January i, 1902. J 



THE INDIA RUBBER ^VORLD 



117 



KEMATE DE MALES — A RUBBER STATION ON THE RIVER JAVARY. 



[photographed BV MR. GEORGE RIDEHALGH FAIRBANKS.] 



A TYPICAL RUBBER TOWN IN BRAZIL 



THE view at the head o( this page is that of a rubber sta- 

 tion on the river Javary, which forms the boundary 

 between Brazil and Peru. It is a town with a population of 

 only about 200, increased at certain seasons by an influx of 

 rubber collectors, but it is nevertheless an important town in 

 the upper rubber region of the Amazon. Here is the seat of a 

 magistrate's court, and a branch of the Brazilian custom house. 

 The name of the place is Remate de Males — " the last [or 

 worst] of the maladies" — a name due to the great mortality 

 from malarial diseases. The town can boast only of a single 

 street, extending between the river and a row of houses, about 

 a mile in length. 



The location of Remate de Males is not on the Javary, prop- 

 erly speaking, but on a small tributary of that river, on the 

 Brazilian side, about 30 miles above the junction of the Javary 

 with the river Amazon. A few houses are situated on the op- 

 posite side of the river. In the center of the picture appear 

 some rubber warehouses, including that of Messrs. Marius it 

 Levy, aviadores and exporters, who have establishments at 

 various points in the Amazon country, and in Liverpool and 

 Paris. The steamers of the Amazon Steam Navigation Co. and 

 other lines proceed up the Javary to the branch stream referred 

 to, turning in at Remate de Males and going no further up- 

 stream. The Comptoir Coloniale Frangais, engaged in gathering 

 rubber and shipping it direct to Europe, have a branch at Re- 

 mate de Males, also included in the picture, though their princi- 

 pal warehouse is at Nazareth, on the Javary proper, at a short 

 distance below the tributary on which Remate de Males is 

 situated. 



The river Javary, by the way, has been a less important pro- 

 ducer of rubber of late than formerly, which is due chiefly to 

 the exhaustion of the once rich supplies of Caucho on that 

 stream, though it is said that new Caucho trees will soon be 

 ready for destruction. The fact that the export duties on rub- 

 ber are so much higher in Brazil than in Peru has always been 

 an incentive to smuggling along the Javary, which forms the 



boundary between the two countries. Much rubber from the 

 Brazilian side has been sent across the river secretly, to be 

 shipped as the product of Peru. A difference in the rate of 

 duties on imports into the two countries has led to similar at- 

 tempts at defrauding the customs in respect to foreign mer- 

 chandise. The customs regulations of late, however, have be- 

 gun to be better enforced. 



SOME WANTS OF THE RUBBER TRADE. 



[213] A CORRESPONDENT writes: "We have a sample 

 ■^»- of what is called pure Pard tape, used for winding 

 wires for electrical transmission. This article is put up in 

 France, rolled on paper disks the width of the tape, so as to be 

 ready to use on winding machines. Can you put us in com- 

 munication with the manufacturer of this article.' " 



[214] From Chicago : " Can you inform us who manufactures 

 or puts on the market hard rubber scrap ? " 



['215] From a rubber jobbing house : " We should like you to 

 advise us who are the different manufacturers of hard rubber 

 combs in this country." 



[21G] From a jobber : " Kindly advise us who are the manu- 

 facturers of light weight fairy air balls." 



[217] From a rubber factory : "Can you give us the addres- 

 ses of several parties who make marlin, which is used for cov- 

 ering steam hose.' " 



[21S] From Chicago: "Will you kindly name the parties 

 who make the metal connections for syringes ? " 



[219] From a rubber planting company : " Has any progress 

 been made recently toward the discovery of a substitute for 

 rubber, about which, every now and then, something appears 

 in the newspapers } " 



[220] From a jobbing house: " I am desirous of learning the 

 date and number of the United States patent covering Kiel's 

 compound, and of learning whether the same has expired. " 



[221] From Baltimore : " Would you inform me where I 

 could get a list of the different brands of belting, hose, pack- 

 ings, etc.. made by the various manufacturers? " 



