464 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



[September 1, 1911. 



cents per pound), the following results would be 

 shown : 



A — 1,000 pounds turpentine at 7.47 cents per pound, 

 $74.76. Yield 100 pounds isoprene. Cost of isoprene, 



74.7 cents per pound. 



According to the somewhat higher estimate of a 15 

 per cent, yield, claimed by an English company, there 

 would be a relatively lower cost: 



B — 1,000 pounds turpentine at 7.47 cents per pound, 

 $74.70; yield 150 pounds isoprene; cost of isoprene, 



49.8 cents per pound. 



These results would have to be increased by the 

 expense of bringing the raw material to the stage of 

 intermediate product, and would, on the other hand, 

 be subject to a diminution representing the proceeds of 

 the by-product obtained up to that stage. 



Upon these two vital points estimates and calcu- 

 lations will doubtless be submitted in due time, but 

 in view of the prospective yield from turpentine being 

 admittedly only 10 to 15 per cent, of isoprene, the re- 

 sults, as thus indicated, will form a more or less reli- 

 able point of departure for more ample investigation. 



BELGIAN PROMISES FULFILLED. 



AMONG the notable instances of modern progress 

 is that made by the Congo since the Belgians as 

 a nation have shaped its destinies. 



The collector of rubber at all times formed an import- 

 ant element in the prosperity of the Congo Free State. 

 In fact, that country has been regarded as having created 

 the African rubber industry, for before its foundation, 

 the natives of Africa hardly knew the existence of the 

 rubber vine, or were unaware of its value. 



The earliest record of rubber shipments from the 

 Congo dates from 1887, when the total export was only 

 200,000 pounds. In 1909 it represented 9,000,000 pounds ; 

 this fact affording a convincing proof of the business 

 policy, which has guided the administration of the coun- 

 try. 



Intimately connected with this progress is the more 

 systematic cultivation and collection of rubber, which had 

 previously been looted from African forests in a quantity 

 insufficient to attract capital. In the successful efforts 

 made to develop the natural resources of the Congo, the 

 policy of Belgium is now to emulate the progress made 

 ■ in Asia, where the result has not only well repaid the 



European promoters and managers, but has at the same 

 time, brought comfort and welfare to the natives who 

 supply the labor. It is on similar lines that Belgium has 

 been and is acting in the Congo. 



Nor is Belgian control today simply a matter of bureau- 

 cracy and officialism. On the contrary, a marked per- 

 sonal element is aiding in establishing the necessary good 

 feeling. The Colony was taken over by a vote of the Bel- 

 gian Parliament on November 15, 1908. During the visit 

 to the Congo in 1909 of the future king, accompanied by 

 yi. Jules Renkin, Minister for the Colony and other offi- 

 cials, many detailed reforms were accomplished, and com- 

 prehensive plans of future work elaborated. Various lead- 

 ing Belgian public men have since visited the Colony, 

 thus keeping in touch with its condition and prospects. 



Among points of special interest affecting Congo rub- 

 ber, is the fact admitted by Mr. Cuthbert Christy in his 

 recent work, "The African Rubber Industry" that since 

 the earliest shipments, the rubber exported from the 

 Congo has been of a far better quality that that from the 

 British African colonies. The special requirements of 

 plantation rubber not being well understood, the Govern- 

 ment has spared no expense in opening botanic gardens 

 and commencing experimental plantations. 



Regarded as the impartial testimony of an English au- 

 thority !Mr. Christy's comments upon present conditions 

 are of special interest. To use his own words : "My 

 conviction, based on two journeys in Western Congo, is 

 that what was known as the 'Congo agitation' was ex- 

 aggerated for personal and party reasons, and most peo- 

 ple who know the Congo will, I am sure, agree with me. 

 . . . Full credit for the state of civilization existing 

 today in the watershed of the great river has never been 

 given to whom it is due." 



The India Rubber World has at various times since 

 1892 dealt with the subject of the Congo. On the occa- 

 sion of its annexation by Belgium it treated the matter 

 editorially in the issue of October 1, 1908. To what ex- 

 tent Belgium considers its mission is being fulfilled is told 

 in another column. 



THE ANNUAL INNER TUBE CROP. 



SPEAKING of rubber reclaiming, the recovery of 

 inner tubes for automobile tires is one of the pretty 

 parts of the business, that is, if the reclaimer knows how 

 to do it successfully. As a rule, they contain no fabric 

 and no metal except' the valve stem which is easily cut 

 out. Thev are nearly "pure" and require no acid treat- 



