November i, i9«5.] 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



45 



RUBBER CARGO LOST ON THE AMAZON. 



THE Booth line steamer Cyril, bound from Mandos for Liv- 

 erpool, with 2IO tons of rubber on board, was lost on the 

 Amazon on the morning of September 6, in a collision with the 

 steamer Auselm. The occurrence was in the bay Curralinho, 

 near the town of the same name on the great island of Maraji), 

 and about 93 miles above Para Both ships were under the con- 

 trol of lirazilian pilots, whoseemingly misunderstood thesignals 

 given while rounding a small island, and the result was that both 

 ships steered for the same point, and before the Q'/vV could 

 cross the bow of the Auselm she was rammed, and sank within 

 45 minutes in about 70 feet of water, capsizing as she went 

 down. The Auselm was seriously damaged and had to put 

 back to Para. No passengers were lost of injured, and no pas- 

 sengers' effects were lost. The CyrtTs manifest showed the 

 following details regarding the rubber carried : 



Smri-KRS. Fine. Medium. Coarse. Caucho. Total. 



Scholz & Co. .. .-t//« 58,680 12.387 20,802 3,6co 95i46g 



DusendschtJn & Co.. 31,628 8,985 829 41,137 82,579 



Aldelbert II. Alden. 17,020 3.075 5,290 205 25.590 



Ahlers S: Co 4.056 91 567 4.714 



J. H. Andresen, Sue. 1.440 i6o 690 .... 2,290 



Total 112,824 24,698 28,178 44,942 210,642 



The Booth company advise The India Rubber World : 

 " The latest information we have is that the Liverpool Salvage 

 Association were sending out the steamer Ranger in the hopes 

 of salving the rubber cargo on board the Cyril. We understand 

 that they have with them all the modern appliances for this 

 class of work." 



There was no perceptible fluctuation in the New York market 

 for Pard rubber on account of the loss of the Cyril. The price 

 stiffened in England for a few days, but did not hold. 



PERILS OF NAVIGATION ON THE AMAZON. 

 [from " roLHA DO NORTE " (PARA), SEPTEMBER l8.] 



The Cidade de Manaus, the despatch boat belonging to the 

 Amazonas government, entered our port yesterday at i p. M. 

 The voyage was anything but auspicious, for, besides running 

 aground, the vessel was in danger of foundering. While cross- 

 ing from Catahu to Cossary, the boat encountered a severe 

 storm, resulting in serious damage to the commander's cabin, 

 which made it necessary to strengthen it by means of cross- 

 beams. The Cidade de Manaus battled with the severe storm 

 for 20 minutes. 



After passing through this first peril, the despatch boat con- 

 tinued on its course until 9 p. m. on the day before yesterday, 

 when it ran aground at a small distance below the island of 

 the Mucuras, but on this occasion escaped sinking. The 

 Cidade de Manaus was in this dangerous position when the 

 Cassipori passed. It was decided to ask for assistance and a 

 boat was despatched for that purpose. While all those on ihe 

 Cidade de Manaus expected the Cassipori xq render some assis- 

 tance, her captain sent word that he could not do so, as he had 

 no time to spare. The Cassipori! thereupon continued on its 

 course, leaving the boat in its dangerous position. 



Later on, the Fagundes Varella passed by, and was asked for 

 assistance. Her captain at once stopped his engine and sent a 

 boat to inquire what had best be done. When he had been 

 advised of the circumstances, it was agreed that the Fagundes 

 Varella should cast anchor and wait until the next day, to see 

 whether the Cidade de Manaus yio\i\A getofTof her own account. 



If he was able to do so, the captain of the Fagundes Varella 

 was to receive 1000 milreis [=$334.60, exchange at 17 pence], 

 while, if it should become necessary to take the Cidade de 



Manaus in tow, 2000 milreis were to be paid. Happily, at 

 about 2 A. M. yesterday, the boat was floated through her own 

 efforts, and the Fagundes Varella continued on her voyage 

 during the morning. 



The Cidade de Manaus, which came under the command of 

 Mr. Francisco Antonio Ozorio, was steered by the experienced 

 Amazonas pilot, Mr. Raymundo Cunha. 



BRAZILIAN TAX COLLECTORS FIGHT OVER RUBBER. 



The Amazonas despatch boat, Cidade de Manaus, had on 

 board Colonel JcSo Baptista Faria e Souza, collector of the port 

 of Manaos, and Dr. Amaro Bezerra, a well known lawyer, whose 

 visit to Pard was for the purpose of discussing the matter of 

 the India-rubber which had come in transit on the Eurico, the 

 Amazonas revenue department claiming the said rubber as the 

 property of that state, while it was also claimed by the Federal 

 territory of Acre. 



The Eurico also arrived at Pardon September 17, carrying 

 21,687 kilograms of rubber, consigned to Messrs. Leite & Co. 

 and Cerqueira Lima & Co. — there being 19,175 kilos of fine, 350 

 of coarse, and 2162 of Caucho. 



On board the Eurico were, besides Mr. Angelo Boyma, the 

 custom house guard in charge of the second fiscal of Iquiry, 

 Acre; Mr. Cyriaco Muniz, a treasury accountant, attached to 

 the collector's office at Manaos ; and theguard of the same dis- 

 trict, Mr. Miguel Archanjo Monteiro, who had the rubber in 

 their care. The rubber was stowed away in the two compart- 

 ments of the hold of the vessel, the hatchways being duly 

 sealed, as was verified by the custom house officers of Paid, 

 when they boarded the vessel. 



According to the Manaos journal O Amazonas, this rubber 

 was taken on board the Eurico at port Cachoeira, on the river 

 Purus, near the town of Labrea, Brazil, from the lighter Boli- 

 var. The bill of lading gave the river Iquiry, a tributary of the 

 Acre, as the source of the rubber, but it is claimed at Manaos 

 that the point on the Iquiry referred to could have no commu- 

 nication with any locality reached by the W^Xe.t Bolivar. It is 

 said that the hold of the Eurico, in which the rubber was 

 stored, was sealed not far from Labrea by a person claiming to 

 be a Federal fiscal agent of Acre. 



A question regarding the rubber being raised at Mandos, 

 Messrs. Leite & Co., owners of the Eurico, asked the port col- 

 lector to clear the vessel and offered a deposit to cover the 

 Amazonas state duties, in case the rubber should prove to have 

 been gathered in that state. But the Manaos authorities re- 

 plied that the rubber was not of doubtful origin ; it came from 

 Amazonas state, from a point north of the Acre boundary line. 

 The captain of the Eurico, having allowed a fiscal employe of 

 the Acre district to come within the limits of Amazonas and 

 seal the holds of the steamer, is liable to be held as a partici- 

 pant in the smuggling of the goods and ihe penalties therefor. 

 The rubber in dispute having been shipped as coming from 

 Federal territory (where the export tax is 15 per cent.) though 

 held at Manaos to have been produced in Amazonas state 

 (where the export tax is 23 per cent.), was claimed to be smug- 

 gled goods, and treated accordingly. 



* * * 



There is constant friction between the Amazonas state and 

 the Federal district of Acre over rubber export dues. Folha 

 do Norte reported recently the seizure at Manaos of 97,467 

 kilos of rubber on one steamer, claimed as a state product but 

 which was found out to have come from Acre. It was neces- 

 sarily shipped from an Amazonas port, in the absence of other 

 facilities at the point of production, but this did not make it 

 Amazonas rubber. 



