THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



[September i, 1907. 



A Pioneer in the Guayule Field. 



IT was early in 1904 that Captain Felix H. Hmiicke, a retired 

 naval officer, went from the United States to the uplands of 

 Mexico to look into the question of producing guayule rub- 

 ber commercially. In spite of the many processes attempted up 

 to that time it had been found impossible to turn out the rubber 

 on a large scale, and it was this problem that Captain Hunicke 

 was called upon to solve. His own story of the manner in which 

 he accomplished it is interesting. 



He was out in the desert with an Indian guide when the latter 

 pulled up a shrub and handed it to the captain, remarking that 

 that was the rubber bush; to which the other said: "How do you 

 know?" The Indian indignantly sliced off some of the bark 

 and after chewing it for a few minutes handed to the inquirer 

 a small pellet of rubber. Captain Hunicke was at once impressed 

 with the idea that some such simple process, embracing grinding 

 and water separation might solve the whole problem. He at 

 once went at work on this idea and by using crude machinery 

 which he built himself, was able in a short time to ship a good 

 hard sample of several pounds to New York. Then a little 

 later came the erection of the huge mill 

 of the Continental-Mexican Rubber Co. 

 at Torreon, which is to-day the largest 

 rubber expressing plant in the world. 



Considering the fact that the first ex- 

 perimental shipment went forward in Jan- 

 uary, 1905, and that now the monthly 

 product of the factory is 600,000 pounds, 

 the results attained may be called mar- 

 velous. An interesting feature of the 

 case is that he made machinery carry out 

 nature's own process in separating the 

 rubber from the fiber. None the less, 

 however, should he have full credit for .1 

 most remarkable achievement and one that 

 has been of great benefit to the whole rub- 

 ber trade. 



It is because of this success that a sketch 

 of the man himself is timely and interest- 

 ing. Felix H. Hunicke was born in St. 

 Louis in i860 and attended the public 

 schools in that city until he was eleven 

 years old, when his parents sent him to 

 Germany, where he remained in school for 

 two years. He returned to St. Louis and 

 took a high school course, after which he 

 went to the United States Naval Academy at Annapolis, where 

 he graduated with honors. He then entered as a midshipman in 

 the United States Navy, remaining for two years at sea, but 

 resigned in 1883 to enter business with his father in St. Louis. 

 He continued with his father's firm for four years, and on the 

 death of the latter went into the same business, in which he 

 continued for some nine years. Selling it out in 1898, at the 

 lime of the war with Spain, he re-entered the navy as a volun- 

 teer officer, being attached to the United States gunboat Hist, 

 on which vessel he was second in conmiand. He served for ten 

 months on this vessel which, incidentally, was in more engage- 

 ments than any other patrolling the Cuban coast. 



At the close of the war. Captain (then Lieutenant) Hunicke 

 received several special service medals and was appointed the 

 chief of the revenue cutter service for Cuba, which position he 

 filled with distinguished ability during the American occupation 

 of three years. When the American forces were finally with- 

 drawn he received a flattering offer to remain in Cuba, but as 

 that meant becoming a citizen of the little republic, he declined 



it. He also had an opportunity to go to the Philippines for the 

 United States government, but refused that as well. It was at 

 this juncture that he associated himself with the gentlemen 

 who later organized the Continental Rubber Co., and was able 

 by his practical and common sense methods to turn what at one 

 time looked like a failure into a conspicuous success. 



Perhaps no man in the Americas has studied the question of 

 the mechanical extraction of rubber from the minor producers 

 more diligently than has the subject of this sketch. Central and 

 South America, Africa, India, and the islands of the Pacific have 

 all come under hrs ken, and his knowledge, geographical and 

 botanical, along the lines of his specialty is very broad. If the 

 work he has done in Mexico is to be duplicated in Africa, Cap- 

 tain Hunicke evidently is the man to do it. 



Felix Herm.\nn Hunicke. 



[Connected with the Continental Rubber Co 

 gaged in the guayule interest.] 



GUAYULE TRADE NOTES. 



""pORREON will become a city under a decree of the legisla- 

 ■'■ ture of the state of Coahuila to be promulgated on Sep- 

 tember 15. Torreon was only a group 

 of huts 20 years ago — a flag station on 

 the Mexican Central railway. Its prog- 

 ress has been rapid, and it seems destined 

 to be one of the most important cities in 

 northern Mexico. One of its claims to 

 present importance is that it is a center 

 of the guayule rubber interest. 



The Mexican Herald reports : "A gen- 

 tleman who lives in Torreon and who 

 was one of the first to discover the value 

 of the guayule shrub, states that a num- 

 ber of the large landholders would begin 

 at once to plant guayule from the seed, 

 as lands that are absolutely worthless for 

 many purposes would be most valuable 

 for the raising of guayule, especially those 

 lands that are rocky." 



Exports of guayule rubber from Tor- 

 reon, Mexico, during the first 26 days of 

 July amounted in value to %i~6,2,Z7.77 

 (Mex.). 



The Mexican Crude Rubber Co. an- ' 

 nounce a 2 per cent quarterly dividend 

 for September i. Their guayule factory, 

 now building at Cedral, is expected to be 

 in operation by October i, and one of their two factories at 

 Viesca is to be enlarged this fall, when their capacity will be 80 

 tons of guayule per month. The shipments are reported as fol- 

 lows : December, 1906, 20 tons ; January, 1907, 25 tons ; February, 

 30; March, 35; April, 45; May, 55; June, 55 tons. The company 

 operates the guayule branch of the Coahuila Mining and Smelt- 

 ing Co., Limited, of Viesca, Mexico. Their offices in the United 

 States are at Detroit, Michigan. They operate under the patents 

 of Ferdinand Ephraim. 



To Render G.as Tubing Odorless. — It is said that the giving 

 off of disagreeable odor by rubber tubes which have for a time 

 been used in conducting illuminating gas may be prevented by 

 treating them, previous to use, as follows : Mix equal volumes 

 of 36 per cent, alcohol and linseed oil, shaking the mixture 

 well until homogeneous, moderately stretch the tube, and apply 

 the mixture by putting a few drops on a small rag, and rub- 

 bing until the surface is quite dry. Repeat the application three 

 or four times, at intervals of a few days. — Druggists' Circular. 



