May 



1905] 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



277 



THE LATEST RUBBER "GET RICH QUICK" SCHEME. 



AN INQUIRY. 



To The India Ruhiier World, New York — CenlUmen : At 

 the suggestion of one of your subscribers in this city, I write to 

 enquire if you Icnow anything about the Peru-Para Rubber Co., 

 whose booklet is enclosed, and of which company the president 

 of the Omaha Avis vice president. Their stock is now offered 

 for sale. - - ■ If you care to take time to glance over the 

 booklet please say how the chances for success would appear to 

 you if they have what they claim. - - - I would also like 

 to know why the " Cudahy Para Co." failed. - - - Yours 

 very truly, s. s. Williams. 



Chicago, Illinois, April 18, 1905, 



THE REPLY. 



TO answer the last of these questions first, it is proper to 

 state that the Para Rubber Plantation Co., to which 

 Mr. John Cudahy, a reputable citizen of Chicago, was 

 induced by misrepresentations to lend the use of his 

 name as president, did not " fail." It was a fraud, pure and 

 simple, and when the promoters had lined their pockets liber- 

 ally, the " company " ceased to do business. Their business, 

 by the way, never had any relation to rubber. 



* * » 



On the appearance in the Chicago newspapers of advertise- 

 ments offering "75 per cent, dividends per month for life" to 

 investors in the " Peru Para Rubber Co.," The India Rubber 

 World wrote to a reputable Western journalist whose name 

 had been connected with the proposition, and who wrote in re- 

 ply, regarding the active promoter's work : " His attempt to 

 push the sale of stock by flaring frenzied finance advertise- 

 ments met with prompt remonstrance at my hands, and has fi- 

 nally been forbidden by Dr. De Clairmont " (the president of 

 the company). The promise of fabulous dividends, however, 

 has continued to be made in letters from No. 79 Dearborn 

 street, Chicago, the headquarters of the Peru- Para Rubber 

 Co., though in less extravagant terms. For example, a letter 

 dated April 14 promised S9000 in dividends in the third year 

 on an investment of $1000. A letter from the same office dated 

 April 15 promised $3000 or more on stock of %\ooo par value. 



It may be mentioned that the company referred to was incor- 

 porated under the laws of the District of Columbia, January 1 1, 

 1905, by Adolph De Clairmont, of Ohio, and C. A. Swan and R. 

 C. Goodrich, of Washington city, the capital being stated at $3,- 

 000,000. In August, 1904, Dr. A. De Clairmont was reported 

 in despatches from Toledo, Ohio, to have just returned from 

 London, where he had floated $500,000 in Peruvian Rubber Co. 

 bonds, having purchased from the Peruvian government a large 

 tract of rubber forest. There is no mention of these bonds 

 in the company's booklet, or in its advertisement offering $10 

 shares at $3>^ up to April 5, and $5 thereafter. The location of 

 the company's property is stated to be bounded by the rivers 

 Blanco. Calvez, and Yaquerana, in the department of Loreto, 

 in northeastern Peru, being 5 days' journey by steam launch 

 from Iquitos. These are not geographical terms familiar to us, 

 but " Yaquerana " evidently is the river Javary, and a map be- 

 fore us indicates a small tributary of that river named " Gal- 

 vez." We do not doubt, however, that a concession from Peru, 

 in due form, is held by the Peru-Para Rubber Co., which was 

 not the case with the Venezuelan proposition. 



Various letters having been exchanged with members of this 

 corporation, one was despatched from The India Ruuiser 



World ofllce which may be presented here as the best answer 

 which can be made at this time to the above inquiry from Chi- 

 cago. The letter follows: 



Dr. Adoi.ko De Clairmont, 



President and Ceneral Manager, Peru-Para Rubber Co., 

 No 826 Norwood Avenue, Toledo, Ohio. 



Dear Sir: Referring to your favor of April 8, suggesting 

 that we indicate the passages in your Prospectus which appear 

 to us open to criticism, we beg to state that, while we are not 

 in a position to supply a model estimate of expenses and re- 

 ceipts for a rubber exploiting company in Peru, we do feel con- 

 vinced that the booklet before us is not one to appeal to the 

 intelligence of people interested in rubber for rubber's sake, as 

 distinguished from selling shares in rubber working companies. 

 In view of your invitation, however, we take the liberty of 

 pointing out a few details in the pamphlet which might be 

 amended, with the effect of gaining more respect for your prop- 

 osition from the people who have had the most experience in 

 commercial transactions in rubber during the past fifty years, 

 though making it perhaps less attractive to the class reputed to 

 be ready buyers of " gold bricks." 



In the first place, " Fine Para " and " Coarse Para " are the 

 product of the same tree — " coarse " being the residue after the 

 preparation of "fine " — instead of being the product of two dis- 

 tinct trees, as stated in the report of Mr. George von Hassel, 

 the "government engineer" quoted by you. We have not the 

 pleasure of knowing who this gentleman may be, but in view 

 of this statement we have no further interest in information 

 from that source.* 



The average number of trees per acre (twelve) stated in your 

 prospectus is largely in excess of what has been proved to ex- 

 ist over any large area, and the " minimum " of 12 pounds per 

 tree is a larger yearly average yield than has been demonstrated 

 in any commercial undertaking of which we know. In regard 

 to the report by Dr. Lucien Morisse, made to the French gov- 

 ernment (" Le Caoutchouc du Haut Orenque,") it has never 

 convinced us even of the existence of rubber in the region re- 

 ferred to by him, while as for his statement that he collected 

 1 10 pounds of " pure rubber " by tapping 912 trees in eight hours 

 — he simply lies. He could as easily eat up four acres of Ohio 

 farm lands, with all the improvements, while waiting for a 

 train. Dr. Morisse's report, by the way, served as the basis for 

 the prospectus of the " Para Rubber Plantation Co." swindle, 

 which withdrew its stock from sale after being exposed by The 

 India Rubrer World in 1902. 



It is doubtful if estradas embracing 100,000 rubber trees 

 could be opened for $2450, as stated in your estimate, which 

 omits, by the way, to state the cost of necessary buildings, 

 equipment for smoking, etc., and makes no mention anywhere 

 of cost of superintendence. While cost of shipment to Iquitos 

 is included, there should be added the further cost of transpor- 

 tation to the consuming markets, and selling expenses. More- 

 over, all your rubber will not sell at $1.33 a pound in New 

 York ; only the best rubber in any shipment will sell at the ex- 

 treme high figures. One other point to be made is that 100,000 

 pounds of rubber started from tl ^omale in Peru would hardly 

 weigh more than 70,000 pounds on arrival at New Yoik. 



If you should feel interested in consulting the experience of 



*Dt. De Clairmont li.is wrillen in reply to tliis paragraph ; "The words' coarse 

 Pari ' refer to weak line rubber, the product of a distinct Prruvian tree, and not 

 from Hfvea. The translation was wronp, and is my fault." 



