September i, 1906.] 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



381 



sular service is not to be doubted ; and the government 

 constantly becomes more independent, in such matters, of 

 the claims of party leaders that consular ])osts be reserved as 

 rewards for ])olitical activity. Meanwhile it should be re- 

 membered that tlie consuls of every countrj' aie blamed at 

 home for not doing more for the people they represent, and 

 the United States service is often held up as a model by 

 \\ iropean critics of their own coiisiils. 



Tlllv c.KiC.AT srcCRSS oi- " Iii;vi:.\ " I'LANTINc, in the I'.u 

 Kast has led to some doubt in tiie minds of idaiiters else- 

 where, of other species, whether they have not made a mis- 

 take in not having planted Hivai. In may all'ord some en- 

 couragement in such quarters to know th.it Mr. W. Iv. 

 Gildea, a pronounced advocate of planting Castilloa in Cey- 

 lon, has successfully turned the estates in which he is 

 interested into a joint stock enterprise, in which he and his 

 |)artners hold half the shares. Investors seem as ready to 

 buy one good rubber proposition as another, and that Mr. 

 Gildea still believes in Caslilloa is indicated by his retaining 

 an interest in the plantation formed by him. 



TiiK coNSU.Mi'TioN 01' RrnnijK i.n iukoi'i; is increasing 

 more rapidly than on this side of the .Vtlanlic. for which 

 there are two reasons. The lirst is that the use of rubber 

 goods in certain Huropeau countries, formerly much less 

 general than in the United Slates, is constantly increasing. 

 The second is that m.mufacturers abroad contiibute to a 

 greater extent than the Americans to supplying the growing 

 denian 1 for rubber goods in those countries where no such 

 goods are made. 



(.UAYUl.E I'KUDUCTION UK MEXICO. 



' I ^11 Iv exports of crude rubber from Mexico are showing a 

 -^ large increase of late, which is due apparently in large 

 measure to the growth of production of rubber from Guay- 

 tde. The figures for the past three fiscal years (ending June 

 30) are as follows, expressing weights in kilograuis : 



Kilograms Value (Silver). 



Ill 1903 04 308,072 3 $ 520,766.60 



In i(j04-05 497,803.8 719,104.29 



In 1905-06 1,450248.9 2,390,425,29 



Of the exports during the last fiscal year, the figures for 

 the first si.x months total 360,717.4 kilos, and from January 

 I, last, 1,089,531.5 tons, showing the marked increase to 

 have d.ited practically from the beginning of iyo6. These 

 figures are obtained by Tut: Indi.a RrnnKR Woui.i) from the 

 Mexican Miiiislro tii' liacieiida, who observes that they 

 doubtless include the e.xportations of Guayule rubber, no 

 separate record being kept of rubber of this class. Alto- 

 gether, the figures given above would indicate the shi])ment, 

 during the past year, of more than 1000 tons more than the 

 normal exports from Mexico, which may reasonably be .set 

 down as a measure of the production of Guayule. 



The custom houses through which rubber was exported 

 during the past year, and the amounts despatched through 

 them, are as follows : 



K Ins. K.los 



.Vcapiilco 



6S7 San Bias . 



.35' 



Ciuil^id i'orfirio Diaz. . . .4S5, 140 S.k-oiuisco 32 144 



ClieLuiii;d 80 Taiiipico 703 923 



Isla <lel Cariiiel 888 Tuxpaiii 1 1 ,658 



Laredo 47 Vera Cniz 203.768 



Maiizaiiillo 7.413 • 



Mauatldu 1.^50 Total 1,450,249 



It apiiears worth noting that the declared value of rubber 



for export has not been greatly lowered in consequence of 



the lately increased outiiut. In other words, the average 



value per pound in 1903-04 was $1.69 (silver) and in 1905-06 



it was >! .54. 



* * « 



Mkxic.xn newspapers give prominence to the efforts mak- 

 ing to form a new com])anj' on a large scale to ex])loit 

 Guayule. W. ]I. Kllis, of New York, is named as the chief 

 promoter, and h-rancisco Yarza, general manager of the Bank 

 of London and Mexico, is interested. The projected company 

 ])Ians to acquire control of large areas in northern Mex- 

 ico covered with the Guayule shrub and an interest has been 

 purchased in the factory of the National Rubber Co., at 

 Gomez I'alacio, Mexico. Also the patent issued to I'ablo 

 Bergner, of Mexico City, for working Guayule rubber has 

 been acquired. 



At the same time rejiorts are current in Texas that New 

 York and Boston capitalists have gained control of all the 

 Guayule areas in the western part of that state, which are 

 said to be extensive. 



A NEW SULPHUR MONOPOLY. 



TT is rejiorted that the output of tlie Sicilian sulphur wells 

 -^ brought to the United Stales is to be handled exclusively 

 hereafter by the Union Snlijhur Co , of New York, a concern 

 which already dominates the brimstone trade in this coun- 

 try. As a result, trade authorities assert that there will be 

 a practical monopoly held by the Union Sulphur Co. Such 

 competition as will hereafter exist will originate with Ihe 

 small producers of the far Western states and nnimpoilant 

 Japanese shipments to Pacific coast points. 



As a result of the deal it is Ihonghl that prices will be ad- 

 vanced. Heretofore when manufacturers wanled sulphur 

 there were two sources of supply, either the American sul 

 phur or the Sicilian product. The new arrangement, sa\ s 

 the Pharmaceutical Era, is the result of the establishment in 

 Sicily of a monopoly through a law recently adopted by the 

 Italian government and in effect since August i. The aim 

 of the Italian law is to regulate and control the ])roduclion 

 and price of sulphur in Italy. 



.\ccording to trade advices, the managers of the Itali.in 

 monopoly made an arrangement with the Societc Generale 

 des Soufres, of Paris, to manage the export trade to America. 

 This company in turn made an arrangement with the United 

 Sulphur Co. to distribute and control the American market 

 for the imported Sicilian sulphur. 



Credit for the completion of the trade arrangement was 

 given to Herman Frasch, jiresident of the Union Sulphur Co. 

 The Union company own the greatest sulphur wells in the 

 world, near Lake Charles, Louisiana, and of the 250,000 toi.s 

 of sulphur consumed in the United States this company pro- 

 duces and markets more than two-thirds. Mr. Frasch, who 

 was a young chemist in the employ of the Standard Oil Co., 

 discovered the wonderful sulphur deposits near Lake Charles 

 several years ago, and it is due to his efforts that the I'nited 

 States has become a factor in the sulphur trade of thewoild 

 He is now- a leading figure in the Societe Generale des Souf- 

 res, and through his connection with that company was able 

 to obtain the marketing of the Sicilian output for the United 

 States for his own company. 



