418 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



[September i, 1903. 



the Negro to the Amazon and thence to the seaboard. In a 

 recent book [" Down the Orinoco in a Canoe." London: 1902] 

 Perez Triana, son of a former president of Colombia, describes 

 the difficult feat of shooting the rapids on this river at Mai- 

 pures and Atures, ten days being consumed in a progress of 

 fitty miles. But not to mention the rapids, the Orinoco has 

 been closed to navigation for more than a year by the troubles 

 in Venezuela. 



Navigation on the Negro is not much better. Our corre- 

 spondent at Manaos writes that the river is really navigable 

 only to Santa Isabel, where the rapids begin ; " the Casiquiare 

 is a good 400 miles from Santa Isabel," he adds ; " then how do 

 these people expect to work their seringales (rubber camps)?" 

 Lieutenant Herndon, of the United States navy, in 1S51, re- 

 ported that several weeks were required to go from Manaos to 

 San Carlos, but that was before the days of steam. The Baron 

 de Maraj6, of Para, in his book [" As.Regioas Amazonicas." 

 Lisbon : 1895] finds 31 cataracts on the Negro worthy of men- 

 tion, some of them being described as dangerous. 



So much for shipping facilities. 



Our Mandos correspondent wrote on June 13 last : " We still 

 await confirmation of the Casiquiare syndicate's prospectus. 

 So far nothing is known here as to work in that direction. Mr. 



[the manager advertised as entertaining " royally " 



on the company's estates] was here some months lounging 

 around the saloons, but did not go up river, and has disap- 

 peared Pard-wards." 



A representative of The India Rubber World who visited 

 the offices of the Para Rubber Plantation Co. in New York, on 

 August 20, was politely received by a young gentleman who 

 was alone in charge, all the officials being out of the city — 

 some of them out of the country. They alone were prepared 

 to give any information regarding results achieved. He knew 

 that rubber had been gathered and shipped and sold in New 

 York at a handsome profit, besides the profit on the turnover 

 of merchandise shipped to the Casiquiare. But how much rub- 

 ber, and at what price, or to whom consigned— one must wait 

 for the return of the secretary. None of these things were 

 known in the office. He had heard of " ninety hundred tons of 

 fine Para" awaiting shipment from the company's stations. 

 Some of it was expected soon by way of the Orinoco. When 

 reminded that 9000 tons was several times as much as the 

 world's present visible supply of Para rubber, and that putting 

 such an amount on the market at once would cause a tumble 

 in prices, he said it might be " ninety" hundred pounds"; he 

 was n't certain. The company gathers only " fine Para " ; the 

 young man was not aware that there was any " coarse Para." 

 [Pronounced Pa'ray at No. 52 Broadway.] 



Was he certain that their manager had actually reached the Casiqui- 

 are ? Oh ye?. 



I low could one be assured on that point? By writing to the Consul. 

 The manager's mail had been addressed in his care. 



What Consul? The one at Manaos. 



But getting his mail at Manaos would not prove that the gentleman 

 had gone upstream ? (No answer.) 



The whole Venezuelan rubber crop received at Manaos for the year 

 arrived in a lump late in June, being nearly So tons, as against 70 tons 

 last year. How much of the increase was contributed by the Para Rub 

 ber Plantation Co. ? The young man could not say. 



The gentleman above referred to carefully ignored all re- 

 quests for his name, but his visitor thought that he was ad- 

 dressed by a stenographer as " Mr. Merrill." This name, by 

 the way, may be looked for further along. 



Of late the advertising of this company has been done 

 through the medium of the " Standard Securities Co.," the 



name of which is painted on the door of an adjoining room. 

 Here is a specimen letter from the latter concern : 



Ni u York, N. Y., August iy. 1903. 

 |)i ar Sir : Herewith we hand you facsimile copy of announcement 

 of the second semi annual dividend of the l'ara Rubber Plantation Com- 

 pany, which will no doubt please you. 



We would respectfully request that your order for stock be in our 

 hands no later than September 15th, in order that we may tquably ap- 

 portion the small block remaining in our hands for sale. 



In our various letters we have predicted %\ 00 per pound for Para 

 rubber by January 1, 1904, and we now call your attention to the fact 

 that it is selling for % 1 00 per pound to day in New York, with predic- 

 tions for $125 per pound before long ; costs 35 cents laid down in New 

 York. Increasing dividends are assured. Youts very truly, 



JACK MERRILL, 



Secretary for the selling company, 



Thf Standard SsCURIIIBS COMPANY, 



The announcement of the forthcoming dividend also appears 

 here, in reducedy^ simile. Note the expression, " In answer 

 to your inquiry," a dividend has been declared, etc. The 



'ar a Rubber 



« - 



s. 



. t 



New York, August 11, 1903 



Standard securities Company, 



62 Broadway, City . 

 Gentlemen :- 



In answer to your Inquiry, 1 wisn to state that at a 

 Meeting of the Directors of trie Para Rubber Plantation Company 

 held this day, our second semi-annual dividend of six per cent (6^») 

 was declared payable to stockholders of record September 16th. 



Yours truly 



Vice-President. 



P.S. Checks will be mailed September 20th. 



" Standard Securities Co." had been advertising since June a 6 

 per cent, dividend for August. Then why " inquire " about it 

 in August ? Perhaps because it was so easy to "inquire," it be- 

 ing necessary to only open the door to the next room and walk 

 in. 



As shares are still offered for sale, presumably the 12 per 

 cent, in dividends to date do not apply to the whole $5,000,000 

 of capital. Say it applies to $1,000,000— that would require 

 $120,000. No rubber man will believe that the Para Rubber 

 Plantation Co. has netted more than 25 cents per pound on 

 its product, which rate would call for the sale to date of 480,000 

 pounds. Does any rubber man believe that so much has been 

 sold by the company? 



By the way, an advertisement which appeared on July 30 

 said: ",'500,000 pounds of pure and fine Para have been 

 made on the lower end of the property of the Para Rubber 

 Plantation Co. this season so far." This would make 50 pounds 

 each for the 6000 men advertised as at work. 



It may be of interest to some readers to know that an in- 



