August i, 1907.] 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



331 



In the issue of the Daily Rfl>orts for June 18 last 

 are some paragraphs headed "Rubber Tapping," over 

 which we dare say some people will feel amused, and 

 it will hardly serve as an excuse for the government 

 to point out that the paragraphs in question are 

 clearlv put forward as an extract from a newspaper. 

 In the absence of any warning the reader is justified 

 in accepting the statements made as official and to be 

 taken for gospel. Else why is the stuff printed? 



It cannot be too strongly pointed out, 



we read in this report from Washington, 



that too frequent or prolonged tapping is injurious and only produce! 

 inferior rubber. 



One is not told how frequent or how prolonged is 

 the tapping practice here criticized, but the next sen- 

 tence may serve to help out : 



In Brazil rubber trees are only tapped for one period of the year, doubt- 

 less owing to the country being flooded. 



Come to think of it, much of the Amazon region is 

 overflowed some time in every year, but this leaves 

 several months for rubber gathering, and it has always 

 been understood that the big wild Hevea trees are 

 tapped at least a hundred times in a season and that 

 they receive this treatment year after year. Then how 

 about the next sentence in the official fountain of 

 knowledge : 



The long interval of rest may represent well matured or well oxidized 

 caoutchouc, and partly explains the preference for Brazilian rubber. 



We could wish that some man of wealth would 

 ofTer a prize for the discovery of the meaning of "well 

 oxidized caoutchouc." The mere expression makes 

 one think of well stagnated water as a beverage and 

 other such like pleasant things. 



While the cre.vter part of the rubber produceo is obtained 

 from the barks of trees and plants, rubber is found in the woody 

 portion of at least one species (the Me.xican guayule). Rubber 

 is found in the leaves of plants, and in the roots. We have lately 

 reported on a rubber yielding tuber, and now attention is being 

 called to fruits yielding rubber. Horticulturists have done won- 

 ders in the past in developing particular features in plant 

 growth, and who knows but that some "plant wizard" will arise 

 who will develop a tree that is all rubber? 



It now looks .-vs if rubber is to be exploited profitably in the 

 Amazon region by foreign capital. Why not? It must be 

 ■assumed that the greater part of th; rubber that has come down 

 the Amazon in the past — hundreds of millions of pounds — has 

 yielded a profit to somebody concerned in its collection. It is 

 true that the European managed companies that have entered 

 the field generally have come to grief, but this might be taken 

 to prove that their administrators were less capable business 

 men — in the rubber trade, at least — than the traders native to the 

 country. 



One merit of high c.\b f.\res in New^ York is that they have 

 tended to keep the vehicles out of use, and thus lessened the 

 wear and tear of the tires. This has meant a saving to the cab 

 owners, even if the public may have been inconvenienced. Now 

 that a company has been formed in London to fill New York 

 streets with Paris built "taximeter" motor cabs, with a minimum 

 fare of 30 cents instead of $1, it is likely that a new outlet will 

 be opened for the sale of rubber tires. The company's pros- 



pectus, by the way, estimates the tire bill per day at $2 for each 

 cab. 



And now government management of the "trusts" by re- 

 ceivers has been suggested seriously. While the people were 

 really inflamed against the big corporations the laws and the 

 courts failed to suppress them. Now that the public has lost its 

 old-time interest in the subject, there are still some individuals 

 who insist that "the trusts must go," and the most practical plan 

 that they can suggest is to put the offending companies in the 

 hands of receivers! No doubt it would be great fun for a gov- 

 ernment paid receiver to manage the business of a corporation 

 like the United States Rubber Co., for example. It might afford 

 amusement likewise to some onlookers, including any competing 

 makers of rubber goods who might still be allowed to attend 

 to their own business. 



CENSUS REPORT ON ELECTRICAL SUPPLIES 



BL LLETIN No. 73 of the United States census of manu- 

 factures of 1905, devoted to Electrical Machinery, Ap- 

 paratus and Supplies, is written by Thomas Commerford Martin, 

 editor of The Electrical World, expert special agent for the 

 census office in this inquiry. The figures of the recent census, 

 compared with the census of 1900, show a notable increase in 

 all branches of the electrical industry in the United States, but 

 in this place attention can be given only to the section devoted 

 to insulated wires and cables. 



The production of insulated wires and cables is reported by 

 value only, it having been practically impossible to secure returns 

 of the quantity of material produced. The value stated for 1905 

 is $34,519,699, against a total of $21,292,001 for 1900— an increase 

 of 62^ per cent. This represents the outturn of 61 factories, 

 located in 13 states, mostly in the East, New York taking the 

 lead. Of course the figures embrace insulated wires of every 

 type, and no attempt is made to distinguish between rubber 

 insulated wires and others. It is matter of common knowledge, 

 however, that the production of rubber insulation work is on 

 the increase, and while Mr. Martin does not refer to the matter, 

 it may be assumed that the increase in rubber products has been 

 as great as in the industry as a whole. It is hardly necessary 

 to add that not all the 61 factories in question use rubber for 



insulation. 



* * * 



"Every branch of electrical industry requires large amounts 

 of insulated wires and cables," says the author of this bulletin. 

 "Every telegraph office and telephone exchange employs large 

 quantities of such wires and cables. Eveo' house or factory or 

 office building wired for electric lighting and power receives 

 and distributes its current through insulated conductors. Every 

 motor car is heavily cabled, while every dynamo and motor 

 is built up with insulated wires and cables." Among the many 

 illustrations of the extensive uses of such wires, it is stated that 

 a single telephone switchboard of the large modern type contains 

 as much as 10,000 miles of insulated wire. 



Special reference is made to underground cables in the field 

 of electric lighting and power work. Referring to high tension 

 cables of the class which have relatively small current carrying 

 capacity, for operation under working pressures of from 2,500 to 

 25,000 volts, Mr. Martin writes that these "have developed from 

 the stage where merely rubber was used for insulation up to 

 the time of the present report, when rubber, varnished cambric, 

 saturated tape, and paper insulation have all been brought to a 

 high state of perfection for this work. Rubber is used only 

 where local conditions seem to demand an insulation that is 

 impervious to moisture, so that in case the outer protected lead 

 sheath should be punctured the cable itself need not necessarily 

 fail. The superintendent of motive power of the Interborough 



