96 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



[November 1, 1912. 



Highlands and Lowlands Estate of the Federated Malay States. 

 A silver medal with diploma for the second best sample of plan- 

 tation rubber was handed to Mr. Crosbic-Roles in behalf of 

 the Rosehaugh Estate of Ceylon. A bronze medal with diploma 

 for the third best sample was given to Mr. Leonard Wray for 

 the West Country Estate of the Federated Malay States. 

 Mr. Pearson then took in his hand the large solid silver shield 

 about IS or 16 inches in height, very handsomely engraved, 

 which had been offered for the best sample of wild rubber. 

 He said that in presenting thi.s he was obviously in an em- 

 barrassing position, because owing to the fact that this shield 

 was offered by The Indi.-\ Rubber World he could hardly 

 make the comments on it that he would have made if it had 

 come from some other source; consequently, he handed it with- 

 out comment to the Brazilian Ambassador in behalf of the 

 state of Amazonas, to which it had been awarded. 



After the awards of medals and diplomas the chairman 

 continued : "The brave spirit that made such trophies possible, 

 that made our presence here tonight possible — was Charles 

 Goodyear. Many have forgotten his struggles and successes, 

 but during the past ten years — what T might call the rubber 

 conscience has been considerably disturbed, because nothing 

 has been done in commemoration of this great man, and we 

 have come to hear much about the propriety of erecting to him 

 some suitable memorial. Professor Hooper, of the Brooklyn 

 Institute of Arts and Sciences, will speak upon Charles Good- 

 year. 



Professor Franklin W. Hooper, who responded to this toast, 

 made an exceedingly eloquent address, and paid a fine tribute 

 to the great genius and exalted character of Charles Good- 

 year. He spoke in part as follows : 



"It is indeed true, as the chairman has said, that this ex- 

 hibition would have been impossible — it is true the whole 

 progress of the arts and sciences would have been held in 

 check, had it not been for the discoveries and inventions of 

 Charles Goodyear. We have had many famous inventors and 

 discoverers in this country, but he was the greatest of them all. 

 Beginning as the son of an inventor, his genius displayed itself 

 before he was 27 years of age, and following out a God- 

 implanted purpose and a destiny that he could not resist, he 

 sought how he could serve humanity by making rubber, which 

 up to that time had been a valueless product, serve some widely 

 useful end. Between the ages of 34 and 44 — for 10 long years — he 

 wrought day and night, in season and out of season, and under 

 all conditions, to make this product, not profitable to himself, 

 but valuable to all mankind. When in 1844 he took out his 

 first patent for Vulcanite, he laid the basis of the great in- 

 dustry which we are here tonight to celebrate." ' 



Professor Hooper called attention to the fact that while 

 other great discoverers and inventors like Morse with the 

 telegraph, and Dr. Wells with the discovery of anesthesia, had 

 the assistance and co-operation of collaborators, Goodyear 

 worked alone through a long period of unrelieved hardship and 

 self-sacrifice. "To show how thoroughly Goodyear did his 

 work," Professor Hooper continued, "at the time of Good- 

 year's death rubber had been applied to 200 of the leading in- 

 dustries, and of these 200 different applications Charles Good- 

 year was the inventor of over 95 per cent. There has been no 

 important new application of rubber since his death. The tire, 

 of which we hear so much today, is but an amplification of the 

 tubes he made in the 40's. But he was more than an inventor 

 and discoverer. He was a wonderful character, and we are to 

 be thankful not only for his industrial victories, but for the 

 purity and simplicity of his heart and mind. He had the qual- 

 ities of that other great American whom we all love and re- 

 vere, Abraham Lincoln, and as on the banks of the Potomac 

 there stands a fitting monument to the life and character of 

 Abraham Lincoln, so in the national capital there should be 



some fitting memorial to Charles Goodyear. There should be 

 a permanent exhibition of all the processes and discoveries in 

 the rubber industry during the last three-quarters of a century, 

 and in the midst of that great exhibition should stand a noble 

 monument to that great inventor and American saint Charles 

 Goodyear." 



The President; "The next toast is a very comprehensive 

 one, 'The Rubber Industry,' but I will ask Dr. Huber to speak 

 specifically on the rubber forests." 



Dr. Jacques Hchkr: "Having been summoned by our chair- 

 man to speak in the name of the forest or wild rubber indus- 

 try, I am aware that I arn not only representing the State of 

 Para (the typical locality of the typical rubber tree, as we botanists 

 would say) and my Brazilian friends here present, but the 

 whole community of tlie wild rubber producers of tropical 

 America. But who ;irc these wild rubber producers of tropical 

 Anierica? As a rule, you will not meet them in rubber con- 

 ferences or expositions, nor even in rubber banquets. If we 

 make exception of Guayule and some other rather exceptional 

 concerns, there are no well organized coriipanies with directors 

 and advisers and staff of managers and visiting agents. Even 

 the owners of rubber forests cannot be considered as the true 

 producers, as they generally buy the rubber from the rubber 

 gatherers, the hard-working and intrepid pioneers of the South 

 American 'selvas.' These plain and often ignorant men are 

 the true producers of the best kind of rubber. Their heroic 

 struggle with the wilderness of the Amazonian forest is per- 

 haps one of the most emotional chapters of human efforts to 

 conquer the treasures of nature. \\'ithout the activity of these 

 men, the streets of New York would probably present quite an- 

 other aspect, as it can hardly be imagined that the motor car 

 industry would have taken its actual development without 

 'Upriver fine.' 



"The origins of the wild rubber industry are humble, but 

 they are characteristic of the genius of the American race, and 

 they can be considered as the starting point not only of the 

 present flourishing wild rubber industry, but also of the whole 

 manufacturmg industry. The South American Indians, who 

 made the gambling balls, the boots and the bottles of crude 

 rubber, were not only crude rubber producers, but r.'so manu- 

 facturers. The modern times, of course, require specialization, 

 and the rubber boots we wear are no more made by Indians. 

 Specialization is not possible without scientific work and scien- 

 tific organization. In the planting industry, organization has 

 already shown astonishing results. Science and scientific meth- 

 ods have now to be applied also to the wild rubber industry; 

 increasing its vitality by giving it a proper organization. 



"The plantation industry is like to a field, where, on the ad- 

 vice of men of science, wealthy England has sown broadcast the 

 golden seed of its capital and initiative, harvesting already 

 promising results. The forest rubber industry, on the other 

 hand, is comparable to a large and venerable tree, whose birth- 

 day is unknown, but whose roots are well fixed in tropical 

 America's early history and industrious population. The tree 

 has grown up with a large trunk and wide-spreading crown, 

 but although it has already produced a number of golden fruits, 

 it has not yet given its full crop. Many branches must be cut 

 out to give it light and air, but under the hands of skilful gar- 

 deners it will make a new start and grow and flourish to honor 

 its American origin and the American genius." 



The President : "Mr. Cyril Baxendale will continue this 

 subject, speaking from a planter's standpoint." 



Mr. Baxendale': "I feel very much like a certain character 

 in one of Disraeli's novels. I have a feeling in my heart which 

 may be indigestion, or it may be gratitude — I cannot tell which. 

 I have a subject to which I would like to devote 6j4 hours, 

 but I am limited to 654 minutes. By those who know my coun- 

 try, it is recognized that its representatives are famous for their 



