June 1, 1919.] 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



509 



as purchasing and sales agents for various manufacturers and 

 jobbers interested in the purchases and sales of chemicals, oils, 

 pigments, etc. His judgment in this respect has been justified, 

 for the history of Ralph L. Fuller & Co., Inc., seems to indicate 

 that where the finished products of one manufacturer are so 

 frequently the raw materials of another, the bringing together 

 of the two producing firms and production through a common 

 handling agency is mutually advantageous. 



Mr. Fuller has a wide acquaintanceship, and hosts of friends. 

 He is a director of the Guardian Savings & Trust Co. of Cleve- 

 land, and also the Cleveland National Bank. He is an ex-presi- 

 dent of the Cleveland Chamber of Commerce. 



THE RUBBER TRADE IN MASSACHUSETTS. 



By Our Regular Correspondent. 



ABOUT the first of last month, it was reported that Lockwood, 

 Greene & Co., had purchased the Roxbury Carpet Co., 

 which purchase included the plant and business of the Boston 

 Belting Corp. Investigation confirmed the sale of the carpet com- 

 pany but that neither the Boston Belting Corp. as such, nor its 

 stock held by the carpet company had been included in the 

 transaction, being still held largely by the Simpson Estate, from 

 which the carpet company was purchased some time ago by 

 Willett, Sears & Co., for a cash payment, it is said, of $700,000, 

 and notes for a like amount. 



Mr. Willett later purchased the Boston Belting Co., buying up 

 the stock by paying therefor a sum in cash and an amount of 

 preferred stock in a new corporation named the Boston Belting 

 Corporation. He sold to the Roxbury Carpet Co. the 

 common stock of the belting corporation for $500,000, 

 which money went to pay the above-mentioned cash pay- 

 ments to the belting company's stockholders. It is now under- 

 stood that the present holders of the majority of the belting 

 corporation stock are anxious to sell the plant and business. 



Among the assets of the Boston Belting Corp. is a large block 

 of stock of the Plymouth Rubber Co., which is valued around 

 $50,000, though its face value is somewhat higher. Another pos- 

 sible asset of large value is the water-power privilege which the 

 old company has held for many years, and which, by the terms 

 of its contract, may be bought by the city of Boston within a few 

 years for such sum as may be estimated to be its value at that 

 time. 



.An other possible asset is a claim of $350,000 against the In- 

 dustrial Service and Equipment Co., against which a petition in 

 bankruptcy has been filed by the belting corporation and two 

 other concerns formerly controlled by Willett, Sears & Co. The 

 Industrial Service and Equipment Co. was also a VVillett-Sears 

 concern, which was placed in the hands of receivers, in equity, 

 last February. It is understood that the dividends on the pre- 

 ferred stock of the Boston Belting Corp., so far, have been paid 

 from the earnings, as they became due and that the corpora- 

 tion is continuing business as heretofore and pushing for foreign 

 trade, with encouraging results. 



The Xecdham Tire Co.. Charles River, Massachusetts, is 

 building a one-story addition to give it 13,000 square feet of 

 additional space for operating purposes. The company is also 

 building a ISO-foot smoke-stack to replace its present chim- 

 ney. \n additional 250-horse power boiler and other equip- 

 ment for making tires are being installed, as well as nine more 

 presses for making fiber soles and rubber heels. 



Everlastik, Inc., manufacturer of elastic wclibing. dedicated 

 its new Victory Mill at Chelsea, a suburb of Boston, on April 

 30, by appropriate addresses, dancing, and refreshments. When 

 the armistice was signed, work was begun on this mill, and in 

 the succeeding five months there has risen a handsome three-story 

 ' of modern mill construction. It will be equipped with 



faci 



warping and winding machinery, as well as looms for making 

 elastic and non-elastic webs, automobile brake linings, etc. The 

 street floor on the Webster avenue side will contain the offices 

 and the machine shop. All the machinery will be driven by indi- 

 vidual electric motors, and, of course, the mill will be lighted by 

 electricity. Special attention has been paid to arrangements for 

 the comfort of the employes. 



According to the fourth annual report of the Forsyth Dental 

 Infirmary, that institution continues its philanthropic work among 

 the poor children of Boston, having treated over 25,000 cases 

 during the year 1918, and starting that number of children in the 

 proper way to preserve their teeth. The enforced closing of the 

 institution for some weeks because of the influenza epidemic, and 

 the reducing of the permanent staff because of the call to ser- 

 vice in the Army Dental Corps reduced somewhat the number 

 of cases treated. Forsythe Day, the anniversary of the pres- 

 entation of the loving cup to the surviving founder, Thomas A. 

 Forsyth, for many years connected with the Boston Belting Corp., 

 was celebrated by special clinics which brought together several 

 hundred New England dentists. 



At the annual meeting of the Crocker Rubber Co., held at 

 Brockton, Massacliusetts. May 14. 1919. the following officers 

 were elected : president, O. W. Holmes, Brockton ; treasurer, H. 

 J. Callahan, Salem— both in Massachusetts, and secretary, M. R. 

 Henry, Providence, Rhode Island. This company specializes in 

 rubber boods of all kinds and has been located in Brockton since 

 1904. It is one of the eleven stores of the Crocker System. O. 

 W. Holmes has been with the Crocker Rubber Co. for twelve 

 years. Besides his duties as president he will act as manager. 

 Mr. Callahan, the treasurer, holds a like office with the Salem 

 Rubber Co., of which Mr. Henry is secretary. 



The Davidson Rubber Co., Charlestown, has sold to A. 

 Francis Harrington the stock, tools, and machinery of the Ster- 

 ling Fountain Pen Co., which has been run as a subsidiary of 

 the Davidson Rubber Co. for the past eighteen years'. Mr. Har- 

 rington, a Boston lawyer, at this writing is sole owner of the pen 

 business, but he proposes to form a stock company, under the 

 name of the Sterling Fountain Pen Co., which will continue the 

 business, with factory and office at 15 Brattle Square. Boston. 



The Berkshire Rubber Co., Pittsheld, Massachusetts, con- 

 trols or owns The Berkshire Rubber Co. of New York. Inc., 

 The Hoosac .Auto Supply Co., North Adams. Massachusetts, 

 and the newly incorporated Holcomb Rubber Co., 713 Albany 

 avenue, Hartford, Connecticut. The officers of the Berkshire 

 company are: Richard Prosser, president. New York; .Albert 

 Wurts, treasurer ; Frank Prosser, secretary. New York. 



A most effective instance of window advertising of automo- 

 bile tires was the display staged by the Boston branch of The 

 Miller Rubber Co., .Akron, Ohio. The tires were shown in the 

 window of a leading florist's store and the combination of tires, 

 ribbons, flowers and greenery, backed by a landscape which 

 blended with the foreground, was very effective. The name of 

 the tires was just conspicuous enough to advertise them ef- 

 fectively without detracting from the beauty of the display. 



James H. Learned, of the United States Rubber Co., who went 

 to Europe in .April on business connected with the rubber 

 thread department, returned the middle of last month. He visited 

 England and France, and, like most .Americans now going 

 across, spent a considerable portion of his time ashore in attend- 

 ing to his passport requirements. He experienced the same dif- 

 ficulties as others in regard to traveling and hotel accommoda- 

 tions, but found his customers ready to do business, and reports 

 the outlook for future orders most encouraging. 



