January i, 1902.] 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



125 



PARA STILL LEADS IN RUBBER. 



RUBBER TRADE NOTES FROM EUROPE. 



TO THE Editor of The India Rubber World : In your 

 issue of November i [page 33] I note the statement that 

 Mandos " has superseded Pari as the most important center of 

 the Brazilian rubber interest." lam sure that this will be un- 

 pected news to the people of both Manaos and Pard. For 

 while it is true that, owing to the new law providing that all 

 rubber produced in the state of Amazonas shall be shipped 

 direct from Manaos, the latter port has gained largely in its ex- 

 port trade, it is not true, and probably never can be, that 

 Mandos "has superseded Para as the most important center of 

 the Brazilian rubber interest." 



It does not follow, because the Amazonas rubber must now 

 be shipped from Manaos, that all the Upriver rubber will also 

 be marketed at that port ; quite the contrary, in fact. Para 

 is still, and doubtless will remain, the great supply depot for 

 the whole Amazon valley. The rubber collectors of the upper 

 river and its tributaries still draw their supplies and get their 

 credits in Pard, and will bring their rubber here in liquidation 

 of their obligations. 



But giving Manaos all the benefit of the doubt, and admit- 

 ting for the sake of argument that the largest possible amount 

 of rubber will hereafter be shipped from that port, it could not 

 possibly exceed one-half the 27,000 tons at which this year's 

 crop is estimated. And, to sum all up, it must always be re- 

 membered that the rubber exporters at Mandos are only repre- 

 sentatives of the rubber houses at Mandos — branch houses, in 

 other words. 



Concerning the financial situation here, it is undeniably true 

 that the hard times have not been exaggerated ; indeed, it 

 would be more correct to say that the half has not been told. 

 While it is probably true that the Amazon valley has suffered 

 less from the crisis than other sections of Brazil, yet great dis- 

 tress prevails here, and all forms of public works and enter- 

 prises are at a standstill, while there have been scores of fail- 

 ures of people in business and more are expected. The high 

 rate of exchange and the reduced price of rubber has also oper- 

 ated with disastrous effect against the rubber collectors, who 

 thus find their income clipped at both ends, while their 

 expenses remain at the old figure. Perhaps the worst has 

 passed, but among experienced business men here there are two 

 opinions as to that. It is quite true that great areas of good 

 rubber lands are being offered at ridiculously low figures. 



For this season, at least, these conditions will not aflfect the 

 volume of the rubber crop. The collectors and seringuieros 

 must live, and they hope for a quick return to old conditions, 

 and consequently a big crop may be looked for this season- 

 probably slightly in excess of last season's crop. Already the 

 shipments from Mandos and Para have been larger by nearly 30 

 per cent, than in any preceding year at this time, and there are 

 no indications of a falling ofl in the receipts ; though the sea- 

 son may close earlier than usual, owing to the fact that the Up- 

 river crop is coming down nearly two months sooner than 

 customary. an American. 



Pard. Brazil, November 21, igoi. 



* * * 



Advices from another correspondent at Para are of interest, 

 read in connection with the above letter: " It appears that the 

 authorities in Manaos are becoming convinced that that mar- 

 ket is not in a fit condition to cope with the entire upriver 

 crop, in consequence of which the decree, intended to give to 

 Mandos a monopoly of the Upriver trade, is likely to undergo 

 some alteration." Apparently, if Para is not alarmed, no one 

 else need be on her account, 



' I ^HE Allgemeine ElektrizitatsGesellschaft (General Elec- 



A trie Co.), of Berlin, have established at St. Petersburg a 

 branch business under the style of Russische Allgemeine Elek- 

 trizitats Gesellschaft, with a capital of 500,000 rubles (= about 

 $250,000.) 



=At the annual meeting of shareholders of The New Grap- 

 pler Pneumatic Tyre Co., Limited, in London, on November 25, 

 the accounts presented showed a profit of ;£46il is. \d. for the 

 preceding twelve months, against a profit of only /2341 for 

 the last seventeen months preceding. The sales during the 

 last year had increased by 40 per cent. It was stated that a 

 good business was being done in motor tires, and that some- 

 thing like 10,000 motor vehicles were now running with 

 " Grappler " tires. A dividend of 5 per cent, on the ordinary 

 shares was declared. 



= At the recent general meeting of the Birmingham Pneu- 

 matic Tyre Syndicate, Limited, a good year's business was re- 

 ported, based on an increased sale of tires, especially for use 

 on motors. The company control the " Woodstock " and 

 " Fleetwood " tires. A dividend of 5 per cent, was declared. 



= The twenty-first half yearly report of the Amalgamated 

 Society of India- Rubber Workers in England shows a total 

 membership of 406, distributed among six branches as follows : 

 Leyland 136, Birmingham 41, Ancoats 112, Pendleton 51, 

 Chorlton-on Medlock 28, Newton Heath 38. 



= The Goodyear Tire and Rubber Co. (Akron, Ohio) ex- 

 hibited at the Stanley cycle show, in London, during the last 

 week of November, the entire display of their motor tires 

 that appeared at the recent carriage show in New York. 



= A company to be known as Tucks (Ireland), Limited, with 

 ^50,000 capital, has been registered in London, for the purpose 

 of acquiring and carrying on the business of Tuck & Co., Lim- 

 ited, at their Dublin branch. 



= The Gummi-Zeittmg mentions a recent conference in Ger- 

 many, held at the instance of the Reichamt des Innern (depart- 

 ment of the interior), in regard to the new rules and laws regu- 

 lating the process of cold vulcanization of rubber with sulphuric 

 acid. The results have not been divulged, the representative 

 of the government having declared the conference an entirely 

 confidential one. But, inasmuch as a number of the prom- 

 inent rubber manufacturers took part in the meeting, the 

 Gummi-Zeitung assumes that nothing of a burdensome nature 

 will be contained in the new rules. Those who took part were : 

 Senator Maret (Vereinigte Gummiwaren-fabriken, Harburg- 

 Wien), Director Meyer (Ph. Penin A-G., Leipzig-Plagwitz), Di- 

 rector Spannagel (Vereinigte Berlin-Frankfurt Gummiwaren- 

 fabriken), Dr. K. Metzeler (Act.-Ges. Metzeler & Co., Munich), 

 Dr. Gerlach (Continental Caoutchouc und Guttapercha Co.), 

 Daubitz (Fr. M. Daubitz-Rixdorf), Director Briick (Leipziger 

 Gummiwaren-fabrik A.-G.), Director Rathenau (Allgemeine 

 Elektrizitats-Gesellschaft). 



Manufactured Rubber.— The Philadelphia Times lately 

 contained this paragraph : C. E. Piatt, treasurer of the Manu- 

 factured Rubber Co., says : " The company is not doing satis- 

 factorily, but we have cut down our expenses to an almost 

 nominal sum, and hope for better business in the early future. 

 Our works at Metuchen, New Jersey, turned out 9000 pounds 

 of manufactured rubber during October. We find that the 

 manufacturers are slow to try new ingredients when they are 

 using their own. The introduction of our one patented com- 

 pound is therefore somewhat slow, while the competition ham- 

 pers us in our four or five other products," 



