144 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



[December 1, 1914. 



THE OBITUARY RECORD. 



Alfred Booth. 



ALFRED BOOTH. 



A LFRED BOOTH, head of the Booth line of steamships ply- 



*» my between Liver] 1 ami tin Vmazon, ami with a special 



service between New York and the \hm on (th< foremost rubber 

 carrying company anywhere in the world) died on Novem- 

 ber 1 at hi- home in Liverpool, I ngland. While In- spent 

 by far the greater part of his eighty years in England, Mill la- 

 had so many interi i in this countrj and came hen ■■ frequent- 

 ly — in addition to 

 the period of six- 

 teen years during 

 which he n ided 

 here — that In- was 

 widely known in 

 American business 

 circles. 



I le vt i - bi ni in 

 Liverpool, in 1834, 

 and while still a 

 young man estab- 

 lished in that city a 

 company for the im- 

 portation of leather 

 for the manufacture 

 of footwear ; but he 

 was not satisfied 

 with this restricted 

 outlook and in 1857, 

 while but 23 years 

 of age, he came to 

 this country to em- 

 bark on larger en- 

 terprises. He lived 

 here until 1X73 ami in the meantime he established a large leather 

 manufacturing company in Gloversville, New York — known for 

 many years as Booth & Co. and now known as the Surpass 

 Leather Co. — and also established the Booth Steamship Line, 

 with steamers plying between New York and Para and Liverpool 

 and Para. It was this particular enterprise that brought him in 

 close touch with the rubber industry, as almost all of the rubber 

 exports from Para to New York and Liverpool during the last 

 forty years have been carried in the ships of this line. From a 

 small beginning the operations of this company have increased 

 until it has regular sailings four times a month from Para to 

 Liverpool and almost as frequently from Para to New York; 

 and some of its ocean going steamers penetrate the Amazon 

 valley as tar as Iquitos, over 2,000 miles from the Atlantic 

 Ocean. 



Mr. Booth was not only successful in the various commercial 

 matters in which he was interested but he was well known in 

 social circles in this country. He married, m 1867, the daughter 

 of Benjamin F. Butler. Jr.. at that time the leader of the New 

 York liar, who a number of years earlier had been the law 

 partner of Martin Van P.uren and Attorney General in the 

 cabinet of President Jackson. Mr. Booth is survived by his wife, 

 six children and a number of grandchildren, all prominent 

 in the social, commercial and philanthropic life of Liverpool and 

 vicinity. 



A. H. MACDOUGALL. 



A. R. MacDougall, assistant superintendent of the Federal Rub- 

 ber Manufacturing Co., Milwaukee, died at In- residence in that 

 city on November 20, from diphtheria, aftei i lew days' dine--. 

 He was horn in Nova Scotia, thirty-seven yi n - ago, hut went 

 to Boston when he was twenty-three, and entered the emploi oi 

 the Boston Woven I lose & Rubber Co.. with which company 

 he remained until 1912, when he went to Milwaukee to take an 

 assistant superintendence in the Federal factory. He was highly 

 esteemed by his fellow employes, and particularly by the work- 

 men in hi- departmi nl 



MARGARET E. KNIGHT. 



Miss Margaret F.. Knight, wdio died at the Framingham 

 Hospital some six weeks ago, was at one time a person of 

 interest in the rubber business. Miss Knight had often been 

 i' hired to in public prints as the "Woman Fdison'' because 

 of the number oi patents which had been issued in her name 

 alone, or with co-inventors. It was said that she had many 

 bright ideas on mechanical subjects but that most of her 

 invention- were not mechanically or commercially successful 

 until they had been perfected by others who were called in 

 to assist her. 



In 1879 she invented a machine for making square bottomed 

 paper bags, » hieh was sold to a corporation for a consider- 

 able sum and is in use today. It was several years later when 

 she became interested in rubber shoe making, and in 1890 

 -he secured two patents for machinery for cutting rubber 

 soles from the sheet. It is, of course, known to the trade 

 that such soles were all cut by hand, as the edges had to be 

 on an angle or bevel. Between that date and 1894 she was 

 granted eight or more patents for rubber sole-cutting ma- 

 chines. At this time she secured the interest of Colonel Lock- 

 wood of this city and Robert D. Evans, of the American 

 Rubber Co. of Cambridge. Through their pecuniary assist- 

 ance she was enabled to hire experts, and at last a practical 

 machine was completed. This worked excellently in the 

 shop wdiere it was built, and it was installed in the American 

 Rubber Co.'s plant in East Cambridge, where a number of prom- 

 inent rubber footwear manufacturers were invited to see it 

 in operation. 



Such was Miss Knight's connection with the rubber trade. 

 Her other patents (she is said to have secured over 80) run 

 from a spit on which to roast turkeys, and clasps to hold a 

 blanket over a truckman's lap, to window-frame sashes, bor- 

 ing tools and automobile wheels. Miss Knight was born in Man- 

 chester, New Hampshire, about 75 years ago, later residing 

 in Springfield and Ashland, Mass., and for the last 25 years in 

 South Framingham. where she occupied a stately old man- 

 sion in which she had her "workshop" and laboratory, where 

 she spent much of her time in research and experiment, but 

 making frequent trips to Boston or New York, where her 

 experimental machines were built. She was a tall, robust 

 woman, white-haired, but very active for her age. She had 

 many law suits, but claimed that every one was decided in her 

 favor. She had a shrewd faculty in securing financial backers 

 to experiment and exploit her inventions. About four months 

 ago she was attacked by a severe illness, and was removed to 

 the Framingham hospital, where she died on October 13. 



INFORMATION WANTED ABOUT ANDREW H. SMITH. 



The Connecticut Mutual Life Insurance Co., of Hartford, has 

 written to this publication to the effect that in 1887 it issued a 

 policy of insurance on the life of Andrew H. Smith, who gave 

 his address as New York City and his occupation as manufac- 

 turer of rubber goods. The company has not heard from Mr. 

 Smith for many years, and thinks that he may have deceased. 

 The insurance is still in force, and in case Mr. Smith is not liv- 

 ing, and left heirs, the company is prepared to entertain a claim 

 on the policy. If anyone in the trade knows Mr. Smith or can 

 give any information regarding him or any possible heirs, the 

 insurance company would be glad to get the information. 



MR. BRADY'S RUBBER HOLDINGS. 



The estate of Anthony N. Brady has been appraised at over 

 $77,000,000. of which amount over $67,000,000 represents invest- 

 ments in stocks and bonds. Fie had the following large holdings 

 in rubber companies : 

 In the Intercontinental Rubber Co. he held 589.60 



shares preferred, valued at $58,960 



do 40.809.60 shares common, valued at 306,072 



In the United States Rubber Co. he held 45,020.40 



shares first preferred, valued at 4.276,938 



do 75,754.20 shares second preferred, valued at.. 3,787,710 



