210 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



[April i, 1901. 



RUBBER IN THE PHILIPPINES. 



A T the request of The India Rubber World some in- 

 •**■ quiries have been set on foot in Washington with refer- 

 ence to the occurrence in the Philippines of rubber species of 

 commercial value. As the first result there has come to hand 

 a list of the trees found there of the natural orders Sapotacea 

 and UrticaceiT. To the first belong the true Gutta-percha and 

 the Chicle tree, both of which are included in the list. To the 

 second order belongthe Ficus species, \iwX Ficus e/aUica is not 

 mentioned. It is by no means certain, however, that the list 

 mentioned is complete. The paper is indorsed : 



Office Forestry Bureau, Intendencia, Manila, P. I., November 20, 1900, 



Respectfully returned to the secretary, United States military governor 

 in the Philippines, Manila, P. I., with the statement that very little in- 

 formation is at hand concerning the extraction of Rubber and Gutta- 

 perch.i in these islands. 



None of these products have been received in Manila since the organ- 

 ization of the present bureau. 



It is believed that there is a considerable area in the southern islands 

 where Rubber and Gutta-percha is found. No definite reports as to the 

 amount standing are available. 



Enclosed find a list of the tree species desired in letter [from The 

 India Rubber World.] This list is made from Father Blanco's 

 " Flora de Filipinas," from Vidal, and F. Villar. George p. ahern. 

 Captain 9th U. S. Infantry, In Charge of Bureau. 



There has since come to hand Captain Ahern 's first annual 

 report of the Philippines forestry bureau, in which it is stated : 



" There are a great variety of valuable gum, Rubber, and 

 Gutta-percha trees, but the trade has been ruined by the Chi- 

 nese in their efforts at adulteration and other fraudulent prac- 

 tices. - - - Southern Paragua and Mindanao are celebrated 

 for the great variety of gum. Rubber, and Gutta-percha trees 

 grown there ; but these forests have never been properly ex- 

 ploited, and aflford a very attractive field for the investigator." 



GUTTA-PERCHA. 

 In the special consular reports on India-rubber published by 

 the United States, the then consul at Manila, Alexander R. 

 Webb, on December 6, 1890, reported that about fourteen 

 months before Gutta-percha had found its way to Manila from 

 the interior and promised to become an important article of 

 export. For several years, he said, the natives of Zamboanga, 

 Jolo, and other southern islands had been sending Gutta- 

 percha, under the name of " goma," by sailing vessels, to Sin- 

 gapore, whence it was exported to England. A Chinaman sent 

 a consignment to Manila, which sold for $12 per picul (=133^ 

 pounds), after which more arrived, and the price rose to $34 

 per picul. Within a year preceding this report about 1000 

 piculs (=^133,333 pounds) had arrived, and local English houses 

 had sent agents to the southern islands to stimulate the gath- 

 ering of Gutta-percha. The Chinamen were said to procure 

 the gum from native Moros, who brought it to the coast from 

 points the location of which the latter kept secret. No further 

 information was ever gained from this source. ■"--The depart- 

 ment of agriculture at Washington received recently some 

 specimens of Gutta-percha gathered on the island of Negros, 

 which are now being tested by experts. 



RUBBER PLANTING IN TOBAGO. 

 M. Short reports, in The Tropical Agriculturist, the ship- 

 ment of 21 pounds of rubber, collected from cultivated Castilloa 

 elastica trees nine years old, which was valued in London at 

 31. (>d. (=86 cents) per pound. The Louis d'Or plantation, in 

 Tobago, managed by T. Orde, is said to embrace 160 acres of 

 Castilloa elastica and 40 acres of Ceara rubber. 



BRITISH TRANS-PACIFIC CABLE. 



nPHE trans-Pacific cable to be laid by Great Britain and her 

 •»■ colonies, is now being constructed by the Telegraph 

 Construction and Maintenance Co., Limited (London), whose 

 tender was the lowest made to the Pacific cable committee, 

 though all the leading manufacturers tendered. The contract 

 price is £1.795,000 (=$8,735,367), the surveying and installation 

 to cost £203,853 (=$992,766) extra. There are to be three 

 sections, viz. : 



MILES. 



I. Vancouver Island, British Columbia, to Fanning Island (to 



cost ^1,067,602) 3653 



II. Fanning Island to Fiji (to cost ;f 388,358) 2181 



III. Fiji to Norfolk Island loiq ) 



Norfolk to Moreton Bay, Queensland 906 [- 2438 



Norfolk to New Zealand 513) 



[The last section to cost ;^ 339,040.] 



Total 8278 



The first two sections are to be completed by the end of 1902 

 and the third section by June 30, 1902. It is understood that 

 400 pounds of Gutta-percha per mile will be used, or a total of 

 3,308,800 pounds. The Telegraph Construction and Mainte- 

 nance Co. date from April 7, 1864. Their full paid capital is 

 £448,200 ( = $2,182,734). on which i 5 to i7>^ percent, dividends 

 are paid, and there are £150,000 in 5 per cent, debentures. The 

 net profits last year were £ 100,195. The company have con- 

 tracted with Wigham, Richardson & Co., Limited. Newcastle- 

 on-Tyne, for a new cable steamer, which will be their fifth. 

 The Pacific Cable Board, which will control and operate the 

 cable, consist of three members of the imperial government and 

 a representative each of Canada and New Zealand, and two 

 jointly representing the three colonies of New South Wales 

 Victoria, and Queensland. 



RUBBER INDUSTRY IN PORTUGAL, 



THE Compagnie du Caoutchouc, Monopole du Portugal, 

 organized in Belgium, March 5, 1898, to exercise the 

 exclusive privilege for the manufacture of rubber goods in the 

 kingdom of Portugal for a term of ten years, with a capital of 

 1,000,000 francs, has been mentioned already in The India 

 Rubber World. The factory is located in Lisbon. At the 

 annnal meeting in Brussels, on January 29, of the shareholders 

 in L'Africaine, Banque d'Etudes et d'Enterprises Coloniales, 

 through which the Portuguese company has been financed, ex- 

 tremely favorable reports were made in regard to the progress 

 of the latter. 



The end of 1900 found the company well supplied with or- 

 ders ; in fact, on January i there remained to be filled orders 

 to a larger amount than at any previous date, for goods ordered 

 exclusively for Portugal. The January business promised well, 

 while February is regarded as the best month in the year, this 

 being the period when the vine growers order hose extensively 

 for the treatment (spraying) of their vineyards. The report 

 says : " Our representative is visiting at this moment the vine 

 regions of the north, and everything leads us to believe that 

 the very low prices he is quoting will open the doors to him 

 very wide." An extraordinary reserve of 200,000 francs (=$40,- 

 000) has been created, and the treasury of the company holds 

 100.000 francs in shares of the Comptoir de Benguella and 

 600,000 francs in shares of the Compagnie du Luabo— enter- 

 prises engaged in rubber trading in Africa. 



A SUBSCRIBER to THE InDIA RUBBER WoRLD at San Jos6, 

 Costa Rica, writes : " I am planting rubber here for a New York 

 company, and the outlook seems very promising." 



