Z27 

 EVOLUTION OF RUBBER. 



An article on rubber expositions as a trade stimulus, by Sir 

 Henry A. Blake in the hidia Rubber JVorld, contains the follow- 

 ing passages, the remarks about rubber for roadmaking being of 

 universal mterest : 



"During the exhibition it became known that an international 

 exhibition on somewhat similar lines was projected for New 

 York, and now that the project has materialized, fvirther progress 

 will doubtless be made in the solution of many problems with 

 which rubber planters and manufacturers have still to deal. Great 

 as is the production in sight, the horizon of demand is ever widen- 

 ing. One hundred and forty years ago, its only known practical 

 use was as an eraser of pencil marks. Today it ministers to the 

 wants of the infant in his cradle, as well as to the comfort of the 

 aged, while in one form or another it enters with frequency into 

 the countless demands of civilization. 



"Among the exhibits at the Agricultural Hall, there was one 

 that promised important developments. This was a section of 

 rubber prepared for roadwork but not yet fulfilling all the neces- 

 sary conditions that would enable it to compete with the quarry 

 and the forest for the preparation of road surfaces for heavy 

 traffic. That this difficulty will be overcome, there can be no 

 doubt, and when it has been, any possible doubt of a limitless de- 

 mand will vanish like a moving mist. Silent streets with the ces- 

 sation of the turmoil and roar of traffic, would in relief of brain 

 fag to the busy worker, be the most potent factor for health and 

 strength ever offered to the business men and women of great 

 cities, while imperviousness to water would obliterate dust and 

 mud, carry off equally heavy rains or melting snows and save 

 the endless labor on frost upheavals every spring that try the 

 equanimity of dwellers in New York. 



"There is a giant in the path whose name is 'skid,' but Jack 

 the Giant Killer will emerge from some busy inventive brain and 

 demolish the skid by a non-slip grip surface that will withstand 

 wear and tear and secure safety in all weathers in horse or motor. 

 From which side of the Atlantic will he emerge? There's the 

 rub !" 



The Cuba Review for September, 1912, gives a table which 

 shows that the chief exports of fruit and fruit products from 

 Porto Rico to the Ignited States during 1912 were valued as fol- 

 lows : Graoe fruit, $524,976 ; oranges, $584,368 : pineapples, $683,- 

 801; lemons, $3,131; Hmes, $960; canned pineapples, $258,671. 

 Shipments of honey to the value of $42,251 were also sent. 



