7s 



THE INDIA RUBBER 'vfrORL'D 1 



| \n\ I MBES 1, 1914. 



THOMAS ALEXANDER FORSYTH. 



""THOMAS ALEXANDER FORSYTH, president of the 

 Boston Belting t o., was born in Brookline, Massachu 

 setts, \pril 12, 1852. He is the fourth son ol William Forsyth, 

 uln> came to this country in the early part ol last century, 

 From his home in Ayrshire, Scotland. 



The familj is an ancient one, tracing its ancestry hack to 

 I adet de Forsath, a member in the train of Eleanor, daughtei 

 ol Raymbnde, Comte de Provence, when sin- went to England 

 in 123t> and married Henry III. King of England. The sen. 

 William de Forsath, in l_"»o. according to the records, took 

 the oath of iValn to King Edward I. of England, who at 

 that time was at war with Philip [V, of France. A straight, 

 unbroken line from these ancestors is on record. 



William Forsyth, son of Captain 

 John Forsyth, of the British army. 

 came to Boston in 1828, moved to 

 Brookline and later to Roxbury, 

 to be near the factory of the 

 Boston Belting < o., in which he 



was a foreman. The family con- 

 sisted of five sons and three 

 daughters, and as the sons left 

 si hool thej were employed in that 

 ... tor) 



Thomas V. Forsyth, though 

 born in Brookline, was educated 

 in the public schools in Roxbury. 

 which is now a portion of Boston. 

 At the age of fourteen he went 

 into the factory of the Boston 

 Belting Co. and, beginning at the 

 bottom, became successively an 

 experienced workman, foreman, 

 assistant superintendent and su- 

 perintendent: and on the death of 

 his brother he became president 



ol the c pany. Knowing the 



entire details of the business from 

 the receipt of the raw materials 

 to the shipment of the finished 

 product, he is especially fitted for 

 the position, as the steady, con- 

 tinued success ol the company 

 and its increasing business fully 

 prove. I<£ 

 Being, like all his family. 

 mechanically ingenious, he, with his brother James, worked 

 out many problems of manufacture and made several impor- 

 tant improvements in the machinery of the factory, also 

 solving some intricate problems in the manipulation of rub- 

 ber and the details of manufacturing the g Is for which the 



company is noted. For several of these improvements he 

 has secured patents. 



Two of Mr. Forsyth's traits are worthy of menti in, namely, 

 bis desire for perpetuating the memoo of lis family, and 

 his broad philanthropy. .Mention lias been made in this 

 journal ol the beautiful window in memory of the family in 

 a prominent church in Roxbury, and of the baptismal font and 

 rose window dedicated to his sister Margaret; but his great 

 philanthropy, one which has no duplicate in the world, is the 

 gift to the city by the late John Hamilton Forsyth and 

 Thomas A. Forsyth of the Forsyth Dental [nfirmarj Foi 

 Children, founded in memory of their brothers. James Ben- 

 nett and George Henry Forsyth. This magnificent building, 

 which will be opened this month, is one of the most beautiful 

 of all the ornate structures in Boston's Fenway. 



oi the children in Boston's public schools, conducted by the 

 late Dr. Gallivan.., Of the 118.000 pupils examined over 51,000 

 were found to have defective teeth, while other delects orig- 

 inating in the mouth brought the total up to 84 per cent, of 

 all defects found. 



\ndrew Carnegie was asked to found an institution where 

 such defects could be alleviated and cured, or by timely 

 treatment wholly prevented. He was more interested in 

 libraries than infirmaries, and declined, so the opportunity 



came to this Scotch -American family to found, build and en- 

 dow a cl arity w '. ich will be — in fact, already is — world 

 an" his. 



Mr. Forsyth is greatly interested in art, being a member 

 of the Art Museum and the Boston Art Club, He is vice- 

 president oi the Forest Hills Cemetery Corporation, and is 



on the Board of Overseers of the 

 Poor of the City of Boston. He 

 makes his home at one of Bos- 

 ton's leading hotels. A spacious 

 room has been set apart on the 

 iirst floor of the infirmary named 

 "The Founders' Room." which 

 will not only contain memorials 

 oi the Forsyth family, but will 

 also house his extensive library 

 and works of art. Here doubtless 

 he will spend many of the hours 

 which he may find himself able 

 to spare from his office in the 

 factory in Roxbury. 



Thomas A. Foks^ i h 



It is the outcome of a report of a systematic 



exanimate m 



PERSONAL MENTION. 



Henry Spadone. president of the 

 Gutta Percha & Rubber Manufac- 

 turing Co., of New York, has been 

 elected a director of the Importers' 

 & Traders' National Bank of that 

 city, 



James C. Brady, a director in the 

 United States Rubber Co.. and son 

 of the late Anthony N. Brady, was 

 married on October 14, to Lady 

 Victoria May Pery, daughter of the 

 Earl and Countess of Limerick, of 

 Dromore Castle, Limerick. Ireland. 

 The wedding took place at the 

 home of Mr. Brady's brother, 

 Nicholas I Brady, at "Sea Verge," Monmouth Beach, New 

 Jersey. Mr. anil Mrs. Brady are now at the New Greenbrier 

 Hotel. White Sulphur Springs. West Virginia, where they will 

 remain for several weeks. 



J. W. Whitehead, for the past eight years assistant sales man- 

 ager of the California branch of the Diamond Rubber Co., has re- 

 signed that position to assume charge of the Pacific Coast 

 business ,.f the Xorwalk Tire & Rubber Co., of Xorwalk, 

 Connecticut. 



Fred Harrington, formerly connected with the Firestone Tire & 

 Rubber Co.'s branch at Philadelphia, has been promoted to the 

 management of the Detroit agency. 



A. I. Butler, formerly manager of the Brooklyn branch of the 

 Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co., is now special representative in 

 northern New York territory for the Batavia Rubber Co., of Ba- 

 tavia, New York. 



H. M. Applegate, formerly advertising manager for the Lee Tire 

 & Rubber Co., of Conshohocken, Pennsylvania, has become asso- 

 ciated, in a similar capacity, with the Rutherford Rubber Co., of 

 Rutherford, New Jersey. 



