54 GOODYEAR ON GUM-ELASTIC. 



Haskins and Mr. Edwin M. Chaffee, of Roxbury, Massachusetts, 

 who commenced their operations in 1832. By these gentlemen, 

 in connection with some others, of Roxbury and Boston, the 

 celebrated Roxbury India Rubber Company was started, which 

 was shortly after incorporated, with a capital of $300,000, which 

 was afterwards increased to $400,000. For this company Mr. 

 Chaffee invented the famous machine for spreading gum-elastic 

 without a solvent, which is now so generally known as the mam- 

 moth machine ; machinery of this kind, but of smaller dimen- 

 sions, is now generally used in the United States, in the man- 

 ufacturing of gum-elastic. The mammoth machine weighed 

 about thirty tons, and was patented by Mr. Chaffee, who dis- 

 posed of the patent to the Roxbury company for the sum of 

 $10,000; the machine itself cost nearly $30,000, owing to its 

 uncommon size and the length of time in building. 



Immediately after the establishment of the Roxbury company, 

 many other companies were incorporated, with the impetuosity 

 and daring so characteristic of American enterprise. In Boston, 

 South Boston, Chelsea, Woburn, and Framinoham, Massachu- 



7 7 7 O ' 



setts ; New York, Staten Island, and Troy, New York ; fac- 

 tories were started with capitals of from $50,000 to $500,000. 

 After striving from one to three years to surmount the difficul- 

 ties of the manufacture, they, as well as many individuals who 

 had engaged in the manufacture, abandoned the business as 

 hastily as they entered it, with generally a total loss of the 

 capitals invested. As I shall have occasion to speak again, (in 

 connection with my own experiments,) of the causes of the dis- 

 asters which impelled them to abandon the manufacture, and 

 induced me to experiment for the purpose of overcoming the 

 difficulties, which have been previously referred to, I shall not 

 enlarge upon them here. 



