April 1, 1913.] 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



347 



were classified in the first place in the triennial expositions 

 at Rio." 



Any organization contemplating the erection of one or more 

 of these factories will have to submit to the Minister of Agri- 

 culture an application with a general and detailed plan of the 

 factories, an estimate of expenses of first establishment and a 

 descriptive memorandum of the nature and importance of the 

 projected establislinient. The company would have to agree in 

 the contract made with the Minister of Agriculture to the clause 

 of reversion at the end of the combined term. 



The provision that the capital invested must equal four times 

 the value of the premium evidently applies to both rubber wash- 

 ing and manufacturing factories. 



REDUCTION OF EXPORT DUTY ON RUBBER. 



Article 12 of the January Act contains the following authority 

 for the Federal Governmdit to make arrangements with certain 

 States and the Territory of Acre for the reduction of export 

 duty upon wild rubber and the exemption of cultivated rubber 

 from that burden : 



"The executive power is authorized to enter into an agreement 

 with the States of Para, Amazonas and Matto Grosso, for 

 the purpose of obtaining an annual reduction of 10 per cent, 

 until the maximum limit of 50 per cent, of the actual value of 

 the export duties placed by the States upon the seringa rubber 

 produced in their territories, and the exemption from any export 

 duty, for the space of 25 years, to begin from the date of this 

 law, upon rubber of the same quality and derivation which may 

 be gathered from cultivated plantations. 



"At the time the agreement is effected, the executive power 

 shall issue a decree making such reduction which the States 

 may make in the export duty collected on the rubber of the 

 Federal Territorj' of Acre and conceding an equal exemption 

 upon cultivated rubber." 



Export duties being a State prerogative, it was necessary to 

 authorize special negotiations between the Federal Government 

 and the authorities of the several States interested, with a view 

 to the proposed reduction and abolition of export duties. 



HOW TO ATTR.ACT RUBBER G.VTHERERS. 



In discussing the rubber question in the "Boletim" of the Rio 

 Ministry of Agriculture, Dr. Afionso Costa, of that department, 

 has commended the remedial measures lately adopted. He added 

 that the large numbers of rubber gatherers in the immense 

 valleys of the Amazon are nomads and adventurers, who never 

 settle down nor become attached to the soil. To attach them 

 to their work it should be remunerative. The government of 

 the republic will, he remarks, help by establishing centers for 

 the production of alimentary substances throughout the Amazon 

 valley. 



PROPOSALS FOR ERECTION OF RUBBER WASHING PLANTS. 



Following up the decrees of January 5 and April 17, 1912, 

 which promulgated and explained the measure passed by the 

 Brazilian legislature in the previous December, an announce- 

 ment was issued by the Federal Government on August 29 last 

 that tenders would be received on December 30 from all persons 

 who may propose to establish any of the factories for the manu- 

 facture of rubber goods and for refining rubber, which were 

 referred to in the act already quoted. 



The act, it will be recalled, provided for three premiums : 

 $133,000 for the first refining plant for Hevea rubber to be estab- 

 lished in Para and Manaos and $33,300 for the first refining 

 plant for Manitoba and Mangabeira rubber in certain other 

 States, while a premium equaling $166,000 was allotted to the 

 first factory for the manufacture of rubber goods at certain 

 points. 



In the "Diario Official" of February 9 the four following pro- 

 posals (which had been opened January 31), were reproduced: 



1. Goodyear Tire and Rubber Co. of South America; refining 

 plants at Manaos and Para. 



2. G. Chauffeur (representing French interests) ; refining plant 

 at Para. 



3. Luiz Cantanhede de Carvalho Almeida and Arthur Haas; 

 washing and refining plant for Manigoba and Mangabeira rubber, 

 on the bank of the river S. Francisco, near the city of Pirapora, 

 in the State of Minas Gerals. 



4. J. D. Leite de Castro; refining plant for Manitoba and Man- 

 gabeira rubbers in the State of Minas Geraes. 



Special interest attaches to the first of these proposals, it 

 being the only American one, and having been submitted by Mr. 

 J. C. McFadgean, a director of the company who visited Rio 

 for that purpose. He had brought with him credentials, estab- 

 lishing his technical and financial capacity, and had further 

 deposited in the National Treasury government bonds to the 

 value of more than $3,000. 



MANAOS AND PARA PLANTS. 



The Goodyear proposal closely followed the lines of the gov- 

 ernment instructions as to details of the proposed works 

 and their prospects of success. It included the erection of two 

 plants at Manaos and Para, to cost, respectively, $584,503 and 

 $834,937, with an estimated production of 40 and 100 tons per 

 day. The prospective economy of the larger plant is thus dem- 

 onstrated, and is shown in detail by the subjoined tables A and 

 B, while table C illustrates the proposed mechanical equipment 

 of the two plants. 



MANAOS. 



Building No. 1 (two floors), 237 x 119 feet, with two wings: 



First -floor to contain scales, cutting machines, tanks, washing 

 and purifying machines. 



Second Hoor to contain cutting and weighing rooms and five 

 compressors, packing room and analytical laboratory. 



Building No. 2 (one floor), lOO x 60 feet, to contain two 

 tubular boilers furnishing steam to building No. 1, as well as 

 small repair shop. 



A workmen's village to be provided. 



PARA. 



Building No. 1 (two floors), 237 x 237 feet, with 4 wings: 



First floor to contain scales, cutting machines, tanks, washing 

 and purifying machines. 



Second floor to contain cutting and weighing rooms and ten 

 compressors, packing room and analytical laboratory. 



Building No. 2 (one floor), 100 x 60 feet, to contain two 

 tubular boilers furnishing steam to building No. 1, as well as 

 small repair shop. 



A workmen's village to be provided. 



GENERAL FEATURES OF CONSTRUCTION. 



The application of the Goodyear company states that the build- 

 ings will be constructed of iron combined with cement or brick 

 and cement masonry. Windows and doors are to be of iron. 

 The first floor is to be cemented and the second floor executed 

 in cement with a covering of tiles. Electric light would be used 

 internally and externally. Drains would be provided, as well 

 as a supply of water for drinking purposes and industrial uses. 



GENERAL NATURE OF OPERATIONS. 



.According to the terms of the application, the operations of the 

 company would include the receipt of rubber to be weighed on 

 arrival and after treatment. Each customer's rubber would be 

 treated separately, official inspection being allowed of the refined 

 product, which would be packed in cases of the standard capacity 

 of 220 pounds. The charges would be 3 cents per pound of 

 crude rubber entering the works, with a further charge of three- 

 quarters of a cent per pound of dry rubber after treatment. 



