134 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



[February i, 1902. 



ARE HOSE GUARANTEES AN EVIL? 



THE new public prosecutor in New York county— Mr. 

 Jerome — has views in relation to the guaranteeing of fire 

 hose for this city's use which are at variance with the generally 

 accepted idea. Mr.' Jerome lately made a statement on this 

 subject to the City Club— a " good government " organization 

 in New York — the substance of which has appeared in the 

 newspapers. According to these reports, Mr. Jerome considers 

 a guarantee on fire hose sold to the city to be of no benefit to 

 anyone except to any dishonest city employe to whom it may 

 give an opportunity to " shake down " the manufacturers. In 

 other words, Mr. Jerome believes that, in the case of goods 

 sold to the city under guarantee, a system of blackmail exists, 

 whereby those whose duty it is to see that the guaranteed 

 article comes up to all its requirements, force the seller to pay 

 blackmail, in order that the goods may not fail before the term 

 of guarantee expires. Mr. Jerome said that he had been talk- 

 ing with a rubber manufacturer who did not sell fire hose to 

 the city, and he knew what he was saying. 



As matters stand, it is asserted that it is an easy thing for a 

 city employe to go to a maker who his sold hose with a guar- 

 antee, and say to him that a certain amount of the hose is " no 

 good" and has burst — and it is not difficult to get sufficient 

 water pressure to burst a length of hose after it has stood the 

 legal test. Of course the manufacturer knows that his hose is 

 all right, but he doesn't want to risk having its reputation 

 damaged by an official condemnation — and he saves himself 

 trouble by handing the official inspector a bill large enough to 

 make further complaint unnecessary — for awhile, at least. The 

 manufacturer doesn't care to lose the money thus wrung from 

 him, and it would not be strange if, in bidding for hose there, 

 after, he should make his prices high enough to cover any such 

 incidental expenses as have just been indicated. Gradually, in 

 this way, according to the outside rubber manufacturer quoted 

 by Mr. Jerome, the price charged to the city for fire hose has 

 become much too high. 



Now, supposing that there were no guarantees, it is claimed 

 that it would be an easy matter to make tests showing just how 

 good the hose was, and the inspector would know its worth 

 just as well as the maker. He could tell just how long it would 

 last as well as the maker, and the contract for hose could be 

 awarded upon that basis. There would be no guarantee, the 

 inspectors would have no motive for dishonest tampering with 

 the hose within a certain period of time, the manufacturer 

 would not be " bled " as the price for not molesting his hose — 

 and the city would save money by getting hose at a lower cost. 



AMERICANS IN THE ACRE DISTRICT. 



THE secretary of the Bolivian legation at Washington has 

 addressed a note to the Mexican Herald -vih'xch exon- 

 erates the United States from an accusation recently launched 

 against'it. Some time ago the region of the river Acre, in 

 Bolivia, which is very rich in rubber, was invaded by filibusters 

 coming from .Brazil, who, though disavowed by the govern- 

 ment ofj.Rio Janeiro, established there an ephemeral republic, 

 proclaiming its secession from Bolivia. The troops of the lat- 

 ter, after two tedious expeditions across the mountains, swamps, 

 and wilderness of that almost unexplored part of South Amer- 

 ica, and after some heroic fights, vanquished the filibusters 

 and restored to Bolivia the territory of Acre. 



The Bolivian government then granted to an Anglo-Amer- 

 ican company, having headquarters in London and New York, 

 a concession for the exploitation of rubber and other re- 



sources in that territory, where peace had been reestablished. 

 This was enough for some to aflect to believe that the said 

 company was exclusively composed of Americans, and to pro- 

 claim, as it is published in El Tiempo, of Buenos Ayres, that 

 American capitalists were about to monopolize the territory 

 of Acre ; that " first come the claims of the business men, and 

 then the soldiers arrive " ; and that if Americans were allowed 

 to extend their influence to the upper Amazon, they might do 

 the same in Argentina. 



A Mexican newspaper, going still further than the Buenos 

 Ayres journal, imagined that Bolivia, instead of merely grant- 

 ing an industrial and commercial concession, had actually alien- 

 ated forever the Acre territory to foreigners. Thereupon, and 

 in order to show that neither the United States nor any other 

 power could indulge the idea of becoming possessors of any 

 portion of the territory of Bolivia, the Bolivian minister at 

 Washington caused his secretary of legation to write to the 

 Mexican Herald a letter, from which the following is an exract : 



" Bolivia has not sold its territory of Acre. The contract, of 

 a merely private character, that has just been entered into with 

 a syndicate of capitalists to promote the development of the 

 rich zone called 'Territorio de Colonias ' does not in the least 

 affect the sovereignty and independence of Bolivia nor the in- 

 tegrity of that region." 



MENU 



Huitres de Lynnhaven 



St. Marceau.v, Brut Tortue verte claire 



Terrap^ne, Philadelphie 



Couronne de jambon aux champignons frais a la cr^me 



Selle d'.igneau du printemps, sauce menthe ^ I'orange 



Pommes de terre, Lauretta Piments verts farcis 



Asperges Douvelles, sauce Hollandaise 



Pamplemousse au marasquin 



Canard canvasback roll 



Salade Waldorf avec piments doux 



Chambcrtin 



Mousse de frajses fraiches 

 Fromage Caf6 



Still Poland Water Liqueurs 



FAREWELL DINNER TO MR. H. C. CORSON. 



THE members of the executive committee of Druggists' 

 Sundries Association gave a farewell dinner at the Wal- 

 dorf-Astoria, in New York, on the evening of January 17, to 

 Mr. H. C. Corson, former president of the association, and who 



lately resigned 

 as vice presi- 

 dent of the B. 

 F. Goo d r i ch 

 Co. There were 

 present, in ad- 

 dition to the 

 guest of honor, 

 Messrs. George 

 F. Hodgman,^ 

 E. E. Huber, 

 Joseph Davol, 

 George M. Al- 

 lerton, H. C. 

 Burton, Mr. 

 Fred. H. Jones. The table and dining room was beautifully 

 decorated with flowers and the dinner the best the house could 

 afford. The menu, which is reproduced herewith, suggests a 

 feast which must have been rarely enjoyable. A feature of 

 the occasion was the presentation to Mr. Corson, of a silver 

 loving cup on which the names of the executive committee 

 engraved. 



The retirement of H. C. Corson from active work while 

 yet a young man is an object lesson to American business men. 

 He had made a moderate fortune ; no doubt if he had remained 

 in business for another ten or twenty years the same ability 

 would make him very rich, but he felt that enough was plenty 

 — that there were better things than mere money getting, and 

 he had the sense to quit. All are sorry to see him go but re- 

 joice in his good luck and his better sense. 



On the evening of January 14 the members of the prudential 

 committee of the First Baptist Church of Akron, Ohio, in 

 which church Mr. Corson had been an active worker, tendered 

 him a testimonial dinner. 



