

THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



[September 1, 1915. 



PAUL W. LITCHFIELD. 



P. W. Litchfield. 



PAUL W. LIT( I D factory manager of The Goodyear 



Tire & Rubber Co., Akron, is of New England extraction, 

 having been born— in 1X75 and raised in that famous cen- 

 culture, Boston. Mi I itch ield's education was received in 



the Boston public 

 schools. On gradu- 

 ation from the Eng- 

 #\j " V ^K> " sn High School of 



■^ that city, he entered 



B .Massachusetts Insti- 



^^JJ^B tute of Technology, 



^L graduating four years 



later with the degree 

 ..^j of Bachelor of Science 



in • hemical Engi- 

 £$. neering 



^F His first attempt to 



^^^^ ^k put his knowledge to 



practical use was in 

 the work of survey- 

 ing for the Massachu- 

 setts Metropolitan 

 Park Commission. 

 After six months of 

 tills lie entered the 

 employ of L. C. 

 Chase & Co., of Bos- 

 ton, manufacturers of 

 tires and carriage 

 cloth ; which was his 

 introduction to the 

 rubber industry. The next step in his acquaintance with the 

 commercial possibilities of rubber came with a transfer to the 

 New \ 'ork Belting & Packing Co., of Passaic, New Jersey, where 

 he became foreman of the molded goods and packing depart- 

 ments. From here it was but a step to the superintendent's chair 

 of the International Automobile & Vehicle Tire Co., which later 

 u- The Michelin Tire Co.. and from there to his present po- 

 ll of factory manager of the Goodyear company. 

 When Mr. Litchfield first became associated with the Goodyear 

 company— on July 15, 1900— the tire industry was still in its in- 

 fancy. The company itself was less than a year old and em- 

 d fin 1 7i i i 

 When the manager of an immense factory attributes his fifteen 

 \ ears' success to the workmen who have stood by him. one 

 in instant the secret of his control. Belief in men is 

 the key to co-operation. Mr. Litchfield, upon the occasion of a 

 banquet, tendered him recently to celebrate his fifteenth anni- 

 versary in charge of the Goodyear factory, electrified the workers 

 1 resent when he announced, in appreciation of the support which 

 the factory organization had given him during these years, the 

 gift of $100,000 in the name of himself and Mrs. Litchfield, as a 

 fund to be used for the benefit of factory employees, and to pro- 

 mote efficiency, team-work and loyalty in the organization. 



"These are the essentials to sit, cess," said Mr. Litchfield. Urg- 

 ing team-work, he pointed out what it means when an organiza- 

 tforks harmoniously. Alone, his efforts would have been 

 lv in vain, but Goodyear co-operation and loyalty had SUC- 

 led in increasing the factory fifty-fold. 

 Mr Litchfield's lettei to the trustees selected by the employees 

 to hold the fund in trust, accompanying his check for $100,000, 

 stipulated that the principal sum should be kept intact for five 

 years, and that at least $50,000 be kept intact for ten years. This 

 expenditure. 

 This paragraph is taken from his letter: 

 "Th en with tin idea of sharing with my co- 



workers a part of the savings wdiich I feel they have shared in 

 producing. Its continued existence in considerable amount 

 should tend to unite Goodyear workers, and give them a sense 

 of responsibility, educating them in business methods, promoting 

 thrift and saving, developing loyalty, efficiency, and co-operation, 

 and cause them to feel that they have something saved up for 

 their use in order to tide them over the emergency of a 'rainy 

 day.' The income may well be used for such things as are not 

 the logical function of The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co., or 

 other organizations for employees now in existence." 



MR. BUSSWEILER BECOMES MR. BOSWELL. 



Alfred B. Bussweiler, who has been connected with the rub- 

 ber trade in London for the last 30 years, and who has long been 

 a loyal and enthusiastic Britisher, has changed his name to Bos- 

 well ; which is certainly a good old English name with a fine 

 literary flavor. Mr. Boswell is a nephew of the late Max 

 Hecht and founder of the firm of Hecht, Levis & Kahn of Lon- 

 don and Liverpool. He first became connected with the rub- 

 ber trade as a clerk with the Liverpool house of his uncle's firm. 

 In 1892, he entered into partnership with William Symington, 

 w-ho was at that time a rubber broker in Liverpool. In 1895, 

 he became a partner in the Liverpool house of Symington, Buss- 

 weiler & Co., and the London house of Alden, Symington & Co. 

 About 1902 he joined Arthur Meyer in forming the London firm 

 of Meyer & Bussweiler, and after a few years this firm was 

 dissolved and Mr. Bussweiler became one of the rubber brokers 

 "in the Lane." A few years ago he joined the old established 

 Mincing Lane brokerage firm of Thompson, wdiere he is at 

 present. 



MR. FREDERICO POND REVISITS AMERICA. 



After an absence of 39 years, Frederico Pond, lately of Para, 

 but now of Rio de Janeiro, is revisiting his native country. He 

 arrived early in the summer and expects to remain in the United 

 States until October. There are few men in the rubber trade 

 whose experience compares with Mr. Pond's in extent and vari- 

 ety. He left Salem, Massachusetts, his native city, in 1860. when 

 he was a boy of 18, and went to Para to become identified with 

 the rubber industry of the Amazon. Barring an occasional visit 

 to this country, the last in 18/6, and a good many trips to Europe, 

 he has been in Para ever since. Foreseeing the crisis which 

 menaced the rubber trade of the Amazon, he retired from busi- 

 ness a short time ago and transferred his residence to Rio, a 

 city which he pronounces one of the most delightful in the world. 



Notwithstanding his fairly mature years — which may be in- 

 ferred from the statistics above — Mr. Pond is full of vitality and 

 animation and. it may be added, as full of rubber information 

 as an encyclopedia. Incidentally, when asked if South America 

 was a promising country for young Americans to strike out for. 

 he replied that while many young Americans had done well there 

 his advice to them would be to stay at home, as no land in the 

 world offered the opportunities to young men of energy and 

 capacity that are to be found right here in the United States. 



A FAMOUS RUBBER BASEBALL TEAM. 



The baseball team of the B & R Rubber Co., of North Brook- 

 field, Massachusetts, seems to be a star team. Last season it 

 played fourteen games and won thirteen ; this year so far it has 

 played twelve games and won nine. The team plays practically 

 every Saturday afternoon and on holidays, and these exhibitions 

 of high-class baseball are highly appreciated by the citizens of 

 North Brookfield. For the purpose of raising funds, the Base- 

 hall Association gave a cabaret entertainment in the town hall 

 July 30. An interetsing program of songs and instrumental 

 music was rendered by local talent, chiefly employees of the 

 B & R company. 



