Robert Munro & Co.

ROBERT MUNRO & Co., Clyde Waterproofing Works, 52 to 56, Bishop Street, Anderston, Glasgow. Telegraphic Address :— “Tarpaulin”, Glasgow.

    Among those eminent Scottish firms whose long association with the India Rubber and Waterproofing industries must invest them with due claim to the development thereof, a position of some distinction is held by the old and influential house of Messrs. Robert Munro & Co., of the Clyde Waterproofing Works, Glasgow. This firm has been closely identified with the trade for upwards of forty years, and there are few names more widely noted than that which forms the title of the present brief sketch.

    The excellence of Messrs. Munro’s goods is so well known and acknowledged among both the trade and the general public that any lengthy notice of the departments engaged in is obviated. It is, however, necessary to point out that the firm has, from the first, adopted a pioneer interest in every movement tending to popularise garments proofed by India rubber. They were among the first to undertake the patent steam vulcanised system, which has now become an inherent part of all waterproof garment manufacture. This method they now carry out on a scale of much completeness in the large space at the rear of their premises in Bishop Street, where a splendid service of machinery is maintained in operation by a water engine of from thirty to forty horse-power.

    By preserving the whole resources of the industry in their own hands Messrs. Munro are enabled to offer to the trade and the public goods which can be recommended both for quality and construction, and the firm’s well-compiled price list fully indicates the economical systems of production. Absolute cheapness has been attained in the whole manufactures of the firm, and, considering the very numerous and varied applications of the waterproofing industry, Messrs. Munro have adapted their systems to the manufacture, not only of fashionable and stylish garments, but also cargo covers, hatch tarpaulins, waggon, lorry, and stack covers, horse-quarter covers, driving aprons, rugs, and horse sheets.

    Covers are a speciality of the firm, and are shipped in large consignments to all parts of the world. They also provide large quantities of solid India rubber in sheet, valves, washers, hose, and mats. Their horse covers and equipments, their drab and black proofed coats for van-men and coachmen, and their capes for van and message boys are everywhere in daily use ; while they furnish proofed and vulcanised India rubber goods for sporting, mechanical, and industrial purposes. The special attention devoted to the composition of tarpaulin covers has rendered this so prominent a feature of the trade that the telegraphic address, “Tarpaulin”, identifies the house from any part of the United Kingdom.

    The comprehensive character of Messrs. Munro’s trade, and the careful and scrutinous methods by which all operations are conducted, may be noted in their premises at Bishop Street, where a large staff of hands are employed in the various departments. Besides the warehouse and offices on the ground floor, the whole space of the three floors above is devoted to the purposes of a factory, and here the entire work of manufacture is carried out from start to finish, the cutting of the various cloths for garments being accomplished with artistic precision.

    All matters of detail are under the personal supervision of Mr. William A. Sloan, who is now sole proprietor and partner of the firm. The requirements of established connections in England, Ireland, and Scotland, and, in fact, all parts of the world are anticipated and attended to with due tact and enterprise. The still growing interests of the house are looked after in a manner highly creditable to the eminent name and repute of Messrs. Robert Munro & Co.

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