136 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



[January i, 1905. 



= Mr. Rudolph Zeitz. after spending the past two years in 

 New York, returned recently to Para, where he was engaged 

 in business for many years, and where it is understood that he 

 will again become connected with the rubber trade. 



= The London StaHda/ti oi Dectniber 5 published a despatch 

 from St. Petersburg with reference to the presence in Moscow, 

 during the preceding week, of Mr. Charles Ranlett, who was 

 supposed to be Charles Ranlett Flint, of New York, visiting 

 Russia in connection with the sale to the government of cer- 

 tain Argentine and Chilean warships. On leaving Moscow he 

 started for Constantinople, via Warsaw and Odessa. Later 

 (December 8) Mr. Flint was reported to be in Constantinople 

 negotiating the sale of pneumatic guns to Turkey, and a St. 

 Petersburg despatch stated that Russia had bought no South 

 American warships. 



= Mr. James N. Rabcock, of the freight department of the 

 Boston Rubber Shoe Co., is receiving congratulations on the 

 announcement of his engagement to Miss Clara N. Frost, of 

 Maiden, Massachusetts. 



AMERICAN RUBBER SHOES ABROAD. 

 Exports of rubber footwear from the United States during 

 the first eleven months of six years past have been officially 

 stated as follows : 



Pairs. Value. 



1899 542.042 $ 2E6.7I3 



1900 1. 133.473 593.664 



1901 2094,501 840.971 



1902 2,138,221 958,085 



1903 •■ 1,942.845 890,835 



1904 2,120,527 1,089,215 



RUBBER REGULATIONS ON THE CONGO. 



[from " I.A CHRONIQUE COLONIALE," BRUSSELS.] 



THE Congo Free State has just extended the decrees of Oc- 

 tober 30, 1892; January 5. 1899; and June 7, 1902, as 

 well as the resolutions adopted March 22, 1899, and June 18. 

 1902. thereby applying them to the entire territory of the do- 

 main. These are the legislative measures taken for the pur- 

 pose of preventing the decrease in the supply of rubber from 

 the forests. 



A new decree, issued on September 22, 1904, has gone into 

 efTect, whereby whosoever gathers rubber in the forests or 

 from grounds belonging to the domain, either for his own ac- 

 count or for the account of others, shall be compelled to annu- 

 ally plant in such forests or on such grounds a number of rub- 

 ber trees or //'««« (creepers) not less than 50 for rubber gath- 

 ered from trees or /lanes, znd not less than 15 for rubber called 



des Aeries* for each 100 kilograms or fraction of 100 kilograms 

 of fresh rubber gathered therefrom within the same period. 



Those who are not natives are responsible for the carrying 

 out of the above mentioned obligations by the natives who fur- 

 nish them the rubber, in whatever capacity they may be consid- 

 ered. 



The government agents in such parts of the domain in which 

 the state has not given up the exploitation of the rubber, as well 

 as the private parties or holders of concessions and their agents, 

 in such parts of the domain in which the state has ended the 

 exploitation, are obliged to do the amount of planting as stated 

 above, and to care for the plants, and they must act in accord- 

 ance with the conditions and terms which are specified in the 

 executive clauses of the decree, the principal stipulations of 

 which we recapitulate below. 



The rubber from trees or lianes must be gathered only by 

 tapping (incisions.) 



The cutting down of rubber trees or lianes, to remove the 

 bark, and the extraction of rubber from trees or //a«« by means 

 of beating or crushing, or by any means other than that pre. 

 scribed in the first paragraph of this section, is prohibited. 



Infractions of this decree, or of the resolutions adopted for 

 its execution are punishable by a fine varying from 100 to 5000 

 francs, and by hard labor for 10 days to six months, or by either 

 one of these penalties. 



The masters or employers, or, where firms or corporations 

 are concerned, their representatives in the Congo, as well as 

 the agents of the government, shall, under the conditions of 

 the executive resolutions, be punishable to the amount of the 

 above mentioned fines, if they do not take due care to see to 

 the strict carrying out by their officials or by their subordinates 

 of the legal requirements in regard to the planting of rubber 

 trees and lianes, and to their maintenance, or of the prohibitive 

 clauses contained in the decree. 



* " Root rubber. ' See The India Rup.t;ER World, May i, 1903 (page 261). 



AMAZON STEAM NAVIGATION CO. 



TO THE Editor of The India Rubber World: The di- 

 rectors of the Amazon Steam Navigation Co., Limited, 

 at their meeting to-day, declared a half yearly dividend on ac- 

 count of the current year of 2 per cent., or 5 shillings per share 

 free of income tax, payable on and after January 10, 1905. Also 

 that the transfer books of this company will be closed from De- 

 cember 2i, 1904, to January 6, 1905, both days inclusive. 



G. STREET & CO., LIMITED. 

 London, December 14, 1904. 



REVIEW OF THE CRUDE RUBBER MARKET. 



THE highest value for rubber in the history of the New 

 York market was reached on November 26, when the 

 cost of import of Mandos fine was $1.32 per pound, net. 

 Speedily following this date a decline in values was 

 cibled from Amazon ports. An important decline was establish- 

 ed during the week ending December 10, when purchases were 

 made at Mancios which would give a cost of $1.16^ net, landed 

 New York, for Upriver fine, and other grades in proportion. By 

 December 15 an advance had been made for rubber of the same 

 grade to $1.22, and during the week ending December 24 there 

 were large transactions on the basis of $1.26, net, New York. 

 The highest sales made during December of Upriver fine spot 

 were at $1.30 and the lowest at Si-2o. For future delivery, Jan- 

 uary to March, sales were made of Upriver fine at $1.50, net, for 



quantity, without brokerage. At the close of the month a^ 

 lower market was reported at both Pard and Mandos. The de- 

 mand for the close of December is very moderate, as this is the 

 period for stocktaking in many factories, besides which the 

 principal consumers appear to be supplied with Pard rubber for 

 immediate use, and are now only interested in future delivery 

 values. 



The weather conditions have been favorable for the demand 

 for rubber footwear to an extent almost unprecedented, point- 

 ing perhaps to the largest consumption of rubber in this branch 

 ever known — a condition which, in connection with slighter 

 receipts of rubber thus far for the season, does not encourage 

 any hope of substantially lower prices soon for crude rubber. 



Rubber imports into the United States for the first eleven 



