254 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



[May 



■9°3- 



has not seen more kinds of failure comprised in the history of 

 any large company based upon a legitimate industry. At one 

 time a number of capable, forceful manufacturers, each a mas- 

 ter of his trade, were making bicycles and selling them at a 

 profit. There were also incapable men in the field, making 

 bicycles and selling them at a loss. Then came a combination 

 of practically the whole business, good and bad elements alike, 

 in the hands of a board of directors and of high salaried offi- 

 cers, who stood too far aloof from their business to win success 

 in it, had they been never so well qualified for their positions. 

 The result was not unlike what might be expected in the case 

 of a blind man who insisted on riding a wheel near the brink of 

 a precipice. It is not enough to attribute the failure of the big 

 company to a decline in cycling, for the " trust " may have as- 

 sisted in that decline. When the bicycle first came into use it 

 was not in response to any existing demand. The demand was 

 largely created through the efforts of such energetic pioneers 



as Colonel Albert A. Pope, who, having made a market, pro- 

 ceeded to supply it and to reap a profit from so doing. Bicy- 

 cles are like most other things, in that they will not sell them- 

 selves. It is interesting to note that the gentleman named 

 here, after having relinquished his business to the "trust," 

 stands today in possession of what has been left from the 

 wreck of the whole trade. And there is reason to hope that the 

 substitution of intelligent individuality for irresponsible con- 

 trol by a board will place the industry again upon a sound 

 basis. The rubber trade can hardly fail to benefit from an in- 

 creased demand, in years to come, for bicycle tires. 



The photographs of Mexican views used in illustrating 

 the letter from the rubber planting district on the isthmus of 

 Tehuantepec, printed in this issue, were supplied by C. B. 

 Waite, a photographer in the City of Mexico, and are protected 

 by copyright. 



RUBBER PLANTING ENTERPRISES. 



BADGER MEXICAN PLANTERS CO. 



[Plantation near San Juan Evangelista, state of Vera Cruz. Mexico. Office: 

 Racine, Wisconsin.] 



INCORPORATED January 2, 1903, under Maine laws, to 

 buy and cultivate for a second organization 10,000 acres 

 of land on Trinidad river, to grow rubber and sugar. The 

 land embraces a partially developed property, acquired 

 from E. A. Dorman.and planted to rubber — now four years old 

 — and coffee. A sugar mill will be erected this year, and consid- 

 erable sugar will be planted. Tne officers are : William W.Allis, 

 president Allis-Chalmers Co., president ; Frank K. Bull, presi- 

 dent J. I. Case Threshing Machine Co., vice president; Charles 

 R. ( arpenter, cashier Racine Commercial and Savings Bank, 

 treasurer; Warren E. Fish, general auditor J. I. Case company, 

 secretary. The other directors are Charles E. Tingley, Boston, 

 Mass.; H. A. J. Upham, Milwaukee; Fred Carney, Jr., Mari- 

 nette, Wis. ; E. A. James, Chicago. 



JOLIET TROPICAL PLANTATION CO. 



[Plantation at Tierra Blanca, state of Vera Cruz, Mexico. Office: Joliet, II- • 

 Iinois. See The India Rubber World, Kebruarvi, 1903— page 151.] 



The company announce that the sale of the 1200 shares first 

 offered, beginning about September 15, 1902, was completed on 

 February 12, 1903. Additional land having been purchased, 

 900 more shares were put on sale, making a total of 2100 shares, 

 there being an undivided \yi acre to each share. The price of 

 shares is $350. Development work began on January 1 last. 

 The company hope to get 600 acres planted to rubber this year, 

 with corn between the rows. Four sources of income are looked 

 to for dividends while the rubber is maturing : (1) rent of labor- 

 ers' houses; (2) rent of pasture lands; (3) profits from the 

 company's store ; (4) proceeds of the corn crop. Two thousand 

 acres of pasture land are now rented. The present price of 

 corn, of which two crops per year are expected, is equal to 60 

 cents per bushel, gold. Shareholders are not encouraged, 

 however, to expect quick dividends or very large ones at first. 



LA NUEVA PROVIDENCIA RUBBER CO. 



nation "La Nueva Providencia," department uf Escuintla, Guatemala. 

 Office : Providence, Rhode Island.] 



Incorporated January 8, 1903, under Rhode Island laws; 

 capital, $20,000. Own 2000 acres, on which there are some wild 

 rubber trees which will be tapped, and are now planting rubber 

 from nurseries. The officers, all financially interested, are: 

 Edwin H.Stww (president), of the important printing house of 

 Snow & Farnham, Providence; Leo F. A'adeau (vice president), 



fire insurance ; Clyde E.Gardner (general manager), rubber and 



lumber merchant, Guatemala, with sixteen years' experience 



three. 



UTAH-MEXICAN RUBBER CO. 



[Plantation on the Mescalapa river, state ol Tabasco, Mexico. Office : Salt 

 Lake City, Utah.] 



Incorporated April 1 1, 1903, under the lawsof Utah;capital, 

 $100,000. This company has been formed on the recommenda- 

 tion of Noble Warrum, Jr., and Aquila Nebeker, after a visit of 

 investigation to Mexico, where 10,000 acres have been pur- 

 chased on a navigable river and near a railway. The purchase 

 includes a large rubber nursery and it is stated that the first 

 planting is now in progress. The officers are : John Henry 

 Smith, president; W. S. McCornick, vice president and treas- 

 urer; and John A. McAllister, secretary. The other directors 

 are Joseph F. Smith, Thomas R. Cutler, Frank Knox, W. B. 

 Preston, J. S. Bransford, B. F. Grant, and John P. Hammond. 

 Mr. Grant some time ago wrote to The India Rubber World 

 enthusiastically in regard to the rubber planting outlook, after 

 a visit to Mexico. 



ROCHESTER-MEXICAN PLANTATION CO. 



[Plantation " Las Lomas," on the river Coatzacoalcas, state of Vera Cruz, 

 Mexico. Office: Granite building, Rochester, New York.] 



Incorporated November 27, 1901, under New York laws; 

 capital $60,000. Purchased a plantation cleared and planted in 

 1899, to 1 20,000 coffee trees and 8000 rubber trees; 30,500 addi- 

 tional rubber trees were planted in 1902. Officers : Charles H. 

 Angel, president ; A S. Pendry (referred to as an expert tropi- 

 cal planter), vice president ; John B. Snyder, secretary; John 

 L. Zeeveld, treasurer. 



THE OBISPO RUBBER PLANTATION CO. 

 [Plantation "San Silverio el Obispo," state of Oaxaca, Mexico. Office: No. 52 

 Broadway, New York.] 



The report of the annual inspection of this property, made 

 by Captain W. B. Porter, of New York, dated March 30, 1903, 

 mentions the satisfactory growth of the rubber planted in 1901 

 and 1902 and states that Mr. Maxwell Riddle, the resident 

 manager of the plantation, was planning to put S50 acres addi- 

 tional in rubber this season. 



* * * 



The Trinidad Rubber Co. (Los Angeles, California), hav- 

 ing a plantation under development at San Juan Evangelista, 

 in the state of Vera Cruz, Mexico, have filed a certificate of 

 increase of capital stock under their California charter from 

 Sioo.ooo to $200,000. 



