A HUGE RUBBER ORGANI SATION

Shannon News, 11 May 1926, Page 4

A HUGE RUBBER ORGANI SATION

The United States Rubber Company, whose main offices are at 1790 j Broadway, New York City, is the largest rubber company in the world. There are few large manufacturing corporations in the world so completely equipped as is this one for carrying on every phase of its business; from the production of its own raw materials to the final sales effort that places its products in the hands of consumers. To illustrate, the United States Rubber Company,*with great plantations in Sumatra and Malaya, is the largest single producer of crude rubber in the world. Its plantation interests are so vast that it has found it advantageous to carry scientific research work in the plantation field to a point, never yet attemped by any privae company. This is true to such a degree that a noted British authority on rubber growing recently made the statement that the laboratories* of the United States Rubber Com pany in Sumatra had become the Mecca for rubber growers seeking information , as to the most approved methods of rubber culture. The United States Rubber Company was organised in 1892. Its first move was to acquire controdl of a. dozen'of the largest companies manufacturing rubber footwear in the United States. Later it acquired control of three of the largest tire factories, and then of a long chain of factories manufacturing mechanical goods and other products. To-day 1 here arc more than fifty factories in the chain, including several plants ;n Canada. The products include virtually everything made of rubber. Thu company is (he largest manufacturer of rubber footwear and mechanical goods in the world, and is well up among the manufacturers of tires. The statement of the company’s business for 1925 has not yet been made public, but the sales are . understood to have been in the neighbourhood of 200,000,000 dollars. The largest single year in the company's history was 1920, when the sales amounted to 256,150,000 dollars. Through the activities of its General Laboratories the company has taken-a decided lead in the past few ! years in the development of new . processes. Among its outstanding achievements have been Sprayed Rubber, the finest crude rubber produced. made possible by the development by the company of a radically new method of extracting crude rubber from the latex of the rubber tree; Wei Cord, a method of tire manufacture that provides for the utilisation of rubber latex in rubberising t.hr: cords of an automobile tire; and the Flat Band method of tire manufacture, which simplifies the methods of tire construction and j at the same time gives better mileage.

Many of flic factories owned by the United States Rubber ‘Company had been operating for scores of years before they were taken into the company. Some of them date back to the very beginning of the rubber industry in America. Each of these had some leading product that had gained a stable position In the market, and these leading . brands took lace among the. leading "brands of the United States Rubber Company,. Many of them, such as Rainbow Belting and Rainbow Packing, have been accepted for generations as the leaders in their fields In *' the United- States. During its 34 years of existence

the company has added to its line products that have acquired an eqhal reputation for quality, such as Royal Cord Tires, Keels, Canvas Rubbersoled Shoes, “U.S.” Giant Conveyor Belts, 48-10 Air Hose, “U.S.” Tile Flooring, “U.S.” Raynstcrs Raincoats, and a long list of other famous products. The products of the company’s factories number upward of 30,000 different items. In addition to its large technical and manufacturing resources the company has a selling organisation that covers the globe, (assuring prompt attention (o the ! needs of its customers. Inquiries j from any country in the world are handled with despatch. The company is especially well situated to handle the needs of firms requiring rubber goods for use in mines, factories, railroads and other industrial enterprises. It carries in its line belting, hose and packings of every variety in ordinary use. In its {catalogues will be found lists covering every possible rubber need in mechanical establishments. The various kinds and styles of hose it manufactures would fill nearly a column in a newspaper, and other items are listed in similar variety. The equipment of the company is jsucli, both in staff and factories, (that it is prepared to handle on a j moment’s notice special problems in any field. The employees in the company’s factories number nearly 40,000. Many of them have spent most of their lives working for the company, 1 and as a consequence there is a reserve of skilled help in the plants that insures the highest grade of workmanship. In addition the com,pany lollows the old-fashioned idea of insisting on the highest quality in its products. It has been enabled to maintain this quality in the face of the keenest competition, through the installation of modern methods;