May I, 1 90 1.] 



THE INDIA RUBBER 'WORLD 



241 



A PRACTICAL RUBBER PLANTER. 



NOW that there is such a general and widespread interest 

 in rubber planting, it may be of interest to present a 

 sketch of the pioneer plantation superintendent, or perhaps 

 more accurately, general manager, in the field in which Ameri- 

 can investors in this line are most directly interested. Rub- 

 ber planting on a large scale is of course a comparatively new 

 business, as indeed are most forms of tropical agriculture on 

 this hemisphere. 



The subject of this sketch was born and brought up in 

 Brooklyn, New York, some thirty-five years ago. He was the 

 grandson of a prominent Cuban, who, during the ten years' 

 war, was obliged to leave Cuba, as his intimacy with Gomez led 



the Spanish gov- 

 ernment to put a 

 price upon his 

 head. Some four- 

 teen years ago Mr. 

 Torres went to 

 Central America, 

 and for four years 

 traveled through 

 various parts of 

 the republic, act- 

 ing as an inter- 

 preter, and also as 

 pioneer in various 

 business under- 

 takings. At the 

 age of 16 he had 

 been a court in- 

 terpreter, in Span- 

 ish, in a Colorado 

 court, at $25 a 

 day, having ob- 

 tained the posi- 

 tion by means of 

 a competitive examination. Ten years ago he settled down to 

 the profession of tropical agriculture, first at Coapiloloyo and 

 later at Dos Rios. At the latter place he became connected 

 with the Dos Rios plantations, which are the second largest in 

 the world, and personally had to do with the planting of all 

 their coffee and also did a great deal in sugar cane. This expe- 

 rience brought him in very close touch with the laborers in 

 that country, and he developed a remarkable faculty for hand- 

 ling them, and so much do the natives think of him that he is 

 godfather for hundreds of native children born on his and 

 adjoining plantations. He is also Regidor del Distrito,(c\\\^{ 

 magistrate) of his district, under the Mexican government. 



By the way, to go back a little to his first trip to Mexico, it 

 is interesting to note that one of his four companions who went 

 with him was Fred. Funston, who recently has become famous 

 through his capture of the elusive Aguinaldo in the Philip- 

 pines. During the past ten years, Mr. Torros has not only suc- 

 cessfully operated the plantations mentioned, but has been 

 placed in charge of the Ubero plantations, and has planted cof- 

 fee there so largely that within a year this plantation will be 

 the largest in the world. 



In order to give himself the best knowledge of rubber plant- 

 ing, Mr. Torres has also traveled everywhere through Mexico 

 and South America, meeting with the rubber gatherers who 

 bleed the wild trees, and also visiting the large and small 

 plantations of both natives and foreigners, the result being 

 that he probably has as wide and practical an experience in 



FRANK L. TORRES, 



Islhmus ' 



General Manager " Ubero " and 

 Plantations. 



Rubber 



rubber planting as any other person. Coincident with these 

 trips has been the installing of coffee plants and rubber trees, 

 until now the companies with which he is connected have the 

 largest nurseries in existence. 



Mr. Torres, speaking from his own personal experience, is 

 emphatic in affirming that there is no trouble in getting labor, 

 and of the best kind, and during the last month more than a 

 hundred men have applied to his company for work, for whom 

 they had no need. One reason that Mr. Torres gives for this 

 experience is thefact that their plantations are right on the line 

 of the railway, which is an advantage, as the natives are loath 

 to go to plantations that are distant from it. 



Mr. Torres, who by the way, married Miss Grace Nebeker,of 

 Indianapolis, daughter of a former treasurer of the United 

 States, makes his home in the city of Mexico, which is within a 

 convenient distance from the "Isthmus" and " Ubero " plan- 

 tations. 



RECENT RUBBER PATENTS. 



UNITED STATES PATENT RECORD. 

 Issued March 5, igoi. 



NO. 669.097. Bicycle tire. John A. Orr, Florenville, Louisiana. 

 669,098. Inhaler. Timothy T. Overshiner, Marion, Indiana. 

 669t343 Bathing cap. Irwin F. Kepler, Akron, Ohio, assignor to 



The B. F. Goodrich Co. 

 669,396. Rubber tire. Orville L. Leach, Providence, Rhode Island. 



Issued March 12, igoi. 

 669,583, Breast pump. Joseph II. Hoover, Waterloo, Iowa. 

 669,606. Pneumatic lire. Bacon Wakeman, Fairfield, Connecticut. 

 669,685. Rocker cushion. Leonard S. Dora, Baltimore, Maryland. 

 669,692. Vehicle Tire. Morton Ilarloe, Hawley, Pennsylvania, as- 

 signor of one-half to Wilton S. Bloes, PeckviUe, Pennsylvania. 

 669,739. Tire. James C. Anderson, Highland Park, Illinois. 



Issued March 19, 1901. 

 670,116. Grinding mill. Thomas L Sturtevant, <,)uincy, and Thomas 



J. Sturtevant, Newton Center, Massachusetts. 

 670,209. .Soft tread horseshoe. Ilerve Dyas de Saint Cyr, Montreal, 



Canada. 

 670,412 Pneumatic tire. Pardon W. Tillinghast, Edgewood, Rhode 



Island. 

 670,413. Fabric for tires. Samt. 



Issued March 26, 1901. 

 670,543. Vehicle tire. Jacob Pfeiffer, Akron, Ohio 

 670,604. Dental plate. Arnold Biber, Pforzheim, Germany. 

 670 856. Pneumatic tire. Pardon W. Tillinghast, Edgewood, Rhode 

 Island. 



Design Patents. 



34,202. Atomizer or inhaler. Charles M. Blackman, New York city, 

 assignor to the S. H. Wetmore Co.. same place, March 12, 1901. 



34,294. Sole for boots and shoes. Frederick L. Varney, Lynn, Mas- 

 sachusetts. March 26, 1901. 



Trade Marks. 



35,991. Portable body supporting cushions. Meinecke"& Co. , New 

 York city. March 5, 1901. 



35. 995- " Buckskin." Certain named rubber footwear and rubber 

 coats. Monarch Rubber Co., St. Louis. March 5, 19OI. 



35i999 "Germane." Rubber belting, packing, gaskets, and hose. 

 Peerless Rubber Manufacturing Co., New York city. March 5, 

 igoi. 



ENGLISH PATENT RECORD. 

 Applications.-- 1901. 



4009. George Francis Rooney, 322, High Holborn, London. Im- 

 provements in goloshes or overshoes. February 25. 



4047. James Johnston, Manchester. Improvements in apparatus for 

 self inflating tires, t'ebruary 26. 



4059. Robert Alexander, Jr., Glasgow. Improvements in the secur- 

 ing of the covers of pneumatic tires. February 26. 



4167. Albert Sidney Crosby and Jeremiah George Billings, Birming- 

 ham. Improvements in pneumatic tires. February 26. 



