August i, 1901.] 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



329 



IS "PACIFIC RUBBER" A FRAUD? 



THE true secret of getting rich quickly has been re- 

 vealed by a New York concern, and the matter is 

 mentioned here because the author has taken "rubber" for 

 his text. In order to attract the attention of investors, a 

 series of advertisements has been published, a specimen 

 of which, selected from a New York newspaper of July 7, 1901, 

 is reproduced here in reduced fac-simile. Persons who write 

 for particulars are supplied with a pamphlet prospectus of 

 the " Pacific Rubber Co.," a smaller yellow pamphlet promising 

 360 per cent. In Three Years, and a long typewritten letter, in 

 which the recipient is told : " We wish you to clearly under- 

 stand how this stock is able to pay 360 per cent, in three years. 

 We wish to thoroughly convince you that it is being done and 

 that the collection of crude rubber is an unusually profitable 

 and reliable pursuit," etc. 



According to the prospectus: " Upon the present produc- 

 tion of RUBBER from native trees, many yielding as high as 30 

 pounds of rubber per tree, is based the present earnings. This 

 is not an experimental plantation, but an established property 

 yielding rubber for many years from native trees." 



If Not, Order At Once. 



Selling now at 2 J Per Cent, 

 of Par Value. 



RmflBU III PUR ly YESRS. 



Dividends If Per Cent. 

 Monthly on Investment. 



Buy Right Away! 



[UNITED SECURITIES CO.. 



66 Broadway, New York. 



The accompanying small yellow pamphlet says: "The 

 Pacific Rubber Company plantation is a vast, wild rubber 

 grove, yielding rubber for many years. - - - The youngest 

 tree that yields rubber gum gives one half pound. Many of our 

 mature trees yield fron- 20 to 30 pounds each. - - - Rub- 

 ber sells in New York for from 65 cents to $1.10 per pound— 

 the difference being chieffy in the care with which it is 

 gathered, washed, and packed." These details of the profits of 

 gathering rubber are given : 



Gathering 60,000 lbs. rubber, labor, etc. , 5c. per lb $3,000 



Freight to N. Y., JijC' per lb 300 



Total $3,300 



N. Y. Price 60,000 lbs. rubber, at Soc. average $48,000 



Less cost as above 3)30o 



Net Proceeds $44.7oo 



"60,000 lbs. of rubber means only two pounds of rubber 



to each acre of the Pacific Rubber Company's 30,000 acre 



tract." 



The yellow pamphlet then gives away the whole scheme. The 



first preferred 5 per cent, stock is offered at 25 per cent, of its 



face value ; monthly dividends are paid at the rate of 20 per 



cent, a year ; on May 5, 1904, the original investment will be 



refunded. In other words : Shares worth $400 are offered at 



$100; then — 



5 per cent, on $400 for three years amounts to $ 60 



Redemption of shares at par will yield 400 



Total due investor $460 



Deduct original investment 100 



Profit — 360 per cent $360 



No details are given regarding the location of the planta- 

 tion, no names of parties in Mexico or elsewhere stated to be 

 or to have in control of it — no anything to guide the inquirer 

 who might wish to verify the statements contained in these 

 pamphlets. Bearing upon the statement on the title page of a 

 copy of the prospectus mailed by the United Securities Co. on 

 July 8, 1901 — 



Incorporated under the Laws of Maryland 

 — the following letters are pertinent : 



State oi- Maryland, 1 



Office of Secretary of State, >• 



Atinapolis, Md., June, 24, 1901. j 



Mr. H. Melville Walker, New York, N. Y. — Dear Sir: In reply 

 to your letter of the 22d inst. , I beg to say that this office has nothing to 

 do with the granting of charters under Maryland law, nor are they re- 

 quired to file their charters here. 



You are respectfully referred to the state tax commissioner, Annapo- 

 lis, Md., for the information you are seeking in regard to the Pacific 



Rubber Co. Respectfully, wilfred bateman. 



Secretary of State. 



Statb of Maryland, Treasury Department, 



Office of State Tax Commissioner. 



Annapolis, Md., July 12, igoi. 



Hawthorne Hill, Esq., New York, N. Y. — Dear Sir: Yours of 

 loth inst. received. The Pacific Rubber Company has not filed a copy 

 of its charter in this office under the laws of our state. If it is a foreign 

 corporation it is required that the company shall file a copy of its charter 

 with the secretary of state. Respectfully yours, 



ROBERT, p. graham, 

 State Tj.x Commissioner. 



Besides, The India Rubber World was informed in June, 

 by Charles G. Cano, whose name is signed to a report in the 

 prospectus mailed on July 8, on a certain property in Mexico, 

 that the property in question was in his hands for sale ; that he 

 at one time contracted for the sale of the same to the Pacific 

 Rubber Co.; and that the parties failed to fulfil the terms of 

 purchase, so that no transfer has been made ; and further, that 

 all further use of his name by them is unauthorized. 



The figures given above in regard to rubber are not likely to 

 appeal to any one having any knowledge of the rubber busi- 

 ness. The promises made in regard to possible profits will not 

 appeal to anybody who knows anything about investments.. 

 But there are other kinds of people in the world, and some of 

 these may buy " Pacific Rubber." It is very kind of the authors 

 of the prospectus, by the way, to speak of The India Rubber 

 World as " an unquestioned authority." 



A caller at The India Rubber World offices, after the 

 above had been written, who failed to leave his name, said that 

 he represented the United Securities Co.. that the Pacific Rub- 

 ber Co. owned lands and were producing rubber, and that the 

 company possessed a Maryland charter. No questioning could 

 elicit from him, however, any details of such a character as 

 would admit of their being verified. The New York City 

 Directory contains no mention of the " United Securities Co.,' 

 with "Capital and surplus $1,012,000," and no mention of 

 George Surbrug, president and treasurer of the " Pacific Rubber 

 Co.," or of the " Independent Match Co.," of which he is said 

 also to be president. 



