308 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



[June i, 1910. 



Railway from Para to Braganca. 



hausted," and so on. Then when the representatives of these 

 two great cities meet they are good friends and patriotic 

 Brazilians. Their attitude reminds an American of the rivalry 

 between Chicago and St. Louis. It harms no one, and it 

 makes both cities more alert and aggressive. 



It doesn't take very much perspicacity to figure out the 

 fact that the rubber market is not made on the Amazon, but 

 in the great outside centers, like London and New York. 

 During the crop season in Para the operators are in constant 

 communication with their principals in Europe or America, 

 and in semi-constant touch with their houses at Manaos. 

 Each firm has its own cipher. None of them know each 

 other's cipher; whether they know the rest of the numerals 

 it is hard to say. 



The houses that really do the bulk of the business are 

 about a dozen in number, including Gruner & Co., who rep- 

 resent Heilbut, Symons & Co., of London, and Poel & Arnold, 

 in New York; Adelbert H. Alden, Limited, who use the same 

 name in London, and who in New York are the New York 

 Commercial Co.; Gordon & Co., who represent the General 

 Rubber Co., of New York, and William Symington & Co., 

 Limited, in London; Suarez & Co., who have their own house 

 in Europe, as do Alves Braga Rubber Estates and Trading 

 Co.; and so on. 



Para has good cable communication with Europe, but 

 rather round-about ones with America. The city is connected 

 with Manaos by a cable which is laid in the bed of the Ama- 

 zon and which gives good service except for occasional inter- 

 ruptions. If rubber is high, there are some who claim that 

 the cable is purposely cut to keep the news from reaching 

 Manaos until certain trades are effected. I only met one 

 man who would acknowledge that he had actually seen the 

 cut ends, and he was not an expert on cable matters, and 

 might not have been able to tell a plain fracture from axe 

 work. My own idea is that the river itself is perfectly com- 

 petent to supply enough interruptions to suit anybody. Cer- 

 tain it is that one steamer is kept busy nearly all of the time 

 attending to the thousand mile strand that binds the two 

 rubber cities together. 



There is also the wireless which proudly lifts its head to 

 heaven at Para and Santarem. When the concession for its 

 installation was granted and the equipment began to arrive, 

 what profound thankfulness filled the hearts of the many who 

 were marooned in Manaos, often for a week at a time, hun- 

 gering and thirsting for news of the outside world. Their 

 hope of freedom, however, from the vexatious tyranny of 

 the great river has so far borne no fruit. Messages were 

 dispatched from either end, but failed to be received. The 

 official explanation, I believe, was that the precipitation was 

 so 'great as to interrupt them; or was it that there was too 

 much air in the atmosphere? A more probable reason is 

 that the messages sent in the daytime over the rubber forests 

 were gummed up by the flowing latex and fell short of their 

 destination. Nor were night messages any more successful. 

 The big Brazilian fireflies, which are sporty things anyway, 



Rua da Cearenses, Para. 



got in the habit of racing with the electric sparks and often 

 times beating them. It will be evident to the most shallow 

 thinker that an operator standing on a tower in mosquito ridden 

 Santarem, with a butterfly net in one hand and a receiver in 

 the other, sorting fire-flies from flashes, would at times be 

 slightly inaccurate. And accuracy in matters wireless is a 

 prime necessity. 



So Manaos did not get its relief, and the cable company 

 have an extension of their contract and are to lay a second 

 cable in the river bed. 



DEALING WITH RUBBER FROM THE FOREST. 



The beginning of rubber production is really with the 

 aviador, who furnishes the rubber producer, or seringueiro, 

 with all supplies and, in return, receives and sells his rubber. 

 The aviadores, and there are hundreds of them, big and little, 

 have outfitting places not far fram the water front in Para 

 and Manaos. Some of them are not much more than offices; 

 others are great and well-stocked stores. When an aviador 

 discovers what a seringueiro is going to need for the coming 

 season, he supplies what he may have from his own stock, 

 which may be much or nothing. He then divides the order 

 into dry goods, provisions, etc., making up separate orders 

 for city merchants who handle these goods. They fill the 

 orders, packed and delivered on the pier for shipment. The 

 aviador then bills these goods, accepting in payment therefor 

 notes that range from three to six months. These notes are 

 discounted by the local banks, and sometimes are extended 

 for another six months, if times are hard. The discount rates 

 are from 10 to 24 per cent., according to the standing of the 

 merchant. 



The aviador is overcharged in his purchases about 50 per 

 cent, by the general merchant. This is because of the risk 

 that the latter takes, as some aviadores never pay at all, while 

 others may not be able to pay for one or two years. 



When the aviador receives rubber he sells it for the seringueiro* 

 who is credited with the amount received. In remitting to the 



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'Wne.-' 3 



Principal Facade Proposed New Municipal Building. 



