March i, 1902.] 



THE INDIA RUBBER W^ORLH 



169 



GUTTA-PERCHA IN THE PHILIPPINES. 



A COLLECTION of nineteen samples of Gutta-percha and 

 India-rubber gathered in the Philippine islands has 

 been received by The India Rubber World from the For- 

 estry bureau at Manila, and submitted to an examination to de- 

 termine their merit. This collection is not to be considered as 

 truly representative of the resources of the Philippines in the 

 way of the two commodities named ; they are merely such spec- 

 imens of these products as have happened to reach the Forestry 

 bureau, without a complete examination of the forests of the 

 archipelago, and gathered for the most part by persons unfa- 

 miliar with the proper preparation of these gums. None of the 

 gums in this collection is of high value; they are of interest 

 mainly in that their existence in the Philippines marks that 

 region as being within the " rubber zone," which indicates the 

 possibility that better grades of Gutta-percha and India-rubber 

 may be discovered as the result of a more careful examination. 

 A large proportion of the samples are of Gutta-percha or 

 Gutta like gums. The following four — to quote the numbers 

 and labels borne by the specimens — are resinous gums of 

 doubtful value : 



No. 4. [Label indecipherable.] 



No. 6. Goma de Balete. Ficus concinua, [Balete is a port on the 



east coast of the island of Mindanao.] 

 No. iS. Goma de ZamboaDga. [From the southwestern part of 



Mindanao. J 

 No. 19. Guttapercha, Palaquium calapia. 



The words in italics in the above and following labels desig- 

 nate botanical terms. 



No. 9. Baliti goma. Zamboanga. [There is a Point Baliti on the Isl- 

 and of Mindoro, but Zamboango is in Mindanao.] 

 An exceedingly sticky gum, which might possibly be valu- 

 able in frictions, but of which the sample is not large enough 

 to give a more definite idea. 



No. 2. Guttapercha. Palaquium Luzoniensis (Vidal.) " Calapice 



bianco." 

 Good only for a mixture or adulterant with better grades of 

 Gutta-percha. 



No. 7. Goma de Dita. Alstonia scholotis. 

 Of use only for mixing with Padang Gutta. 

 No. I. Gutta percba. Palaquium latifolium. 



No. 16. Gutta percha. Palaquium (?) Mercado de Cotobato. 

 [From a merchant of Cotobato, in Mindanao.] 



Very similar to fair grades of Manila Gutta. No. 16 might 

 be worth 10 or 12 cents a pound. 



No. 10. Goma del Balete. Ficus superhus. 



No. 23. Gutta-percha. Maestra de Gacuvan. 



Exceedingly cheap grades of Gutta-percha. Worth perhaps 

 as much as No. 16. 



No. 17. Goma del mercado de Cotabato. 



Rather dirty and carelessly prepared ; might be worth 9 cents 

 a pound. 



No. 5. Goma de Antipolo. Artocorpus incisa. [Antipolo is on the 

 island of Luzon, not far from Manila.] 



Similar to Niger Gutta. 



No. 3. Goma elastica. Ficus elastica. 



Rubber like a cheap grade of Borneo, and worth about 12 

 cents a pound. The ascription of this sample to Ficus elastica, 

 by the way, should not be accepted without further proof that 

 Ficus elastica — the rubber tree of Assam — really exists in the 

 Philippines. 



No. 21. Goma de Ficus. Zamboanga. 



A Tuno like gum, worth perhaps, 5 cents. 



No. — . Guttapercha. Negros. [From the island of this name.] 



The best sample in the lot. Like Padang Gutta-percha, ex- 



cept that it is "off color." Worth about 65 cents a pound. 

 The remaining three specimens call for no special mention. 



A more encouraging view of the situation is afforded by the 

 information in regard to the actual collection of Gutta-percha 

 in the Philippines, already printed from time to time in The 

 India Rubber World. It may be added that the first gov- 

 ernment statistics under this head are at hand, reporting the 

 collection of export duties, beginning July i, 1901, on two items 

 of forest products as follows : 



Gutta-percha. India-rubber. 



July - . - - pounds . - . . 28,750 



August 46,911 19,408 



It is not probable that so much rubber was actually exported, 

 for some of the traders use the terms "India-rubber" and 

 "Gutta-percha " indiscriminately. 



The United States Philippine Commission, in session at 

 Cotabato on April 2, 1901, questioned a Moro dato named 

 Piang — an important local personage— when he stated that all 

 his people collected " rubber," that the number of trees was 

 very great, and that since the commercial value of " rubber" 

 had become known, the people take care to preserve them, in- 

 stead of cutting them down. He said that his people in five 

 months gathered 800 piculs [ = io6,666 = i pounds] of rubber, 

 which he sold to the Chinese at $50 Mexican per picul \=\Z}i 

 cents gold per pound], which would amount to $2000 gold. 

 Piang had in hand at the time 80 piculs [10,666-., pounds] 

 which he offered to give to the United States for the new 

 Pacific cable. 



On the same day of the Capitan of Chinos (the captain of 

 Chinese) at Cotobato appeared before the commissioners and 

 testified that during January and February the Chinese had 

 sent out between 500 and 600 piculs of Gutta-percha. He had 

 paid the natives $45 to S50 Mexican per picul [=16.9 cents to 

 iZ}.i cents gold per pound], selling the Gutta at Jolo at prices 

 equivalent to 22>2 cents gold per pound, and at Singapore at 

 30 to 32 cents. He estimated his profits at 3 to 8 cents per 

 pound, after paying freights and other expenses. All of which 

 would suggest the presence in the Philippines of Gutta-percha 

 of higher values than the preliminary collection of samples sent 

 out from Manila. 



ENGLISH CABLE COMPANIES TO COMBINE. 



A T the ordinary general meeting of W. T. Henley's Tele- 

 •**• graph Works Co., Limited (London), on February 20, the 

 report of the board was adopted, recommending a dividend for 

 the year of 20 percent, on the ordinary shares, after providing 

 for the usual 4^ per cent, dividend on the preference shares, 

 and 4|^ per cent, interest on the debentures. There are £\1^,- 

 000 in preference shares and the same amount in ordinary, and 

 the debentures amount to ^^50,000. The dividend on the or- 

 dinary shares for five years preceding was 10, 12, 14, 15, and 20 

 per cent., respectively. 



The directors announce in a circular issued to the sharehold- 

 ers that terms have been arranged by which the company will 

 amalgamate with Callender's Cable and Construction Co., Lim- 

 ited (London). The capital of this company consists of ^150,- 

 000 in ordinary shares — on which 15 per cent, has been paid 

 for two or three years past — and ^200,000 in 5 per cent, cumu- 

 lative preference shares ; and there are ^90,000 in 45i per cent, 

 debentures. 



The report of the directors of the Liverpool Rubber Co., 

 Limited, for the past year shows that the profits on the year's 

 working were _^I2,I78 41. <)d. 



