies have recently adopted a pension plan 

 of retirement as a reward for long, continuous and faithful 

 service. The United States Rubber Co. now takes the lead in 

 announcing that absence for military service will not constitute 

 a break in the continuity of employment on the pension records. 



The pension committee, appointed by the Board of Directors 

 May 3, consists of the following : Homer E. Sawyer, chairman, 

 James Newton Gunn, Ernest Hopkinson, H. Stuart Hotchkiss, 

 Theodore Whittelsey, F.lisha S. Williams, and Kennedy M. 

 Thompson, secretary. 



The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co: has announced that all 

 employes enlisting for military duty in either arm of the Govern- 

 ment service will have tlieir positions kept open for them until 

 their return. 



The Dryden Rubber Co., Chicago, Illinois, will pay to any em- 

 ploye who may enlist for active service the difference between 

 the army wage and the average earnings while in the factory. 



The United States Rubber Co. has turned over to the Gov- 

 ernment a portion of its ground floor salesroom at Broadway and 



Fifty-eighth street, New York City, for a recruiting office, and 

 its location is a most advantageous one for the purpose. 



ENLISTMENTS FOR ACTIVE SERVICE. 



Military drill in many establishments has resulted in thousands 

 of patriotic enlistments in the regular army or navy, the National 

 Guard, Reserve, and Home Guard. 



Over 160 employes of the Boston Woven Hose & Rubber Co., 

 Cambridge, Massachusetts, intend to enlist and 30 have already 

 done so. A uniformed Home Guard is also being organized. 

 George E. Hall, vice-president, and J. W. Fellows, factory man- 

 ager, are members of the Public Safety Committee, and James H. 

 O'Brien, superintendent, has joined the Home Guard. 



Several employes of the Bucyrus Rubber Co., Bucyrus, Ohio, 

 will enter some branch of military service. C. P. Mader, secre- 

 tary, is a captain in the Quartermaster Officers Reserve Corps, 

 and chairman of the military committee of the Bucyrus Chamber 

 of Commerce. 



Military drill during working hours has been established for 

 150 young men in the employ of The Cupples Co.. St. Louis, 

 Missouri. 



Arthur H. Leavitt, assistant sales manager of the motor truck 

 tire department of The B. F. Goodrich Co., Akron, Ohio, has 

 resigned that office, having been appointed captain in the Quarter- 

 master's Reserve Corps, and has already reported for duty at 

 Fort Sam Houston, Te.xas. 



Drew McKenna, for IS years with The B. F. Goodrich Co., 

 Akron, and later with Charles E. Wood, rubber broker, New 

 York City, has received his commission as lieutenant of the Of- 

 ficers Reserve Corps, and is now on duty at Plattsburg. 



Two sons of H. A. Astlett, the New York rubber importer, 

 are serving in France with the Harjes-Norton section of the 

 American Ambulance Corps. Hugh S. Astlett has been there 

 since January and Eric A. Astlett sailed in .^pril. 



E. W. Dunbar, superintendent of the Apsley Ruljber Co., Hud- 

 son, Massachusetts, is chairman of the local Public Safety Com- 

 mittee. The Apsley factory has been placed at the disposal of 

 the Government. 



Classes in military training have been arranged by The Good- 

 year Tire & Rubber Co., Akron, Ohio, giving all employes an 

 opportunity to drill under the direction of ex-army officers. 



P. J. Kennedy and R. T. Riddington, of The Fisk Rubber Co., 

 Des Moines, Iowa, are giving lessons in tire repair to members of 

 the National League for Women's Service. These classes are 

 being well attended. 



THE RESERVE OF SKILLF.D MEN. 



In order to insure the services of skilled men in manufactur- 

 ing material for military use, a nation-wide canvass of the in- 

 dustrial resources of the country has been conducted by the 

 Naval Consulting Board. Thousands of m6n have enlisted in the 

 Reserve and pledged themselves to work at their respective 

 trades for the Government whenever called upon to do so. 



Among those so listed may be mentioned 2,000 employes, 400 

 shop men and 40 in the testing room, engineering and office forces 

 of the Cutler-Hammer Manufacturing Co., Milwaukee, Wisconsin. 

 A. W. Berresford, general manager, is a member of the Naval 

 Consulting Board. 



Fully 1,000 employes of The B. F. Goodrich Co., Akron, Ohio, 

 have also joined the Reserve. 



M0BILI7.\TION FACILITIES. 

 The employes of the h'isk Rubber Co., Chicopee Falls, Massa- 

 chusetts, have offered their 45-acre athletic field for mobilization 

 purposes, and the company will provide another field for their 

 use elsewhere. 



