July i, 1902.] 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



329 



DESTRUCTION OF GUTTA TREES IN MINANDAO. 



IN regard to the order issued by the Forestry bureau in the 

 Philippines, against the cutting down of Gutta-percha and 

 Rubber trees, Frank J. Dunleavy, writing to The In- 

 dia Rubber World from Cattobato, May i, stated that 

 it continued to be ignored. From October, 1901, to March 15, 

 there had been 259,483 pounds of Gutta-percha and Rubber ex- 

 ported from Cattobato — estimated from the duties collected 

 there for the Forestry bureau. The local office had been in 

 charge of a native Filipino, who had grown rich in a few 

 months, on a small salary, through " undervaluing the products, 

 much to the joy and profit of the ' Chinos ' [traders] and him- 

 self." After the visit of a forestry inspector a better valuation 

 was made. The government is now collecting about 1^00 pesos 

 [Mexican dollars] a month on Gutta-percha, "and twe.ry peso 

 represents the destruction of 8 to 10 trees, or say 12,000 trees 

 a month." 



Some of these trees, according to Mr. Dunleavy, are Batata 

 [?] yielding up to 25 pounds, but the yield generally averages 

 about 3 pounds. " I have seen large trees on the ground that 

 had been felled for months, and on striking the trunk with a 

 bolo, laiex flowed out " — which would inflicate very incomplete 

 extraction in the first place. 



Mr. Dunleavy had made two trips across the island of Min- 

 andao, prospecting for Gutta-percha. The mountain tribes- 

 men cut down the trees under the direction of the Moros. The 

 latter make a pretence of buying the Gutta-percha, giving a 

 yard or two of gay colored cotton cloth — worth not more than 

 20 cents — for perhaps 20 pounds of Gutta. At the coast it is 

 sold to a Chinese trader for $20 or $30 [Mexican], in cloth, per 

 pikul [i37>2 pounds], or about 7>^ to 1 1 '4 cents a pound, gold. 

 The Gutta further changes hands at Cattobato, and again at 

 Singapore, each time at a good profit to the " Chinos." One 

 Moro " datto" [leader] has five wives, three of whom belong to 

 as many different mountain tribes, and who influence their peo- 

 ple to bring Gutta-percha to their datto. An example of this 

 Moro'stradmg was his securing 2 14 pounds of Gutta-percha from 

 ten men brought in by his wives, for goods worth probably $9 

 [Mexican], or hardly more than 2 cents, gold, a pound. The 

 Moros have spread over the Gutta-percha districts, encourag- 

 ing the local tribesmen to neglect growing food to collect 

 Gutta, until the latter have become practically dependent on 

 the Moros. The latter care only for the largest immediate pro- 

 fit possible, and under their influence the destruction of trees 

 above referred to progresses steadily. 



A Monabo whom our correspondent invited to accompany 

 him as a guide, said that he did not dare to go outside the 

 district, since he owed the head Moro 20 cents [Mexican], and 

 that if it was not paid within a certain time it would grow to 

 40 cents, and then to 80, and then, perhaps, so large that he 

 could never get out of debt, and would thus be practically 

 owned by his creditor for life. The only remedy for such con- 

 ditions, says Mr. Dunleavy, is for the Philippine government 

 to appoint a resident official to look after these people, who 

 are kindly, honest, hardworking, and worth attention. 



At Lintago it was found that Gutta, such as would bring J80 

 [Mexican] a pikul at Cattobato, was being bought from the Su- 

 bano and Monteses tribes for $12 to $15, paid in cotton cloth. 

 Mr. Dunleavy was the first white man ever seen at some of the 

 places he visited, and the natives had no idea of the real value 

 of the Gutta they had been induced to gather. 



" I have had many inquiries from the United States," writes 

 Mr. Dunleavy, "in regard to chances for trading in Gutta- 

 percha and Rubber on this island. But as the Forestry bureau 

 makes no attempt to enforce the law regulating the gathering 

 of these products, I can only see a poor future for Americans 

 in this trade under present conditions. Let the Forestry bureau 

 either say that trees shall not be cut down, and enforce 

 the laws, or say ' Cut the trees and get their product \ ' Then 

 an American entering the trade would know where he stood, 

 and if the policy of destruction should be adopted, a future 

 supply of Gutta-percha could be assured by planting." 

 GUTTA-PERCHA IN GERMAN NEW GUINEA. 



The reported discovery of Gutta- percha in New Guinea, by 

 Herr Rudolf Schlechter, representing the German colonial 

 committee, has already been mentioned in The India Rub- 

 ber World [May i, 1902 — page 255]. In Der Tropenpflanzer 

 (Berlin) Herr Schlechter reports his investigations in detail. 

 Leaving Stephansort, on the north coast of Kaiser Wilhelm 

 Land — the German section of New Guinea — his party spent 

 several days in travel through dense swamps, toward the Bis- 

 marck mountains. Near the Goldfields station, at an altitude 

 of 400 meters, they found Gutta-percha of good quality. They 

 felled some large trees, which Herr Schlechter identified as a 

 species of Palaquium {Dichopsis'), the product being equal to, 

 if not identical with, the product known to the Malays as 

 "getah taban merak,"and belonging to the best type of Gutta- 

 percha. The material found had the same reddish tinge as 

 that seen in Perak. " The influence which this new discovery," 

 writes Herr Schlechter, " if properly exploited, will lend to the 

 development of New Guinea is inevitable. We have in this, 

 discovered the first merchantable product of New Guinea. 

 The treasure will now prove of still greater value, as all the 

 other Gutta lands, all situated west of Borneo, are from year to 

 year essentially diminishing in their quota of the better class 

 of Gutta." Herr Schlechter is convinced that the Palaquium 

 species is plentiful in the region visited by him. He reports 

 also the discovery of India-rubber, but this had already been 

 known to exist in the British possessions in New Guinea, 

 whence, indeed, some rubber has been exported, though not so 

 much now as formerly. 



MENDE'S VACUUM DRYING CHAMBERS. 



THE advantages of drying material of all kind in vacuum 

 chambers are so thoroughly established that they hardly 

 need comment. It may interest those, however, who are con- 

 sidering the installation of such systems, to review the follow- 

 ing points in favor of the Mende system. First, materials which 

 suffer from heat and from the oxidizing action of the atmos- 

 phere are in no wise injured by this method, as the heat is low 

 and air is not present. Second, the time of drying is reduced 

 from weeks or days to a few hours. Third, valuable solvents 

 can easily be reclaimed and used again. Fourth, the space 

 occupied by the apparatus is very small, while the daily drying 

 capacity of the chambers is very large. Fifth, the consump- 

 tion of steam is a mere nothing, while the first cost of vacuum 

 drying machinery is soon made up by economies that it effects. 

 These chambers are constructed of steel or iron and can be 

 coated and protected against any kinds of vapors. They are 

 made either stationary or rotary, in sizes to suit convenience. 



