404 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



[May 1, 1914. 



The importance of the construction of the Madeira- 

 Mamore Railway was early realized by the Port company, 

 which purchased about one-half interest in that undertaking. 

 The Madeira- Maniorc Railway from Porto V^elho on the 

 Madeira river around the scries of cataracts which seriously 

 obstruct navigation to Guajara Mirim on the Mamore river, 

 340 kilometres (211 miles) in length, is already open for 

 traffic. This railway, by bringing the river navigation of the 

 -Amazon and its tributaries into connection with the navigable 

 rivers of Bolivia, is opening an enormous extent of rich and 

 fertile territory, as well as the mineral wealth of the Eastern 

 slope of the Andes. 



In addition to these great enterprises, the Companhia 

 Xavegagao do Amazonas was formed, and a lleet of twelve 

 l,0(X)-ton twin-screw boats built, whicli connect the city of 

 Para with the rivers Madeira, Purus and Jurua, where naviga- 

 tion is possible at all times of the year. 



From these points a fleet of 14 light-draught stern-wheclers 

 carry merchandise and passengers to the smaller trilnitaries 

 of the upper reaches of the .'\mazon. The company had in 

 sight a large amount of tratTic for the port and planned tO' 

 materially lower rates of transportation, thereby largely de- 

 veloping the trade with the upper regions of the .Amazon 

 valley. 



That such enterprises, installed in the face of incredible 

 difticulty and at the cost of millions of dollars and the loss of 

 many lives, should have even a temporary setback is a 



Construction Tkain, .MAiitikA-MA.\i<jKE Kaii.uav. 



calamity. But the works, practically completed and ready 

 to serve Northern Brazil and the world, are only partially 

 in use. The great warehouses are nearly empty, many 

 steamers loading in mid-stream to save port charges. The 

 fine new steamers are anchored off Val-de-Caes, and very 

 little is being done anywhere. The ship yard is doing some 

 work on the company's boats, and the .dry dock holds a 

 Peruvian vessel, but everywhere is economy and contraction 

 when there should be bustle and expansion. So, too, on the 

 Madeira-Mamore Railway. One train a week has been run- 

 ning, so it was recently said, and the working force has 

 been cut down as far as consistent with safety. Indeed, it 

 was said that native labor had become so clamorous for em- 

 ployment at any price that the batclaos had been repaired 

 and filled with rubber to run the cataracts as in the olden 

 time, tho the railroad was built for the express purpose of avoid- 

 ing this slow and dangerous system of transportation. 



THE KICCORI) OF THE "PROTECTION OF RUHBER." 

 The amazing story of the Defesa da Borracha (Protection: 

 of Rubber) is the most unfortunate of the happenings of the 

 -Amazonian rubber crisis. Conceding that it was an honest 

 attempt to conserve the rubber industry of Brazil, its cost 

 in dollars to a people now in dire financial distress and its- 

 failure to accomplish what it promised are appalling. 



It began with an appropriation of 8,000 contos ($2,400,000) 

 and the establishment of a commission, with the Minister 

 of Agriculture as its head, to spend the money. The center 

 of active work was at Rio de Janeiro. There the central 

 bureau was established, with the following pay roll: 



Monthly 

 Salaries. 



Superintendent $1 .«X).0O' 



Chief engineer, Rio Branco 900.00 



Physician 800.00 



Constructing engineer 500.00 



Chief engineer of Partial Commission 400.f)0 



Chief engineer of District of Inspection 400.00 



Engineer of First Class, Rio Branco Section 4(K).00 



-Agricultural engineer 300,00 



Engineer of the Second Class 300.tK) 



Secretary to the superintendent v%0.(X) 



Paymaster, Rio Branco Section 300.00 



Draughtsman, bookkeeper, clerk, typewriter, messenger, \ , -nnnn 

 ser<ant and other eniiiloyes ) '"' ' 



Total monthly salaries $7,700.00 



Total yearly salaries $92,400.00 



Certain of the ofiticials, because of the high cost of living 

 in their localities, were allowed from 50 to 80 per cent, in- 

 crease over their salaries, at the discretion of the superin- 

 tendent. 



Cnder the central bureau were numerous branches and ex- 

 periment stations, each with its list of salaried men. For 

 e-xample, that at Para had the following, the salaries given 

 being annual: 



Director $4,000.00 



Chief of Technical Section 3.(I00()0 



•Assistant. Technical Section 2.000.00 



Chief of Culture 1,400.00 



Horticulturist Gardener l.OOO.OO' 



Head Mechanic 1,600.00 



.Almoxarife (storekeeper) 2,000.00 



Librarian 1,600.00 



Clerk 1.200.00 



Porter 800.00 



Total $I8,600.00' 



The i^her experiment stations were: 



.\ma/.onas 18,600.00 



Matto Grosso 18,600.00 



Bahia 18,600.00 



I'iauhv 18.60000 



-Minas Geraes 18,600.00 



$111,600.00 

 The total annual salaries for the six stations, it will be seen 

 from the table above, amounted to $111,600. 



Then followed a series of contracts, namely: 

 For Dr. Carlos de Cerqueira Pinto's secret processes and 

 patents for coagulating rubber latex, $180,000 in 1913 and 

 $180,000 in 1914. In addition a royalty of .0014 per pound on 

 rubber coa.gulated by his process until he should receive- 

 $400,000. (This contract with Dr. Pinto was described ir. 

 considerable detail in Thk I.ndia Rubber World for Novem- 

 ber, 1913. .A great many of the rubber men of this country 

 had an opportunity to familiarize themselves with its results 

 at the time of the New York Rubber Show, as Dr. Pinto had 

 an exhibit at that exhibition and displayed many samples of 

 rubber coa.gulated by this process — which avoids all forms 

 of fumigation and employs a certain ingredient, "lactina," 

 prepared by a formula which Dr. Pinto discovered and' 

 patented.) 



