December 



1901.] 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



73 



THE AMERICAN PACIFIC CABLE. 



AN order has been placed with the India Rubber, Gutta 

 Percha, and Telegraph Works Co., Limited, of Silver- 

 town, England, for the first section of the trans- Pacific cable 

 to be laid and maintained by the Commercial Pacific Cable Co., 

 of New York, the incorporation of which was reported in The 

 India Rubber World of October i [page 24]. This section 

 will reach from San Francisco to some central point in the Ha- 

 waiian islands, probably at Honolulu — a distance of about 2200 

 miles — and it is expected to be completed and ready for the 

 transmission of messages about January i, 1903. The cost of 

 this section, it is understood, will be about $3,000,000. The 

 award was made after a comparison of tenders from the three 

 leading English cable construction companies. 



It was announced in New York on November 19 that the Sil- 

 vertown company would begin work on the new cable within a 

 week, with the idea of finishing it by July i next. The ca- 

 ble will then be loaded on board ship, and it will be three 

 months more before it reaches San Francisco, the starting point 

 of its journey across the Pacific. The actual work of laying the 

 cable will consume about seventeen days, and with additional 

 time for establishing the stations and allowing for possible 

 mishaps, it will be ready for service in two months after its 

 arrival. 



George G. Ward, first vice president of the Commercial Ca- 

 ble Co., and one of the incorporators of the new company, 

 when asked why the contract for the Pacific cable had not been 

 awarded to an American manufacturer, replied as follows, ac- 

 cording to the New York Herald : 



" The Commercial Pacific Cable Co. would have been very 

 happy to have given an American company its contracts, but 

 there is no company in the United States that could, we felt, 

 perform the work. They have not the machinery, and we could 

 not afford to have the work of laying the cable take the form 

 of an experiment. The Silvertown company has been estab- 

 lished for over forty years, and has laid most of the deep ocean 

 cables throughout the world, so that it understands perfectly 

 Just how the work should be accomplished. 



" The company has assured us that they will complete the 

 cable and have it here in seven months. Just as soon as this 

 section is complete and out of the way, we shall commence 

 work on another section that will connect the Hawaiian islands 

 with the Philippines. Our station there will probably be on 

 the island of Luzon and near or in Manila. We have not de- 

 cided on that point yet, nor have we fixed our schedule of rates, 

 but I may say, in speaking of rates, that we shall reduce them 

 to a reasonable figure. We expect to have the work com- 

 pleted in about two or three years. The estimated cost of the 

 undertaking is about $15,000,000, but we have capitalized our 

 company at only $3,000,000, because we prefer to increase our 

 capitalization as we proceed rather than use such a large figure 

 at the beginning." 



Mr. Ward said it was expected that the new cable would 

 allow of the transmission of messages in nearly four hours' less 

 time than required at present. He commended Mr. Mackay's 

 enterprise in assuming the responsibility, and said he believed 

 he was deserving of much credit. Reference is made here to 

 John W. Mackay, president both of the Commercial Cable Co. 

 and of the new Commercial Pacific Cable Co. 



The Commercial Pacific Cable Co. was incorporated under 

 the laws of New York on September 3, last with S'oo.ooo capi- 

 tal. On November 7 a certificate was filed with the secretary 

 of state that the capital stock would be increased to $3,000,000. 



The question has been discussed at Washington, whether a 



private company would have the right to land a cable at points 

 on American territory without the consent of the government. 

 The United States attorney general, Mr. Knox, is reported to 

 have advised President Roosevelt that no reason exists for ob- 

 taining the consent of the government as to other points, but 

 there is an unsettled question in regard to the claim of an Eng- 

 lish cable company, under an old Spanish grant, to have exclu- 

 sive rights for cable landings in the Philippines. Meanwhile 

 opposition to the new company has developed, prompted in 

 part probably by the rival interests of the Western Union Tele- 

 graph Co. There is a movement to induce the government 

 to construct a Pacific cable, to the exclusion of any private 

 company. 



President Roosevelt has not as yet expressed any opinions 

 in regard to the cable matter. It is reported that Representa- 

 tive Sherman, of New York state, will offer a bill at Congress at 

 this session authorizing the postmaster general to contract with 

 a corporation or with individuals for the construction of a Pa- 

 cific cable, but he is committed to no particular undertaking, 

 but he prefers that the government shall not build and control 

 a cable. 



The Chamber of Commerce of New York, on November 

 6, adopted a resolution reciting the necessity for the establish- 

 ment of an American trans-Pacific cable laid and maintained 

 by private enterprise, and the fact that application to lay such 

 a cable had been made by a responsible American company. 



■¥ * * 



The Chamber of Commerce of Manila, on November 15, 

 cabled to President Roosevelt urging that the Pacific cable be 

 laid and saying that one result would be an immense increase 

 of the rubber industry of the Philippines, estimated at $1 5,000,- 

 000, and also economy and the facilitation of business. 



IMPORTS OF RUBBER SCRAP. 



THE figures which follow, showing the quantity and invoice 

 value of imports of rubber scrap at New York for the last 

 twelve months, and also for the corresponding period, Novem- 

 ber, 1899, to October, 1900, have been obtained from the cus- 

 toms officials. The second column under each year, showing 

 the average import value per pound, is based upon the custom 

 house figures: 



. 1899-1900. . 1900-1901. • 



Months. Pounds. Av. Value. Pounds. Av. Value. 



November 1,077,613 6.i2cts. 818,124 6.iocts. 



December 1,111,080 7.97 " l,iii,Q4q 7.52 " 



January 1,404,689 7.03 " 880,902 7.13 '• 



February 986,649 7.78 " 34'.36r 7.01 " 



March 1,331,205 5.41 '• 764,322 5-88 " 



April 878,478 6.90 " 279,755 8.41 " 



May 918,536 5.90 " 717.469 6.48 " 



June 1,240,305 6.14 " 904,835 5.45 " 



July 991,279 6.20 " 2,049,166 6.31 " 



August 1,392,546 6.25 " 1,846,283 702 " 



September 1,626,512 6.70 " 949-757 6.75 " 



October 1,469,928 6.18 " 1,303.732 5-43 " 



Total, 12 months 14,428,820 6.57 cts. 11,967,656 6.46 cts. 



While the imports were lighter, during the earlier months of 

 the current year than in the same period of 1900, it will be 

 seen that the figures for the last six months exceed any previ- 

 ous record. ^^^^^^^^^^^^^ 



New Insulating Material.— The United States consul at 

 Leipsic reports that a recently patented insulating material is 

 made by taking pulverized casein and mixing it with vegetable 

 oils. The mixture, to which India-rubber, resin, or coloring 

 matter may be added, is pressed into forms and dried, or vul- 

 canized by the addition of sulphur. 



