December 1, 1912.] 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



143 



kW' 



devices— each with thirty cups— there will be 270 lumps of 

 coagulated rubber waiting for the gatherer. 



The same current that does the work on one tree can do the 

 work on 5,000 trees by simply equipping that number of trees with 

 these tapping devices, and connecting them by the insulated 

 wire, so that the electrical current can be communicated. In 

 actual tests, al- 

 ready made, be- 

 tween SO and 60 

 trees have been 

 tapped at one 

 time from the 

 central station. 



The a d V a n- 

 tages of this sys- 

 tem are obvious. 

 Mr. von Hasscl 

 enumerates them 

 as follows: 

 First, the tre- 

 mendous saving 

 of labor, one 

 man being able 

 to do the work 

 of 40 under the 

 old system; sec- 

 ond, the ability 

 to tap trees in 

 the swamps 

 which cannot or- 



The accompanying illustrations give some idea of this method: 

 The first photograph shows three of these sheet iron devices 

 attached to a tree, together with the insulated wire that sup- 

 plies electricity. The second photograph shows this apparatus 

 on two different trees with a connecting wire. The third is a 

 chart, illustrating the course followed by the wire running from 



the central sta- 



£sfracfa 103 arbo/esfffevea brtrsilens/s) 



A> 



Siqnos : 

 Tarn bo Shirinquer 

 -Arboles Shirinqa 



' D/5tinfos EsperJas 

 Arbusfos 



A Group of Wild Rubber Trees Connected by the Wire with 



THE ElECTRIC.\L TAPPING APP.^R.\TUS. 



dinarily be approached by the tapper ; third, the fact that the 

 trees can by this process be tapped very early in the morning 

 before the sun is up, when the latex flows more freely; and 

 fourth, the fact that by this process the trees can never be in- 

 jured, the punctures made by the apparatus being so small as 

 to heal very rapidly. 



tion through a 

 group of rubber 

 trees. 



The inventor 

 is highly grati- 

 fied with the suc- 

 cess of the vari- 

 ous tests his ap- 

 paratus has been 

 given, and ex- 

 pects to see it en- 

 tirely supersede 

 the present prim- 

 itive methods of 

 gathering rubber 

 in the South 

 American j u n- 

 gles. 



The labor 

 question has been 

 the most diffi- 

 cult one to solve 

 in the gathering 



of rubber in the Amazon country, but if Mr. von Hassel's elec- 

 trical appliance is found, when tried out in a large way, to work 

 satisfactorily, the Amazon labor question will have been solved; 

 and if this apparatus proves practicable in the wild jungles of 

 South America, it can certainly be operated even more effica- 

 ciously under the easier conditions of the plantations. 



THE WEST COAST RUBBEK COMPANY. 



This company, which now has a capital of $250,000. expects 

 soon to increase its capital to $500,000. The new issue will 

 be devoted to increasing the plantings of rubber on the property 

 in Guatemala. The property covers 22,000 acres and is located 

 near the port of San Jose on the Pacific side. They now have 

 200,000 Castilloa trees planted, but expect to put out some Hevea 

 next season. They have been shipping rubber each month for 

 about four years except during the dryest months. This rubber 

 was obtained from the wild trees on the property which are 

 estimated to number about 300,000. A shipment is said to have 

 brought withm 3c. a pound of the price for Up River Para. 



States, showing that to keep up an equalitj' of trade we ought 

 to increase our exports to Brazil by 200 per cent. 



OUR DEBT TO THE TROPICS. 



The report sent out about the middle of November by the 

 Department of Commerce and Labor of the Federal Govern- 

 ment has to do with tropical imports into the United States, and 

 contains a number of exceedingly interesting items. The value 

 of the imports into this country from the tropics as shown last 

 year is $750,000,000. One-half of this consists of foodstuffs, 

 sugar leading with a value of $200.(X)0,000, cofTee coming next, 

 with $1(X).000,000. In manufacturers' materials rubber leads by 

 a considerable margin with a value of $100,000,000. The im- 

 portation of rubber from the Tropics has increased from 58,- 

 500,000 pounds in 1900 to 125,500,000 pounds in 1912, the value 

 having increased from $32,000,000 to $100,000,000. The largest 

 contributor to the entire $750,000,000 worth of imports from 

 the Tropics is Brazil, and, of course, Brazil is by far the largest 

 contributor of our crude rubber. The United States takes over 

 36 per cent, of the exports from Brazil, but of the Brazilian 

 imports less than 13 per cent, represents goods from the United 



ANTICIPATED SURPLUS IN CUSTOMS' RECEIPTS. 



According to the statement of Acting Secretary James Free- 

 man Curtis, of the United States Treasury Department, the de- ' 

 ficicncy in customs receipts for the year ending June 30 last, 

 (which he had estimated as compared with the previous year at 

 $18,000,000), only turned out to be $4,000,000. 



During the new fiscal year customs' receipts have exceeded 

 by $10,000,000 those of the corresponding period of 1911. Should 

 this improvement continue, he anticipates for the current finan- 

 cial year ending June 30, 1913, a surplus of $50,000,000. In Mr. 

 Curtis' opinion the situation is all the more remarkable in view 

 of the continued agitation for a revision of the tariff downward. 

 There is no way, he adds, to explain the heavy customs receipts 

 except on the theory that importers no longer stand in awe of 

 politics or prospective tariff legislation. 



THOUGHT IT PROPER TO TIP REPORTERS. 



In the course of the inquiry now being held in the House of 

 Com.mons as to the responsibility of the British directors of 

 tlie Peruvian Amazon Co. for the Putamayo atrocities, a news- 

 paper reporter gave evidence that when he was inspecting the 

 charges against the company's directors one of the officials 

 handed him an envelope containing a bank note and told him 

 that this was in recognition of the trouble the reporter had 

 taken, but that the company preferred not to have anything 

 further printed about the charges. The reporter returned the 

 money, and later the chairman of the directors stated, by way 

 of explanation, that the tender was made by one of the foreign 

 directors, who thought it was customary to tip reporters. 



