138 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



[February i, 1902. 



that there had been at least 25 pounds in the entire tree. Thus, by the 

 native method, only one-thirty-fifth to one-fortieth of the entire yield can 

 be secured. From an experiment conducted by P. von Romburgh, on 

 another tree, cultivated, the above figures would appear to be too large, 

 but even if we take a perfectly safe estimate of one tenth as the 

 amount secured, the fearful waste is very evident. 



Many years ago it was found that the bark left on the Gutta- 

 percha tree which had been felled by the natives and left to rot 

 in the jungle still contained 5 percent, of pure Guttapercha, 

 while the dead leaves had 7 to 10 per cent. Consequently 

 many experiments have been made, in European countries, as 

 well as in Singapore and Java, to get a working process for ex- 

 tracting Gutta-percha from bark and leaves. The processes 

 thus resulting ?re both patented and secret, and Dr. Sherman 

 was not permitted to examine them, but he inclines to the be- 

 lief that all the Gutta-percha factories now running in the East 

 have greatly improved their methods and machines since the 

 beginning. The consensus of opinion seems to be that, by the 

 time the Gutta-percha plantations are ready to furnish leaves 

 enough, the factories will be able to produce the best grade of 

 Gutta-percha. 



To sum up. Dr. Sherman believes, after visiting the Gutta- 

 percha regions already exploited, that the Philippines contain 

 Gutta-percha species of value. If the best species is not to be 

 found native, the conditions are favorable for its introduction. 

 A supply from plantations may be a long time coming, but the 

 Philippines will be equally situated with other countries, when 

 the native supplies have become exhausted and plantations of 

 Gutta-percha are the only dependence. And by the time 

 plantations are matured, the work of chemists will have pro- 

 vided means for obtaining a steady annual yield of Gutta with- 

 out injury to the trees. 



GUTTA PERCHA EXPORTS FROM SARAWAK. 



There is a growing output of Gutta-percha from the British 

 protectorate of Sarawak, of which Kuching is the capital, on the 

 western coast of Borneo, and which has an area equal to that 

 of Illinois, in the United States. According to Dr. Obach, the 

 exports of Gutta-percha for the five years ended 1896 were 

 1,593,984 pounds — an annual average of 318,797 pounds — of the 

 average export value of 35/4 cents. The last report of the 

 British consul in Sarawak contains data from which this table 

 has been compiled, giving the weight of yearly exports in 

 piculs, and value in English money, with equivalent weights 

 in pounds and value in American money : 



Ybars. Piculs. £ Pounds. Cents. 



1897.... 2867 18,553 382,266! 23?^ 



i8g8 3745 27,573 499.350 26% 



1899 ... 8980 56.562 i,i97.333i 23 



1900.... 7964 78,829 i,o6i,866| 36}^ 



Gutta-percha is gathered by the native Dyaks, who can be 

 hired for 7 pence per day. The trading is chiefly in the hands 

 of Chinese. Some of the best Gutta-percha known to commerce 

 comes from Sarawak, but there is also included much " Sarawak 

 mixed," which Obach describes as "a very useful second class 

 material." The average export value, therefore, is less than for 

 Gutta-percha from Penang or Malacca, in the Malay peninsula, 

 Sarawak Gutta-percha is exported wholly to Singapore. 



A BRITISH REPORT FROM SINGAPORE. 



The annual colonial report on the Straits Settlements for 

 1900 contains these details relative to the trade of Singapore: 

 Gutta of good quality increased its export figures by over 1000 

 tons, but inferior kinds fell off by about the same amount. 

 This low priced produce, chiefly Gutta-jelatong [Pontianak], 

 is sent principally to the United Kingdom and the United 



States. Borneo and India rubber exports decreased by over 

 500 tons. The increase in the value of Gutta-percha exported 

 to the United Kingdom was ^375,000 [=$1,875,000], and Gutta 

 to France increased by /J35.000, while " there was an enormous 

 decline in Gutta " shipped to Germany. 



TELEGRAPHS IN THE PHILIPPINES. 



T 



HE annual report of General A. W. Greely, chief signal 

 officer of the United States aimy, for the fiscal year 

 ended June 30, 1901, contains m much detail a record of the 

 land and submarine telegraph service for military purposes, 

 which has developed to such an important extent since the be- 

 ginning of the Spanish-American war, and the acquisition of 

 large tropical possessions. At the date mentioned the army 

 signal office had been concerned with the laying of about 

 1400 miles of submarine cable, of which 749 miles were then in 

 operation in Philippine waters. There were also in use, at that 

 time, 4710 miles of land telegraph lines, under military control, 

 in the Philippine islands alone, and about 600 telegraph and 

 telephone offices, besides the telegraph communication in 

 Cuba, Porto Rico, along the United States coast, and so on. A 

 point of special interest is that all the equipment involved is of 

 American manufacture, and installed by American engineers. 



It is pointed out that the Philippine group has twice the 

 area of the British islands, and almost the area of the Japanese 

 empire, the extreme distance from north to south being 1000 

 miles. From the reports of various officers in the signal serv- 

 ice, printed in the appendix to General Greely 's report, it ap- 

 pears that, wherever their work has taken them, the natural 

 resources of the islands point to great possibilities in the way 

 of development. Hitherto enterprise of most kinds has been 

 handicapped, without regard to other conditions, by the lack 

 of meansof communication. Before the establishment of army 

 telegraphs, military officers at Manila could not convey orders 

 to subordinates in the remoter southern islands, or receive re- 

 ports from them, in less than two or three months. Now all 

 the important points are connected by wire, and the service is 

 available, or will be, for commercial purposes at the rate of 4 

 cents a word between the most widely separated stations. 



It appears that the trading of the southern islands is carried 

 on, not with Manila, but with Borneo and Singapore. Indeed, 

 before the American occupation, there was almost no commu- 

 nication between Manila and the great island of Mindanao. 

 The latter, by the way, is believed by the signal officers, who 

 kept a lookout for Gutta-percha while laying cables, to be 

 very rich in this material, and their reports confirm various 

 statements on the subject that have appeared in The India 

 Rubber World. Captain George O. Squier reports [March 

 19, 1901] that $300,000 worth of Gutta-percha had been shipped 

 within a year from Cottabata alone, in southern Mindanao. 

 This material found a higher valuation at Singapore, one 

 shipment alone being stated to have yielded a profit of $30,000 

 to the Chinese who were concerned. 



This report is embellished with fine views of cable laying 

 operations in Pliilippine waters, and contains numerous data 

 that will prove useful when the history of the cable making 

 industry in the United States comes to be written. 



On January 4 was registered at Brussels the " Upper Congo 

 to the Great African Lakes Co.," with 25,000,000 francs capital, 

 to construct the projected new railway in the rubber regions 

 of the Upper Congo country referred to in the last India 

 Rubber World — (page 126]. French capitalists subscribed 

 10,000,000 francs and Belgians the remainder. 



