326 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



[July 



i9°5- 



tained, not to say enlarged. The following figures tell the 

 story : 



1901. 1902. N03- I904> 



Amazon ports Ions 2q,i6l 27. 117 29.054 28,505 



Southern ports 212 357 260 287 



Total tons 29,373 27,474 29,319 28,792 



Here is not only a reduced total production of " Pari ' 

 rubber from Brazil, in spite of advancing prices, but the 

 production of the more southerly districts, from which 

 much at one time was hoped, has declined from the largest 

 figures in the past. 



Is there needed a plainer argument for the cultivation 

 of rubber, now that the practicability of cultivation has 

 been demonstrated so amply ? 



A MONOPOLY NOT IN SIGHT. 



OINCE the great rubber merger that brought the Rubber 

 *— ^ Goods Manufacturing Co. into the United States 

 Rubber Co., the trade naturally has been on the qui vive 

 for further absorption. And as people usually see or think 

 they see just what they are looking for, the air has been 

 full of rumors. Were all of them built on foundations of 

 fact there would be very little in the trade but The India 

 Rubber World that would not be under cover. 



That certain of the larger manufacturers not in the 

 United States company have been approached with invi- 

 tations to come in cannot be denied. Whether those who 

 broached the subject represented the company or were 

 sent by minor syndicates that were looking for a good 

 commission is not so apparant. 



The fact of such a large amalgamation as that just men- 

 tioned necessarily stirs the trade, but were a number of 

 the largest of the outsiders to be absorbed there is no 

 reason to think that it would mean either the absorption 

 or the obliteration of any or all of the remainder. Were 

 it possible to absolutely control the supply of crude rubber 

 the task would be an easy one. But at the present time 

 no such plan is deemed either feasible or possible. 



To begin with, the United States, while a most impor- 

 tant factor in the market, is not yet the " whole thing." 

 According to reliable figures we consume about 45 per 

 cent, of the year's production. But our money is no more 

 potent than that of England, Germany, or France, and it 

 would be a difiicult thing indeed to get a working agree- 

 ment with the powers abroad that would give added power 

 to an American syndicate. 



Again if it is simply a question of purchasing the out- 

 siders, the task is an enormous one. The companies em- 

 braced in the United States Rubber Co. now manufacture 

 something like 45 to 50 million dollars worth of goods 

 annually. The United States census of 1900 gives the 

 total value of manufactures of " Rubber Belting and 

 Hose," " Rubber Boots and Shoes," "Rubber and Elastic 

 • Goods," and " Insulated Wire" as about $122,000,000. To 

 this should be added numerous items not separately listed, 

 as rubber clothing, carriage cloth, cements, rubber dress 

 shields, and so on, altogether amounting probably to sev- 

 eral millions in value. Those items, with the great increase 



in the rubber business that has taken place in the past 

 five years, bring the business well up toward the $200,000,- 

 000 mark with three-quarters of it yet to be consolidated. 



Or to look at the problem from another viewpoint : 

 There are some si.vty independent companies making me- 

 chanical rubber goods and tires to-day — doing a business 

 each from $50,000 a year up to many millions. There are 

 forty making a variety of goods many of whom do quite a 

 business in the smaller mechanicals such as mold work, 

 packings, etc. There are eleven independent rubber boot 

 and shoe concerns, doing nearly $20,000,000 of business 

 annually. There are twenty making insulated wire and 

 now turning out nearer 30 than 20 millions worth of goods 

 a year. 



It will be seen, therefore, that the problem of absorption 

 is huge, if indeed it is dreamed of by the very able man- 

 agement of the United States Rubber Co. 



The city council of Buena Vista has taken a step which 

 may prove discouraging to the great rubber interest in Colo- 

 rado. We refer to the recent ordinance in restraint of spitting 

 in public places. So far as we have been able to learn, the 

 most practicable means of extracting rubber from " rabbit 

 weed " is by chewing the roots — an occupation which may be 

 pursued by any person on the streets, as well as indoors. Such 

 occupation, however, must induce more or less spitting, and if 

 this is to be penalized by heavy fines, thrifty persons who other- 

 wise might be producing rubber constantly will hesitate to 

 chew " rabbit weed " within the limits of Buena Vista. 



NEW TRADE PUBLICATIONS. 



TH E Canadian Rubber Co., of Montreal, Llmited, have 

 issued some catalogues of their productions that take 

 high rank as trade publications, as regards both subject matter 

 and appearance. Their Catalogue C is devoted to Druggists' 

 Sundries and also sporting goods and stationers' sundries, the 

 whole comprising an exceptionally complete list of goods. 

 This catalogue is tastefully printed in colors, with a cover 

 handsomely embossed in black and red, and appears to be the 

 best and most complete catalogue of its kind yet issued by any 

 Canadian firm. The illustrations, in half tone, serve excel- 

 lently to give an idea of the goods described in the book, and 

 this we regard to be the first province of pictures in a manu- 

 facturer's catalogue. \s'A" X 7H"- 86 pages.] 



The Vulcanized Rubber Co. (New York) issued under 

 date of May i, 1905, a new edition ot their illustrated price list 

 of Hard Rubber Goods, supplanting that of July I. 1902. It is 

 not only larger in bulk but includes various new items. Changes 

 are to be noted in the styles of combs, including the addition of 

 the warranted " Ajax " line of unbreakable combs. There are 

 also new items in the list of syringes, and some stationers' 

 goods have been added. This list does not embrace the com- 

 pany's extensive line of electrical supplies. [4/s" X ^H"- 62 

 pages.] 



The Boomer & Boschert Press Co. (Syracuse, New York) 

 have issued a new catalogue, in which are illustrated and de- 

 scribed a large number of different styles and sizes of hydraulic 

 and other presses of their manufacture. For many years they 

 have devoted special attention to the supplying of presses for 

 rubber work, and they have filled orders probably from every 

 rubber factory of importance in the country, not to mention 

 their trade abroad. IsH" X &H"- "4 pages.] 



