June i, 1904.] 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



301 



CEARA RUBBER TREE. 

 [At Polgahawella ; planted about 1886.] 



" You couldn't have cane bottomed chairs in a railway station 

 in America, now, could you ? " said he to me. 



" Why not ? " I asked, much surprised. 



"On account of the extraordinary habit you Americans have 

 of standing on chairs, and making stump speeches," he re- 

 sponded with conviction. 



That he was in dead earnest, and that no denial of mine 

 would affect his belief, one look at his countenance showed. 

 It seemed a pity that he should not add to his store of knowl- 

 edge along that line, so I said carelessly : 



"That of course used to be so a few years ago. Indeed, it 

 was a great nuisance. In public and in private, at the theater, 

 at concerts, at receptions, even in church, stump speakers 

 would suddenly mount chairs and harangue all in sight. It 

 was a disease, you know, caused by a germ that was bred in 

 cotton fields of New Hampshire." 



" Fancy ! " gasped my listener. 



"Oh yes, pure and simple," I continued (referring to his ex- 

 clamation). "The germ is known as the Septennis vociferens, 

 and I may say modestly that it was due to a little invention of 

 my own that it is no longer feared in America." 



" How interesting ! And pray what was your invention ?" 



" Is it possible that you never heard of Pearson's Patent 

 Orator Discourager ? " I asked with pained surprise. " It sold 

 very well ; indeed, I made a comfortable sum out of it. Quite 

 simple it was, but it did the work. It was, in a word, a semi- 

 spherical rubber spring, so placed beneath the chair bottom 

 that when one tried to step there, he was instantly thrown over 

 backwards, the shock killing the germ, but rarely injuring the 

 man. If, however, one sat in the chair, the spring had no 

 effect." 



"Very ingenious ! A most excellent device ! I congratulate 

 you ! " exclaimed my listener, warmly. " Of course it was only 

 useful in your own country." 



" I was coming to that. Having sold all I can in America, I 

 am now about to prepare a foreign market for it." 



" But — but no one makes stump speeches here, for instance ! " 

 he said. 



"Ah, that's just it. They don't now, but they will. Our 



laboratory is working night and day producing healthy cultures 

 of the germ. I am traveling around the world planting them 

 everywhere. They are invisible practically. The back of your 

 chair this moment is covered with them where my hand rested 

 before you came along. Here is my train. Good bye." 



As the train left the station, a once peaceful and self satisfied 

 encyclopedia of American habits, with red face and anxious 

 mien, was standing far away from the three chairs, and making 

 a stump speech to a large crowd of bewildered coolies. Those 

 germs worked so quickly on him that I almost believed in their 

 existence. 



A few minutes later I was in Kandy, and comfortably estab- 

 lished at the Queen's Hotel. 



The city of Kandy (Hill town) is noted chiefly as having 

 been the seat of the Kandyan kings, the possessor of the tem- 

 ple of the Sacred Tooth, and at the present time for having 

 only one hotel, " The Queen's," where a German tourist finds 

 good entertainment for about $2 a day, while an American or 

 an Englishman must pay $5. The city lies in a lovely valley, 

 and is built around an artificial lake, on an island in the middle 

 of which once stood the royal harem. The walks and drives 

 around the city, over beautifully kept roads that ascend with 

 only the slightest grades, are simply ideal. 



As a matter of duty I visited the Buddhist temple of the 

 Sacied Tooth during service. It was after nightfall, and the 

 beating of the torn toms and noise of conches was almost deaf- 

 ening. I secured a guide at the main entrance, or rather he se- 

 cured me, and, accompanied by two self elected explainers, and 

 a boy carrying a lighted candle, we went from one shrine to an- 

 other, giving up contributions of small change before each, 

 jostled by crowding worshippers laden with fruit and flowers. 



PORTION OF OLD HEVEA''TREE. 

 [Showing proper healing of wounds that do not pass through the cambium, and 

 injury caused by those that go too deep. Wounds made by chisel and mallet 

 Heneratgoda Garden ; tree 13 years old. J 



