February i, 1904.] 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



177 



AMERICAN RUBBER GOODS EXPORTS. 



OFFICIAL statement of values of exports of manufactures 

 of India-rubber and Gutta-percha, for the month of De- 

 cember, 1903, and for the past five calendar years : 



(a) Included in " All Other " prior to July I, 1899. 



IMPORTS INTO THE UNITED STATES. 

 1901. 1902. 



India rubber goods $462,703 $562,997 



Gutta-percha goods 121,485 121,123 



'903- 



$682,982 



442,580 



Total $581,188 



Reexports 14,288 



$684,120 $1,125,562 

 4.655 8.624 



Net Imports $566,900 $679,465 §1,116,938 



AMAZON STEAM NAVIGATION CO. 



TO the Editor of The India Rubber World : The di- 

 rectors of the Amazon Steam Navigation Co., Limited- 

 at their meeting to-day, have declared a half yearly dividend 

 on account of the current year of 2 per cent, or 5 shillings per 



share, free of income tax, payable on and after January 5, 1904. 

 Also that the transfer books of this company will be closed 

 from Saturday, December 19, to January 2, 1904, both days in, 



elusive. G. STREET & CO., LTD. 



30, Cornhill.E. C, London, December 19, 1903. 



The Hon. Charles Foster, of Fostoria, Ohio, and president 

 of the Pan-American Planters' Co., a rubber planting enter- 

 prise in Mexico, with offices in Chicago, died on January 10. 

 He had served eight years as a member of congress from Ohio, 

 two terms as governor of the state, and had been secretary of 

 the treasury in President Harrison's cabinet. 



Mr. Maxwell F. Riddle, treasurer of the Republic Develop- 

 ment Co., and manager of the Obispo rubber plantation at 

 Tuxtepec, Oaxaca, Mexico, has returned to the plantation. 



A contest having arisen between the Chicago city railway 

 companies and their employes over the right of the latter to 

 wear membership badges of their union while on duty, at a 

 meeting of the Chicago Federation of Labor a resolution com- 

 mitting that body to the support of the railway employes was 

 adopted, on motion o( William T. Dunn, of Chicago Local No. 

 1, Amalgamated Rubber Workers' Union of America. Officials 

 of the railway state that their attitude is due to the fact that em- 

 ployes not wearing the union badge have been attacked, and 

 that rows over it have caused three deadly assaults and one 

 death. 



REVIEW OF THE CRUDE RUBBER MARKET. 



TH E price of Para, rubber is again on a dollar basis, as a re- 

 sult of an advance which has been gradual for the 

 whole month past, though it was accentuated by the 

 result of the recent large sale at Antwerp. The aver- 

 age advance for the month of the Para grades on which quota- 

 tions are given below was fully 12 per cent. A marked advance 

 has been made also in Africans, amounting to an average of 7 

 per cent, on the grades listed in our report. The rise has been 

 somewhat less on Centrals and East Indians, but all told the 

 advance has been more general and more decided than is often 

 to be recorded in a single month. 



There is less talk at this time than was to be heard at the end 

 of last summer about the influence of speculative manipulation 

 of the market. It is generally considered that prices declined 

 to too low a figure in December last, in view of the statistical 

 position of the market and the activity of the manufacturers. 

 The easing of prices at that time was the effect both of a re- 

 action from the extreme high figures of September, and of re- 

 ports of an increasing output from the Amazon region. The 

 early prediction of a larger crop of Para grades has been con- 

 firmed, our figures showing heavier receipts thus far at Para 

 than for the same date in the season in any preceding year. 

 Stocks are exceptionally low, however, in all markets, and 

 buying is active. 



In the United States no previous winter has shown such con- 

 tinuous operation of^the rubber shoe factories, or on so large a 

 scale. The manufacturers of automobile tires have a busy sea- 

 son before them, in spite of assertions by some of our corre- 

 spondents on another page that they were beginning the year 

 with a season of comparative quiet. The manufacturers of me- 

 chanical goods in general are also busy, having recovered from 



the slightly reduced demand for goods which they reported 

 during the last weeks of 1903. 



The consumption of rubber in the United States during last 

 year was very much larger than during the preceding year, and 

 the rate is not less now. Furthermore, the increased consump- 

 tion in Great Britain, Germany, and France combined was 

 equal to or greater than in the United States for the same 

 period. The arrivals at Pari (including Caucho) have been : 



1900-01. 1901-02. 1902-03. 1903-04. 



To December 31 11,300 13,630 12,250 13 470 



" January 31 13-740 16,490 14.650 016,730 



[a— To January 27, 1904.] 



Following is a statement of prices of Para grades, one year 

 ago, one month ago, and on January 30 — the current date: 



PARA. Feb. 1. '03. Jan. I, '04. Jan. 30. 



Islands, fine, new 83@84 90(891 99@ioo 



Islands, fine, old SS@8q @ @ 



Upriver, fine, new 86@87 93@ 94 1041(8105 



Upriver, fine, old 91(892 96® 97 None here 



Islands, coarse, new 53@54 55@ 5 6 64(865 



Islands, coarse, old @ @ None here 



Upriver, coarse, new 7I@72 76(8 77 83(8 84 



Upriver, coarse, old (8 @ 85(8 86 



Caucho (Peruvian) sheet 56(857 6i@ 62 64(865 



Caucho (Peruvian) ball 6g@70 72® 73 75(8 76 



The market for other sorts in New York on which the ad- 

 vance has been rather less marked, is as follows : 



AFRICAN. Lopori strip Jprime 81 (882 



. . ,., _, Ikelemba 90 @gi 



Sierra Leone, istquaht) 90 @<)l Madagascar, pinky... .82 (883 



Massai, red 90 @gi 



Benguella 72 (873 CENTRALS. 



Cameroon ball 65 @66 Esmeralda, sausage. . .72 (873 



Accra flake 35 ©36 Guayaquil, strip 62 (863 



Accra buttons None here Nicaragua, scrap ... .72 (873 



Lopori ball, prime 90 @gi Panama, slab 55 (856 



