February 1, 1915.] 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 





targis. The availability of a water power right and the fact that 

 nearby communities promised plenH of labor were factors in 

 the selection of the site. Here was located the beginning of one 

 of the most important rubber manufacturing enterprises in 

 France, where, in addition to rubber footwear of world-famous 

 excellence, rubber tires and an endless line of rubber goods pi 

 every description are made, 



In 1869 Hiram Hutchinson, the founder, died, but the concern 

 had already been incorporated and Alcazar Hutchinson, his old- 

 est son, succeeded him. In 1872 Mr. H. P. Moorhouse went 

 over from the United States and reorganized the concern, which 

 assumed the present title of A. Hutchinson & Co. With the 

 decease of Mr. A Hutchinson, about INS'), the last of the mem- 

 bers bearing the name had passed from the linn, and in 1898 Mr. 

 J. Kennedy Smyth, who had been ass,,, iated with Mr. Hutchinson 

 in the foundation of the enterprise, died. He is believed to 

 have been the last of the original subscribers to the successful 

 concern, which is now conducted as a corporation, with a capital 

 of $650,000. 



French rubber goods factories have steadily increased in pro- 

 ductive capacity, due to completeness of equipment, rather than 

 in size or number, the latter part of the nineteenth century wit- 

 nessing the most important development in the industry, which 

 had reached a highly prosperous condition as early as 1875. In 

 1863 the Syndicat Professionel of the india rubber, gutta percha, 

 oil cloth and imitation leather industries was founded, marking 

 quite an important epoch in the rubber trade. Partaking of the 

 nature of a guild, it takes cognizance of customs and freight 

 tariffs, industrial legislation and all matters affecting the in- 

 terests of the trades it represents. About this time, too, a ten- 

 dency to generalize in the manufacture of rubber goods de- 

 veloped; the compounding of rubber with other substances and 

 the use of reclaimed rubber and rubber substitutes became more 

 common. This necessitated changes in the machinery and equip- 

 ment, and while making these alterations manufacturers installed 

 necessarj apparatus for extending the scope of their operations 

 and the variety of their productions. 



The period immediately preceding the commencement of the 

 war probably witnessed the greatest prosperity in the history of 

 the French india 

 rubber interest. The 

 growth of the auto- 

 mobile industry had 

 lent a notable im- 

 pulse to the busi- 

 ness of manufactur- 

 ing rubber tires, al- 

 most if not quite 

 sufficient to counter- 

 balance the depres- 

 sion that had ex- 

 isted in the mechan- 

 ical and surgical rub- 

 ber goods branches ; 

 and the year 1914, 

 but for the demoral- 

 ization of business 

 due to the outbreak 

 of hostilities, would 

 have ended as one 

 of the best the 

 French rubber in- 

 dustry' has ever 



seen. During the past year tires of every description havi oc- 

 cupied a conspicuous place in French rubber manufacture. 



number of tire manufacturers in France. Statistics for 1913 

 show the value of tires exported to have been about $18,000,000. 

 Figures available for the months of 1914 prior to the war are 

 uncertain, but the incomplete figures published relating to the 

 first hall oi I'll 4 show an increase, as compared with the same 

 period ol th< pi eceding yi ai 



With the opening oi the year 1914 France had at least 20 

 prominent tire works, but few of these were known outside the 

 country. The few. however, that enjoyed international fame 

 ranked with the foremost companies in existence and were sell- 

 ing their tires all over the world, wherever there are motor 

 cars. I he present war between France and Germany was pre- 

 ceded by a fierce commercial struggle between leading Ger- 

 man tire manufacturers and prominent French firms. It began 

 with a price policy controversy and terminated in a boycott in- 

 stituted simultaneously by both sides. The trouble was in part 

 carried into English territory and for a time caused serious 

 trouble in the British tire trade. 



At present, the manufacture of tires appears to absorb the 

 greater part of the producing energy of the French rubber in- 

 dustry. The latest French rubber trade directory shows 110 

 companies, large and small, engaged in the manufacture of rub- 

 ber tires and hose. Xot all are strictly French, some being 

 foreign house- having manufacturing branches in France, and 

 some of the companies referred to as tire manufacturers make 

 them only as a side line. The comparison of this figure with 

 that for other branches of the industry is interesting. There 

 are. for instance, 19 companies manufacturing rubber balls, 3 

 making tobacco pouches. 40 garters, suspenders, etc., 10 making 

 dress shields, 1 making rubber sheets for copying presses, and 4 

 making rubber thread. Nearly 30 firms make waterproof cloth 

 and 8 are making rubber footwear. It will be seen that with 

 the exception of mechanical goods, French linns manufacture all 

 lines. There has nevertheless been a large demand for foreign 

 goods which has been met by Germany and England. 



From the first named country the imports have amounted to 

 $4,000,000 a year, so that France has been a good customer of 

 the German rubber industry, while Germany's purchases of rub- 

 ber goods from France amounted only to about $1,000,000, mostly 



fi ir tires. French 



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The large and increasing demand from the home market and the 

 facility with which an export trade could be established, has in- 

 duced many French manufacturers to add tires to their regular 

 output and there has consequently been a large increase in the 



manufacturers have 

 made but little sys- 

 tematic effort to 

 introduce their 

 goods, with the ex- 

 ception of tires, into 

 foreign markets. 

 The business that 

 has come to them 

 has been chiefly of 

 a fortuitous char- 

 acter, no French 

 rubber goods manu- 

 facturer, outside of 

 a few large firms, 

 having made any at- 

 tempt to maintain 

 systematic foreign 

 representat ion. 



French rubber goods 

 h a v e found for 

 years a natural out- 

 let ii 

 and Egypt, but of late these markets have been vigorously con- 

 tested bj Germany, Austria and England, and in one of the 

 favored of French goods, rubber shoes. Russia has become a 

 keen competitor. 



Imports of rubber goods by France include rubber thread. t0> 

 t e annual value, normally, of about $1,000,000, and el 



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\ t lc with Coi-rt. 



