166 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



[February i, 1905. 



RETURN OF THE YACHT "VIRGINIA." 



THE steam yacht Virginia, the departure of which from 

 New York, on November 15. for a cruise in southern 

 waters, was reported in the December i issue of this Journal, 

 arrived in New York on the morning of January 30, after hav 

 ing satisfactorily carried out the program arranged by Commo- 

 dore Benedict for his guests. The Virginia's first stop, on the 

 outgoing trip, was at Hamilton, in the Bermudas, after which 

 stops were made at Martinique and at Barbados, whence the 

 yacht proceeded directly to the Amazon. The passengers 

 reached Pard on Sunday morning, December 4. After a short 

 stay in the great rubber capital, and a pleasant e.\change of 

 civilities between the Benedict party and the officials and lead- 

 ing citizens, the yacht steamed up to Mandos, a distance of 

 nearly 1000 miles. Here also many courtesies were shown to the 

 North Americans, and by December 23 the party were again 

 in Pard. After another stay of a few days the yacht left for the 

 north, reaching Trinidad on January 9, La Guayra on the nth, 

 Curacoa on the 14th, and Havana on the 21st. One more stop 

 was made, at Nassau, before the arrival at New York. 



THE "VIRGINIA" AT MANAOS AND THE RETURN TO PARA. 



[translated I'ROM " FOI.HA DO NORTE " (PARA), DECEMBER 24.] 



The North American yacht Virginia being bound on a 

 pleasure trip and having a number of millionaires and poli- 

 ticians on board, arrived at our port yesterday morning at 8.30 

 A. M. As we have had occasion to announce before this, the 

 Virginia arrived on the 12th inst. at Mandos, where Mr. Bene- 

 dict and his traveling companions were very cordially received. 



A great number of visits were paid to the Virginia during 

 the 10 days it remained at anchor in Rio Negro bay. As we 

 have stated before, the governor of the state gave an entertain- 

 ment in honor of the passengers. On the 20th a regatta was 

 held on the Rio Negro in honor of our guests, Commodore 

 Benedict acting as judge of the contests. Among other excur- 

 sions, the visitors made several fishing trips to the rivers in the 

 vicinity of Manaos. On Monday, before sailing, the com- 

 modore gave a sumptuous breakfast aboard his yacht, the 

 governor and other persons of high rank being present. 



At the time of the arrival of the Virginia, the custom house 

 officers at Manaos boarded the vessel for the purpose of mak- 

 ing an inspection, and left a permanent guard on board. The 

 commodore, on seeing his vessel subjected to such strict 

 measures, communicated the facts to the American consul, who 

 had an interview with the custom house inspector, explaining 

 to him the nature of the journey on which the yacht was 

 bound. Having learned the facts in the case, the inspector de- 

 cided to remove his guard. 



While on its way to Belem, the yacht touched at Santarem, 

 where all the passengers landed and took a long walk. They 

 likewise stopped at the place called "Cacaual Grande." and, on 

 the day before yesterday, at Breves, where they made a short 

 stay in order to inspect the work which is being done there for 

 the installation of the wireless telegraph service. The yacht 

 left Breves at 3.30 p. m. 



On the trip from Belem [Para] to Mandos many photographs 

 were taken. At the mouth of the SoHmOes, several persons en- 

 gaged in the turtle fishery were photographed. All the passen- 

 gers on the Virginia seemed to be enchanted by the beauty of 

 our rivers, speaking in the highest terms of everything they had 

 seen. 



On the second day after his arrival at Mandos, Mr. Cornelius 

 Benedict asked for an audience with the governor, and was re- 

 ceived at 2 o'clock in the afternoon. Mr. Benedict, accom- 

 panied by Messrs. E. M. Backus and Dr. Porphirio Nogueira, 



had a pleasant chat with the governor of the state of Amazonas. 

 On this occasion, the governor invited Mr. Benedict and his 

 companions to an excursion on the river, which was enthusi- 

 astically accepted by the North American travelers. 



Mr. Benedict, having learned that Ex-Governor Dr. Sylverio 

 Nery was expected to arrive at Mandos, on his return from 

 Europe, placed the Virginia at the disposal of Dr. Constantino 

 Nery, to receive the distinguished Amazonense on board the 

 packet. A banquet, given by Dr. Porphirio Nogueira in honor 

 of Mr. Cornelius Benedict and his traveling companions, was 

 held in the rooms of the Club Internacional, the governor and 

 vice governor of the state, as well as the ranking civil and mil- 

 itary authorities, being present. The toast of honor, proposed 

 by Dr. Constantino Nery, was drunk to the prosperity of the 

 American giant. 



BELTING STILL INDISPENSABLE. 



AT the annual meeting of the Leather Belting Manufactur- 

 ers' Association (New York, November 16), a paper on 

 " Present Tendencies Toward Direct Driving by Electric Mo- 

 tors " was read by Mr. Charles Robbins. He reviewed the prog- 

 ress of the use of electric power in the industries and analyzed 

 the increased efficiency attainable under certain conditions by 

 direct driving, and dispensing with belts entirely. But there 

 yet remain classes of work where the belt seems indispensable. 

 In textile mills, for instance, it has been found that the best 

 practice is to subdivide the shafting into reasonable units and 

 drive each by a motor through a single belt. Without attempt- 

 ing to summarize the whole paper, it may be said that its con- 

 clusion is very fully set forth in a single paragraph : " Without 

 having extra data, we think the sale of belted motors will prob- 

 ably bear the ratio 5 : i as compared with direct connected, and 

 as there were in the neighborhood of some 55.000 electric mo- 

 tors sold in 1903 there is still considerable field for the belt for 

 a long time to come. This conclusion is of interest to the man- 

 ufacturers of rubber belting, no less than to those of leather. 



SOME WANTS OF THE RUBBER TRADE. 



[:{05] \^/ E have an inquiry for " names of firms manufactur- 

 •V ing automatic scrap rubber grading machines." 

 This has already been submitted to an important firm in the 

 rubber reclaiming business, who report : " We do not know of 

 any manufacturers making such machines, nor do we believe 

 that human ingenuity can devise a machine for such a pur- 

 pose." 



[•'}0(J] A correspondent writes : " Can you give me any in- 

 formation as to the best place to send a young man to take a 

 course in chemistry relative to the manufacture of mechanical 

 rubber goods." 



[307] A correspondent at McKees Rocks, Pennsylvania, 

 writes: " Please inform me where I can get short elastic nip- 

 ples for bottles." 



[30S] A correspondent of Grand Rapids, Michigan, writes : 

 " .As we are in the market for a good rubber dice box we take 

 the liberty to write to ask if you can inform us where we can 

 get some." 



ANSWERS. 



[•i!»!>] Messrs. John Royle & Sons (Paterson, New Jersey) 

 offer to supply machinery for weaving or knitting fabric for 

 hose or belting, such as asked for. 



[3021 The white rubber razor wiping device is made by La 

 Favorite Rubber Manufacturing Co. (Paterson, New Jersey), 

 for the inventor. 



