August 1. 1915.] 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 





W11F.X the Rubber t'lub lipids an outing it invariably 

 brings together a couple of hundred members of the 

 rubber trade who have abandoned themselves to a 

 day of sociability, snorts ami care-free enjoyment. That was 

 certainly the case on Wednesday, July 14. when the Vesper 

 Country Club was the scene of this annual function. This 

 club owns a beautiful wooded island in the Merrimac River. 

 just above Lowell. Massachusetts, and lure a tine club house 

 has been erected, also a number of special buildings suitable 

 for the various sports and avocations of the members of the 

 club, while the grounds have been turned over to the atten- 

 tion of landscape architects and golf and tennis experts. The 

 result is one of the finest club premises in Xew England. 



Thither in the morning half a hundred or so more or less 

 expert golfers hied themselves, to take part in a golf tourna- 

 ment — one of the regular features of all the outings of the 

 Rubber Club — which lasted all day long, the score not being 

 officially settled until nearly sundown. 



The non-golfers, however, waited until one o'clock, when 



was served upon their arrival at the club grounds. 



In order to keep the members interested, tin "Kazoos" wen 

 distributed, so each could make his own music, the band pro- 

 gram being reserved for afternoon and evening entertainment. 

 A Kazoo octette was organized, which paraded the length of 

 the train a few dozen times, the selections rendered including 

 most everything from "Tipperary." "Marseillaise'' and "Wacht 

 am Rhein" (entirely neutral I to Sunday school hymns and 

 "Dixie." 



The train stopped on the bank of the river pposite the 

 island. The connection therewith is a suspension bridge with 

 footpath 4 feet wide. Suspension bridges of this kind prover- 

 bially wobble, but as a wobbler that particular footbridge 

 should certainly take the prize. There was more motion to 

 it than on a United Fruit steamer going South without cargo. 



And at the end of the bridge was a turnstile. It was wide 

 enough to let even the fattest rubber man through, but in its 

 construction no provision had been made for the admission 

 of a bass drum. It required the services of a bridge jumper, 



Members axd Ouests of the Rubber Club at the Annual Outing. 



they embarked on a special train from Boston. The ride 

 occupied about an hour and a commodious baggage car was 

 improvised for a buffet, to take the edge off the appetites of 

 the excursionists, for whom a more substantial lunch 



two structural steel climbers and a wader to gel the 

 drum to the island, but the job was finally accomplished 

 without accident. 



The march up to the club bouse ended, lunch number 



