July 1, 1912.] 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



477 



The Manaos Rubber Congress of 1910. 



TIME flies apace and the two years since the Manaos Con- 

 gress of 1910 have passed rapidly. Hence, though ap- 

 parently an episode of the past, the Congress in question, 

 which lasted from February 22 to 27, 1910, still has a living in- 

 terest for the rubber industry. 



In the issue of The Indi.\ Rubber World for April 1, 1910 

 (pages 233-240), the salient features of the Congress were de- 

 scribed by the editor, who had attended on that occasion. Its 

 permanent value as a link in the world's rubber history, largely 

 consists, however, in the valuable contributions to technical 

 literature afforded by the prize essays and other papers read on 

 the occasion. The intention announced at the time of reproducing 

 them has now been fulfilled by the publication of the official pro- 

 ceedings, compiled by Seiihor Bertino Miranda, Secretary Gen- 

 eral of the Congress.* This volume, besides the text of the above- 

 named papers, contains a full report of the proceedings of the 

 Congress, outlined at the time in these pages. 



As expressing the views of the Congress upon the questions 

 before it. special interest attaches to the three groups of "con- 

 clusions" or resolutions adopted, dealing respectively with the 

 commercial, extractive and agricultural features of the question, 

 and formulated by the three sections in charge of those subjects. 

 In the issue of The Indi.v Rubber World of April, 1910 (page 

 237). the second of these groups is reproduced, in course of 

 which approval is expressed of Mr. Henry C. Pearson's advice to 

 rubber planters not to abandon the smoking process. Some of 

 these resolutions Iiave been since more or less fully carried out, 

 while all of them are still of interest to the rubber industry at 

 large. 



One of the most interesting features of the Congress was the 

 rubber exposition, the record of prizes awarded on that occasion 

 forming an appropriate conclusion to the official report. The 

 proceedings, as well as the exposition, were fully reported at the 

 time in The India Rubber World, but the able work of Seiihor 

 Miranda in compiling such an interesting record of the Congress, 

 calls for appreciation and recognition. The names of the com- 

 petitors and the subjects of their essays are quoted below. 



On the eve of another exposition, it is pleasant to recall the 

 memories, social as w-ell as technical, of the 1910 Manaos Con- 

 gress. Let us hope that many of those who attended on that 

 occasion, may be seen in New York in September. 



PRIZE ESSAYS. 



I. How should the Amazonian soil be peopled? 



COMPETITORS. 

 Dr. Augusto Ximeno de Villeroy. Prize. 

 Dr. Benjamin de Araujo Lima. Honorable mention. 



II. Can agriculture be successfully attempted in the valley of 



Amazonas? 

 In the affirmative case, what are the regions most adapted 

 for that purpose, without injury, and even as an aid to 

 the extractive industries? 



COMPETITORS. 

 Carlos Eugenio Chauvin. Prize. 

 Dr. Esmeralde Coelho. Honorable mention. 



III. What are the advantages of planting rubber in the Ama- 



zonian regions, and where should this planting be carried 

 out? Perhaps these advantages better assure the extractive 

 richness of the rubber, rendering it more solid and con- 

 necting its extractive forces more closely with the soil? 

 Of the processes adopted for the extraction and coagu- 



*Annacs do Covgresso Conivicrcial. Industrial e Agricola de Manaos, 

 1910. (Proceedings of the Commercial, Industrial and Agricultural Con- 

 Rress). held at Manaos, February 22 to 27, 1910. (Manaos, 1911. 430 pp. 

 Paper.) 



lation of the latex of the Hevca BrasUicnsis, which should 

 be preferred? 



COMPETITORS. 

 H. C. Pearson. Yz prize. 

 Carlos E. Chauvin. 5^2 prize. 

 Dr. C. Cerqueira Pinto. Honorable mention. 

 (Mr. Pearson's essay w-as reproduced in The Indl\ Rubber 

 World of October 1. 1911, page 12.) 

 IV. Means of facilitating and developing mercantile navigation 

 in the waters of Amazonas. 



COMPETITOR. 

 James Williams. Honorable mention. 



VARIOUS THESES AND ESSAYS. 

 Dr. Augusto Ximeno Villeroy. 



I. Same subject as prize essay IV. 



II. " ■' " " " II. 



III. " " " " " III. 



(Dr. Villeroy, it will be recalled, had been awarded a prize 

 in competition I, but further dealt with the questions pro- 

 pounded for the other competitions.) 



Dr. Jacques Huber. 



Methods of Extraction of the Latex of Hevea BrasU- 

 icnsis. 



J. M. Fonseca Lobo. 



The Soil of the Amazonian Region. 



J. A. Mendes. 



The Production of Caucho. 



M. Lamy Torrilhon. 



President of the Syndical Chamber of Rubber Manufac- 

 turers, Paris. 

 Rubber and the Future of Brazil. 



Emilio Castre. 

 "El Jebe." 



Dr. Passos de Miranda Filho. 



Means of Developing the Valley of Amazonas. 



RUBBER TREES OR PINES. 



Dealing with the general question of synthetic rubber, in the 

 "Commercio do Amazonas" of Manaos, Seiihor Amando Diniz 

 urges that it would be preferable to plant Hevca and extract 

 the latex after six years, thus getting directly the best rubber 

 in the world, instead of planting pine trees. The latter, he 

 states, only produces rosin after twenty-five years in sufficient 

 quantity for distillation into turpentine. Then the isoprene has 

 to be extracted by costly methods ; the final result being only 

 an artificial product. 



ATJTOMOBILE FIRE-FIGHTING APPARATUS AT BAHIA. 



The city of Bahia recently called for bids for two automobile 

 fire engines, together with a like number of ladder trucks, hose 

 carriers and ambulances. Bahia being prominent in various 

 movements connected with South American development, this 

 step is of interest. 



The rubber producing States of Brazil will be represented at 

 the New York Rubber Exposition to be held the last of next 

 September in the Grand Central Palace. The governor of Para 

 has issued orders that the rubber products that have been per- 

 manently on exhibition in Paris, together with additional ex- 

 hibits prepared especially for the occasion, shall be shipped to 

 New York. 



