September 1, 1915.] 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



663 



The Obituary Record. 



PROFESSOR THOMAS B. STILLMAN. 



THOMAS BLISS STILLMAN, tor thirty-five years Pro- 

 fessor <>t Analytical I hemistrj a< the Stevens Institute 

 of Technology, Hoboken, New Jersey, and an authoritative 

 writer on the chemistrj of rubber, died at his home in Ji 



August 10, in his 64th year, after an illness of several 

 weeks. 



Professor Stillman retired from his position in Stevens In- 

 stitute in 1909 and since that time had been city chemist for 

 Jersej Citj and Bayonne ami had also been connected pro- 

 ionallj with the city department of Newark. Me was very 

 much interested in synthetic chemistry, not onlj as referring to 

 rubber but to other commodities, and he received a great deal of 

 newspaper attention in 1906. when he gave a "synthetic dinner" 

 at til.- Hotel Astor which was described in the press at that 

 time as follows: "He created from various chemicals and under 

 the very eyes of his guests, wines, sauces, salads and other 

 foods in every respect as tempting to the palate as if they had 

 been the products of the vineyard ami garden, llis guests ate 

 them with wonderment and relish, and none suffered evil effect." 



Another episode in his life was equallj interesting but rather 

 bs, fortunate in its denouement. In 1911 a certain inventor 

 announced that he had di he secret of making synthetic 



rubber. lie sought to interest capitalists in the enterprise. In 

 order to be on safe ground the capitalists secured tin 

 of I'rofessor Stillman. who was to make ,i thorough investiga- 

 tion of the matter, lie was at first quite skeptical, but as he 

 watched the inventor at his work and finally in the last stage 

 saw particles of a putty-like substance floating on the top of 



the mixture, which substance when dried had every appearance 



and characteristic of rubber, he became greatlj interested. Fol- 

 lowing the instructions of the inventor he tried the experiment 

 himself, with equal success, and on the strength of his report 

 a companj was formed for the manufacture of this synthetic 



rubier. But the synthetic rubber was never forthcoming, the 

 result of the enterprise simply being that some of the capitalists' 

 monej was transferred to the pockets of the inventor. The 

 whole explanation undoubtedly was that by some process of 

 legerdemain the inventor had introduced into his mixture a 

 certain amount of genuine rubber and tints had deceived the 

 distinguished chemist. 



Professor Stillman was a member of many chemical ami scien- 

 tific societies on both sides of the water, lie was the author 

 of "Engineering Chemistry," which was first published in 1897 

 and re-published in various subsequent editions, lie contributed 

 extensively to scientific journals. 



THREE CHILDREN OF PRES. BRYANT PERISH BY FIRE. 



.Mary. Lucy and Helen Bryant, nine, seven and six years 

 old, respectively, the three small daughters of George G. 

 Bryant, president of the Racine Rubber Co., of Racine. Wis- 

 consin, lost their lives in the fire which on August 5 destroyed 

 ten summer cottages at Lake Delevan, Wisconsin. 



WILLIAM LORD. 



William Lord, at one time connected with the Hartford 

 Tire Co., died at the Flower Hospital. New York, August 5. 

 from pneumonia following an operation. 



He was born in England 74 years ago and came to this 

 country while still a young boy. settling in Lawrence, M.iss., 

 chusetts. He went to the Civil War as a drummer boy of 

 the Fortieth Massachusetts Volunteers. After the war In- 

 associated himself with the Lyall Cotton Mills and occupied 

 the position of general manager for 32 years. He then be- 



came chief inspector for the Hartford Tire Co. lie invented 

 a number of improvements in the process of rubberizing 

 cloth. He made his home during the last years of hi- 

 in New York City. 



D. AUSTIN BROWN. 



1). Austin Brown, of Boston, for many years New England 

 manager of thi tos Packing ( o., after the amalg 



tion of that company with the 11. W. Johns-Manville Co., of 

 Xew York, died August 11 in Xew Haven. Connecticut, at 

 the home of his daughter. He was also at one time manager 

 , Bells Asbestos t o., Limited o n, which oper- 



ated the mines at Thetford, Canada, later sold to a Philadelphia 

 company, lie was born in Boston, of Puritan ancestry, beii 

 direct descendant of Alexander Higginson, the first ministi 

 Salem. Massachusetts, and a member of the Eppes, Hoar, 

 Prescott, I ellows and Trowbridge families of Xew England. 

 He is survived by three daughters. 



JAMES F. MC KE0N. 



James Francis McKeon, founder of the lirm of James F. 

 McKeon & Son. dealers in waste rubber, etc., of 12 Front 

 Street, Xew York, died at his home in Brooklyn on July 17. 

 of Bright'- disease. He was born in Xew York, March 11, 

 1856, and had been in the waste material business since 1880. 

 first becoming interested in waste rubber in 1902. The 

 present firm was founded in 1910. lie was a member of the 

 National Association of Waste Material Dealers. He is sur- 

 vived by his wife, three daughters and two sons, James !•'., 

 Jr., and Walter E., under whose management the busim -- will 

 be continued. 



JOSEPH MOIR. 



Joseph Moir, a well-known rubber pinner ol Johore, 

 M.i\ 27. at Sit oi malarial fever, at the age of 52 



years. 1 1 < - was lorn in Keith. Scotland, and while still quite 

 young went to Demcrara. where he became manager of a 

 large plantation near (leorgetown. He had made a thorough 

 study of tropical problems and had held various important 

 commissions, in the execution of which he visited Central 

 and South American countries and Portuguese Wes 

 Ah nt five years ago he left Georgetown and had since been 

 associated with rubber growing companies in the Straits 

 Settlements. At the- time of llis death he was on his way 

 home, with his wife, to Aberdeen, Scotland, when he was 

 i ommandant of the Aberdeen contingent of the Legion of 

 Frontiersmen. 



EMIL RATHENAU. 



Emil Rathenau, general manager of the General Electric 

 Co of Germany, and one of the great industrial leaders of 

 that country, died in Berlin on June 20 at the age of 76 

 years. Mr. Rathenau was the founder and controlling figure 

 of the largest electrical company of Germany. Thirty years 

 ago In founded The Edison Incandescent Electric Light Co. 

 rmany. with a capital of 500.000 marks ($119,000). This 

 ' iter became the General Electn Germany. 



FILING OF THE WILL OF THE LATE W. M. IVINS. 



The will of the late William M. [vins, former president of 

 General Rubber Co., and a noted lawyer of Xew York 

 (notice of whose 6 ared on page 609 of our August 



issue) has been filed. By its terms the entire estate is left 

 to his wife. Mrs. Emma Yard Ivins, and in it attention is 

 called to the fact that provision had been made for his 

 children in the form of insurance on his life. 



