March i, 1905.] 



THE INDIA RUBBER -WORLD 



187 



of work, however, was the molded sole to fit the bottom of the 

 tabi. That, so I was informed, was patented by the Nippon 

 Rubber Co. The Oriental Rubber Co. started to make them, 

 and. suit being brought, the court decided that the patent 

 could not he siist^tined, as the sole was practically the same as 









^; 





:y 



\'ievv of I ^ppiT 

 Made ol Straw 



Straw Sole and 

 Clutta-peicha Heel. 



TABI (COTTON SOCK). 



KuM.. I S.jU 

 ZORI, OR STRAW SANDAL. 



the tennis soles that had long been made in America. 



There appeared also to be the beginning of a business in tires, 

 chiefly of the solid type, for the rickshaw. Indeed, I was in- 

 formed by an intelligent native that ere long the rickshaws 

 through Japan and in the coast cities of China, Malaya, and 



^__^.i^E-^~;^ southern India, 



would be fitted 

 with pneumatic 

 tires of Japanese 

 , make. During 

 ' my journey, it 

 was very appar- 

 ent that the few 

 rickshaws that 

 were fitted with 

 pneumatic tires 

 were always in use and far more agreeable to ride in than those 

 without. One of the rubber manufacturers whom I met was 

 deeply interested in the subject of rubber planting, and pointed 

 out that if rubber could be grown in Formosa, with the cheap 

 labor so abundant in Japan and so easily controlled, in a pos- 

 session belonging 

 to the country, it 

 would be a most 

 profitable venture. 

 Since my return 

 to America, in 

 looking the mat- 

 ter up, I have no 

 hesitation in say- 

 ing that there are parts of Formosa that would lend themselves 

 most readily to such cultivation, and I hope soon to hear that 

 the Yankees of the East have begun to plant. 



Manufacturers in the United States often look askance at 

 Japan, wondering what that country will be industrially when 

 it fairly wakes up. From my own observation I do not think 

 the rubber trade, at least, need fear Japanese competition for 

 some years to come. For their own needs, they will doubtless 

 soon make the most of their own goods, but when it comes to 

 entering the markets of the world, they will be facing a differ- 

 ent problem. The need of great numbers of workersskilled 



in rubber will be one that will not be easily supplied. The 

 Japanese are exceedingly ingenious, marvelously industrious, 

 but the cheap labor, cheap though it is, is not to be compared 

 with the high priced skilled labor employed in America. 



The traveler in Japan is constantly confronted by the fact 

 that he is in a country where the point of view is radically dif- 

 ferent from his own. For example, a burglar in one of the 

 large cities robbed a man of 200 yen. He was apprehended 

 later and. 40 yen being found on his person, it was given to the 

 man whom he 

 had robbed. A 

 little later the 

 robber appeal- 

 ed to the court 

 and proving 

 that he had 

 spentthewhole 

 of the money 

 he stole, and 

 that the 40 yen 

 was money of 

 his own, he re- 

 covered the 

 whole of it. 



My stay in 

 Japan was nec- 

 essarily brief. All the way from Singapore there had been war 

 rumors; the Japanese passenger boats had been recalled to 

 Japan, the American officers paid and sent home, and although 

 the Japanese were very reticent and refused to discuss the pos- 

 sibility of war with Russia, no one doubted that the outbreak 

 was near. Rather than be delayed in my journey home, I cut 

 my visit short and embarked on the China for the Sandwich 

 islands. Three days later war was declared, with what result 

 all the world knows. 



When a Japanese buys a pair of tabis or zoris the enterpris- 

 ing retailer wraps up the purchase in a thin paper circular which 

 tells in detail of his unsurpassed stock and his desire for trade, 

 just like our own retailer. 



^ -# i^ ^i^j * ^ ^ 



RICKSHAW PULLER, WITH STRAW PAINCOAT. 



[An oxccfdingly clieap article, the use of which renders 



the demand small for rubber proofed clothing.] 



RUBBER SOLE FOR TABt. 





FAC SIMILE OF A JAPANESE CIRCULAR, 



