116 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



[January i, 1905. 



ADVERTISING IN THE AMAZON COUNTRY. 



HOWEVER foreign to American and European ways life 

 on the Amazon may be, it does not follow that the col- 

 lection of rubber there is carried on entirely in haphazard fash- 

 ion. If it were, the maintenance of a yearly output of 30,000 

 tons of rubber through the port of Par;i would be out of the 

 question ; the fleet of steamers on the Amazon would be with- 

 out an assured patronage; and the large commercial houses of 

 Pari and Manaos would at all times be in a position of uncer- 

 tainty. These considerations are suggested by a glance over 

 the advertisements appearing in late Para daily newspapers, 

 which would indicate that at least some kind of methods are 

 observed in the conduct of the rubber business, and that these 

 are generally recognized by the public ; otherwise such adver- 

 tisements as appear below (after translation) would have no 

 meaning to the newspaper readers: 



SERINGAES. 



There will be sold about 600 estradas of seringueiras situ- 

 ated on the I^aguna river, above Tajapuru and the Preta river, 

 all within the municipality of Melga90 (in the district of Breves); 

 fertile, healthful, and very pleasant. Communicate with Messrs. 

 Thome de Vilhena & Co., here, and with the undersigned at 

 Lagima. MAXIMINO NOBRE DE ALMEIDA. 



Para, October 31, 1904. 



HELP FOR SERINGAL. 



Heli' required for woik on rubber on the Acre. Hotel Uni- 

 versal, room No. 6, from 10 to 11 A. M., and from 4 to 5 

 o'clock, P. M. 



SERINGAL ON THE ACRE. 



RoDRlGtiES i>E ,Siiu/A, broker, is authorized to sell the rub- 

 ber plantation " Amelia," on the Acre river, the last crop of 

 which amounted to 45,000 kilos of rubber, and which is of suf- 

 ficient size to produce double the amount, new estradas being 

 opened and worked. He will receive proposals at his office in 

 the alley Sao Matheu 8. 



Such advertisements refer to rubber lands which have been 

 systematically laid out, and the rights to which are transferable, 

 as property is in other countries. Seringa! (plural serixi^aes) 

 is the name applied to such an establishment ; estradas are the 

 paths cut through the forests to connect the trees assigned to 

 each rubber worker ; and sertm^ueiras are the trees. 



THE MERITS OF "POZELINA." 



UNDER the heading "Great Discovery of the Century" 

 the Para daily journal Folha do Norte, of November 14 

 last, contained an advertisement of a preparation designed for 

 use in rubber gathering, which the vendor calls " Pozelina." 

 The merits claimed lor the article are indicated in a portion of 

 the advertisement which we translate as follows ; 



Rubber gatherers will find in this preparation a good means of pre- 

 serving the latex in a fluid condition until the time of curing, and whether 

 it has been collected one day or many days, the rubber produced will be 

 of a superior quality. The preservation of latex with Pozelina renders 

 unnecessary the practice of heating it before smoking, which is injurious 

 on account of lessening the consistency and elasticity of the product. 

 The use of Pozelina to keep the latex fluid causes it to retain all the de- 

 sirable qualities. 



It further appears from the advertisement that there are yet 

 some scoundrels in the Amazon rubber fields who do not buy 

 Pozelina, but they have their just deserts in being obliged to 

 accept lower prices for their rubber. We continue the trans- 

 lation : 



We desire especially to call the attention of rubber gatherers to our 

 preparations, as some still prepare rubber without Pozelina. the only 

 preparation that is recommended by manufacturing works, which latter 



send us testimonials, saying that they have found that rubber treated 

 with Pozelina is given the preference in the markets, being valued 50 per 

 cent, higher than other makes, which have been treated with substances 

 invented by scoundrels to depreciate the national industry. It is time 

 that the rubber tappers should learn to beware of waters and other 

 liquids which deteriorate the milk, causing it to decompose, and which 

 render the rubber of the very lowest quality, thus causing the foremost 

 of our industries to suffer. 



One fails to be impressed with the extent of the business 

 done in Pozelina, since the advertisement mentions that it is 

 sold only at the Drogaria Nazareth (Nazareth drugstore) in 

 Para. It would be a very exceptional drugstore that could af- 

 ford enough material of any kind to apply to all the rubber 

 production of the Amazon. 



A WOMAN IN SEARCH OF RUBBER. 



THE notable work of exploration which the late Henri 

 Coudreau carried on for a number of years in South 

 America has since been continued, with marked success, by his 

 widow. Beginning in 1895, Monsieur Coudreau was employed 

 by the state of Para to explore the basins of several little 

 known tributaries of the Amazon with a view to estimating the 

 natural resources, including, of course, rubber. His work was 

 well done, as indicated by the published reports, and it was 

 likewise satisfactory to the Para government. Upon his death, 

 Mme. Coudreau, who had accompanied her husband on many 

 of his expeditions, asked to be allowed to continue the work, to 

 which the government assented. There have recently been 

 published three volumes, devoted respectively to explorations 

 of the rivers Curua, Mapuera, and Maycura — flowing into the 

 Amazon from the north — made by Mme. Coudreau between 

 November 20, 1900, and January 12, 1903. Besides being a 

 fearless explorer of hitherto unknown regions, this lady is de- 

 scribed as being able to make surveys and plot route maps, be- 

 sides being an expert photographer. New rubber fields have 

 been discovered, and the best means of reaching them pointed 

 out, and altogether the work of Mme. Coudreau has proved so 

 satisfactory that it seems likely to be continued, at the expense 

 of the government. 



THE TRUE HISTORY OF A WESTERN FARM. 



IT often happens that the memory of a conspicuously success- 

 ful man is assailed by the ignorant or prejudiced, and an 

 unworthy motive attached to acts that deserve unqualified 

 praise. Thus in the case of the late James W. Converse, the 

 writer recently heard his great Grand Rapids enterprise charac- 

 terized as a sharp trade with the Baptist church, followed by a 

 lucky termination. What really happened was as follows : 



The Baptist Missionary Society received as a bequest a farm 

 at Grand Rapids, Michigan. Various committees were formed 

 to examine the land and to sell it, but were unable to do any- 

 thing. Finally Mr. Converse was one of a committee to look 

 the farm over. He thought he saw an opportunity for its future 

 development, which he frankly explained to the society, at the 

 same time offering twice the amount of any previous oflfer. It 

 was thankfully accepted. He then built a great dam at the 

 river, laid out a town, putting in sewers and water, and began 

 the arduous work of development. He got manufacturers to 

 locate there, often furnishing the money for their enterprises, 

 and finally made much money out of the venture. He did what 

 the society had neither the ability nor the authority to do, nor 

 did sharp trading or luck appear at all. It was simply a broad, 

 generous, business transaction throughout. 



