676 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



[September 1, 1915. 



THE RUBBER TRADE IN AKRON. 

 By our Regulai i 'orrespondent. 



Till", month just passed has been marked by a continuation oi 

 vigorous output and development among the rubber manu- 

 facture .urns of Akmn. Twenty-four-hour operating 

 schedules are common, particularly in the factories turning out 

 automobile tires. Several new tire companies are preparing to 

 manufacture in Akron or nearby sections. Together they will 

 strengthen materially the importance of this city as the center of 

 the American rubber manufacturing industry. In Akron alone 

 t | u - factor] ! ; ted or under construction at pres- 

 ent, total a value of $2,000,000 for buildings, exclusive of equip- 

 ment. Three-quarters of this valuation is credited to the Good- 

 rich. Firestone and Goodyear companies and the balance to the 

 Miller, Kelly-Springfield and Swinehart companies. This is 

 making no allowance whatever for the investment by the new 

 rubber manufacturing enterprises announced. 



* * * 



Suit has been brought in the United States District Court for 

 the District of Connecticut at Hartford, by The B. F. Goodrich 

 Co. against the Norwalk Tire & Rubber Co. of Norwalk, Con- 

 necticut. The complaint alleges that the Norwalk company is 

 making tires so like the Goodrich cord tires as to infringe the 

 [rich trade rights. The usual injunction and damages are 

 asked for. 



The new building now under construction for the Goodrich 

 company will be devoted to the shoe manufacturing plant and will 

 cost $250,000. 



1'.. G. Work, president of The B. F. Goodrich Co.. returns 

 about September 1 from a trip to the Panama-Pacific Exposition. 



A. H. Marks, vice-president of the Goodrich company, is hav- 

 ing erected a barn 30x100 feet for the accommodation of a 

 considerable addition to his dairy herd at "Elmcourt." Mr. 

 Marks is also having built a large dwelling for the occupancy of 



the people employed on his farm. 



* * # 



The Firestone Tire & Rubber Co. will install equipment to 

 furnish its own electric lights and power. 



There has been an unprecedented demand for motorcycle tire-. 

 and the Firestone company has increased its manufacturing 

 facilities in this line. Much stress has been laid on the en- 

 durance of these Firestone tires as a factor in successful racing 



service. 



* * * 



President F. A. Seiberling, of The Goodyear Tire & Rubbe' 

 Co., has been made a member of tin American Aeronautic En- 

 gineers. 



The Goodyear Service Pin Association will he incorporated 

 with a capital of $10,000. for the purpose of administering the 

 fund recently donated by Factory Manager Litchfield. In addi- 

 tion to Mr. Litchfield, the incoporators are the following Good- 

 year men: Fred Colley, A. B. Cunnington. F. G. Hills, Al. 

 Iluguelet. Ed. Huguelet. (i. M. Spaulding, G. E. Swartz and E. D. 

 Yiers. Each member will be issued as many shares of Muck at 

 $10 a share as he holds service pins. A pin is given for each 

 live years of service with the company, 



Ralph II. Upson, of the Goodyear company, has been selected 

 a member of the special committee to co-operate with the United 

 States Naval Advisory Board in its consideration of the appli- 

 cation of air craft to warfare. 



The Goodyear company has established a -air- branch in 

 Manchester. England. 



All Goodyear branches are to he equipped with suitable 

 hydraulic presses for applying their S. Y. truck tires. These 

 tire- are pressed on the wheels under a minimum pressure o\ -~ 

 and require no other attachment. 

 During the first six months of 1915 the Goodyear company 

 produced I 00,000 feet of hose, equivalent to their entire 

 1914. 



The Kelly-Springfield Tire Co., after 18 years of litigation, 

 ha- finally won its suit against the Diamond Rubber Co. of New 

 York, for infringement of the Grant patent [No. 554,765. ex- 

 pired February 18, 1913 1 which covered the standard two-wire 

 solid vehicle tire. 



The award to the Kelly-Springfield company, which includes 

 costs, damages and special fine, totals $212,376.29. Early settle- 

 niii.t i- anticipated in several other parallel cases which are now 

 in the accounting stage. 



Kelly- Springfield Tire net earnings for the first half of 1915, 

 after allowance for bond interest ami preferred stock dividends, 

 show approximately 25 per cent, for the common stock. 

 * * * 



The Mohawk Rubber Co.'s new four-story building, costing 

 $30,000, will soon be completed, practically doubling the present 



i apacity. 



A rubber plant is to be built on a site in East Akron recently 

 purchased by M. O'Neill. It is proposed to capitalize the new 

 company for $200,000. for the manufacture of tire accessories. 



The Standard Tire & Rubber Manufacturing Co., Mark Gillen, 

 president, is manufacturing automobile tires and tubes at Will- 

 oughby, Ohio. 



The Giant Tire Co., of Akron, has equipped a plant for the 

 manufacture of automobile tires. 



The Falls Rubber Co., of Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, has nearly- 

 completed a factory building with an area of 64,000 square feet, 

 at a cost of $85,000. 



The Bucyrus Rubber Co., Bucyrus, Ohio, has resumed tire 

 manufacture, under the superintendency of Grant Lambright. 



The Adamson Machine Co. reports its plant running 24 hours 

 every day. 



The outing season has practically closed. In Akron it has 

 been marked by a number of largely attended and successful 

 occasions generously supported by some of the leading rubber 

 companies for the recreation of their employees. In this con- 

 nection the following rubber companies should be mentioned : 

 Goodrich, Firestone, Kelly-Springfield, Miller, Mohawk. Swine- 

 hart, Rubber Products and Akron Rubber Mold companies. 



THE RUBBER TRADE ON THE PACIFIC COAST. 

 By Our Regular Correspondent. 

 ' I 'HE approximate number of motorist- in California is 130,000. 

 A and they expend annually about $15,000,000 for tires. The 

 average cost of tires for motor cars is $20 each, and the annual 

 consumption, 750,000 tires. The majority of these are manufac- 

 tured east of Chicago, chiefly by the leading rubber manufacturers. 

 Capitalists familiar with trade conditions on the Pacific Coast 

 might profitably consider the wisdom of venturing rubber manu- 

 facturing enterprises to profit by a share in this $15,000,000 annual 

 tire trade, as well as in general mechanical goods lines. 



The B. F. Goodrich Co. has practically completed the work of 

 guide posting the Lincoln highway, the last stretch reaching from 

 Denver via Cheyenne. Salt Lake City, Carson City- and Sacra- 

 mento to San Francisco. A thousand posts were required, costing 



$15 each erected. 



* * * 



The Midgley Tire & Rubber Co. is making an extensive canvass 

 of California with the view of establishing a series of branch 

 stores to handle trade in goods of its manufacture. 



The Squires & Byrne Rubber Co. has recently re-located at 

 67 Steuart street, San Francisco, dealing in mechanical rubber 

 goods and steam packing specialties. Tt also has a branch at 

 438 East Third street. 1 os Angeles. 



The Colorado Tire &- Rubber Co. ha- completed building addi- 

 t'ons which practically double the size of its plant. 



The Dry Climate Tire Manufacturing Co. is erecting factor) 

 buildings at Arvada, seven miles from Denver. The company 

 '■ ill manufacture tire casings and tubes specially adapted to 

 w'thftand the dry climate of the Rocky Mountain regions. 



