680 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



[Septkmuer 1, 1919. 



ing industries could be found and l 

 people made their living. 

 Wherever the German has passed, i 



grows, and the very E;rinind, poisoned 



grass no longc 

 juijlied 



■Press-R(K)M at Soissons 



sterile 



the dune- 



the depths by mines and torpedoe 

 Sahara. It is the country of the dead. 



It is unfortunate that the world, and particularly, perhaps, the 

 United States, knows so little about this ; and one would never 

 grow weary of repeating the story. 



Numerous were the rubber factories erected in these devastated 

 regions, which to-day find themselves stricken from the 

 industrial list through the systematic destructions of the Germans. 

 In the Aisne district the important Boinet Works, founded by 

 Mr. Lefebure, one of the oldest rubber men, who made a specialty 

 of waterproof fabrics and gloves, has entirely disappeared, and 

 nothing remains. The same is the case with the two rub- 

 ber factice factories, that of Lefrant & Co., at Ham, and the 

 one founded at Chauny by the well-kown American engineer, 

 Lufbery, a relative of the ace of the Lafayette Escadrille. 



The two great Wolber factories at Wailly and Soissons, to 

 which we will refer presently, have also disappeared, and those of 

 Destriez, at Pont Marcy, were partly destroyed. Others more 

 fortunate have been only partly dismantled, but all those whose 



OILER-ROOM AT SolSSON'f 



names follow have seen their machinery and raw material van- 

 ish; if, in some cases, the walls remain standing, all trace of in- 

 dustrial order has disappeared ; the water pipes and smoke 

 stacks have been smashed, the tall chimneys torn down, the foun- 

 dations of the boiler settings and machinery dynamited. 



Such is the case with the Bouchery Works at Croi.x, Bans a 

 Lhowne, the very important factories of the Colonial .Rubber Co. 

 at Prouvy Thiant and those of the Societe des Constructions Elec- 

 triques du Nord ct dc I'Est, at Jeumont; with the Englebert fac- 

 tories at Givet, with Lefebure at Pont Marcq, with Michel Jack- 

 son and La Royere at Halluin, La Couture at St. Quentin and 

 with Butrulle and Masquelier, at Tourmignicr. 



In the Lille and Roubaix regions the destructions have been 

 less severe, but the supplies and raw materials have been just 

 as carefully carried away and nothing remains but the empty 

 buildings, which our victorious armies have retrieved. This was 

 the lot of the Masure establishments and the Coston factories at 

 Roubai.K, of the Place and Meurisse w-orks at Lille and of that 

 of Flament Freres at Solesmes. 



It has not been possible until now to make up the balance sheet 

 of the ravages committed by the Germans, which runs into mil- 

 lions and millions. An entire prosperous industry has been sys- 

 tematically ruined, and taking into consideration the immense 

 material difficulties one has to contend with, such as shortage of 

 labor, defective machines, scarcity of money and credit, one knows 

 not how and when these terrible damages can ever be repaired. 



Take the case of the Wolber factories, which were situated at 

 Wailly and at Soissons. Among the French factories manufactur- 



A Purtr; 



R Plant at Wailly. 



ing pneumatics and inner lubes for bicycles and automobiles, 

 they were considered among the most important and ranked with 

 those of Michelin and Bergougnan. The area covered by the 

 buildings e.xceeded 107,639 square feet ; the surface of the boilers 

 totaled 1,181 square feet; the motive force was 1,000 horse-power, 

 the hydraulic force supplied by the river Aisne was the same. 

 There were 60 vulcanizing presses in these factories, 25 mills, 8 

 autoclaves, 7 calenders, 7 spreading machines, and all the acces- 

 sory equipment which 700 laborers would require — a large staff 

 for France. 



These factories were built scarcely fifteen years ago by Mr. 

 Wolber, who was one of the pioneers of the pneumatic tire in- 

 dustry in France. There he had set up model workshops to 

 enlarge his factory at Levallois, established in 1918, and which 

 had become too small for its requirements. From 48,000 tires 

 in the beginning. Levallois, in 1902, had succeeded in turning out 

 102,000, but could not produce more. The energetic manufac- 

 turer was delighted in the possession of this new and potential 

 plant, which reflected the success of its products, and at that 

 time was an evolution in the tire industry. 



Under the active direction of Mr. Wolber the factories at 

 Wailly and Soissons, previously described, progressed steadily 

 each year. Building after building was added, new products 

 were manufactured, and as a result the production e.xceeded 720,- 

 000 tires and as many inner tubes at the end of 1913. During 



