May 1, 1914.] 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



415 



dant of the men who actually existed and who said that the 

 Brooklyn bridge would never carry enough traffic to pay 

 the toll-takers? Is he going to allow this great bazaar of the 



THE ONLY "HEVEAS" IN PANAMA. 



Cathedral Square and Hotel Grand Central, Panama City. 



world's commerce to be filled with the goods of every coun- 

 try but that of the nation which pays the bills? If he yawns, 

 stretches, admits that he has heard the alarm clock telling 

 him that now is the time to get up and go after Panama trade 



Wild Castilloa. Showing Sti'MF of P.ig Tree from Which 

 Sprouts Had Grown. 



— and decides that he will go after it as soon as he has slept 

 a little longer — he will be eliminated from the situation and 

 the British and German traders may continue their cheerful 

 gibes about the canal which we built for them. 



COME four years ago the editor of The India Rubber World 

 ^ sent to friends in Panama 1.000 Hcvca seeds. These were 

 phiiitcd. hut white ants, armadillos and other enemies destroyed 



Panama's Only Hcvea Trees. 



most of them. A few survived, however, and are growing in 

 the jungle on the Azuero peninsula. As far as known, these 

 are the only Heveas in the Republic of Panama. 



Should be on every rubber man's desk— Crude Rubber and 

 Compounding Ingredients; Rubber Country of the Amazon; 

 Rubber Trade Directory of the World. 



INDIA RUBBER IN SHIPBUILDING. 



In a couple of articles in the issue of The India Rubber 

 World of October, 1912 (pages 13 to 16), the subjects of "India 

 Rul)ber in the Navy" and "Rubber Manufactures in Marine 

 Warfare" were discussed. The numerous small articles com- 

 posing a battle ship's equipment were described in detail. 



Since then a broader question has arisen with reference to the 

 internal or external use of rubber in shipbuilding, in the form 

 of a suggestion for its employment in the bodies of ships for 

 protection against the penetration of water. 



This proposal emanated from an Austrian scientist at a 

 Vienna meeting of German scientific men held last fall. His 

 contention was that when a thick sheet of rubber with a high 

 proportion of resin was pierced by a projectile the rubber, in 

 consequence of its elasticity, would tend to return to its original 

 position, and that the resin would stop the puncture so that no 

 water, or at most a very little, could penetrate into the body 

 of the ship. He made the further suggestion that in order to- 

 have this principle adopted on a large scale rubber of a very 

 mferior and therefore of an inexpensive grade could he used. 

 But one of the other scientists present pointed out that there 

 were strong objections to the use of inferior rubber, because 

 of its lack of durability. He went on to state that the life of 

 a modern man of war ranged from twenty to thirty years, and 

 it could hardly be expected that inferior rubber would continue 

 to hold its original elasticity that length of time, as cheap 

 resinous products are likely to soon become hard and brittle. 



