398 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



[August i, 1904. 



Reports. This we have carefully read, and to us or any one else at all 

 familiar with the rubber industry in Mexico, Mr. Conley's report betrays 

 either dense ignorance of the subject matter of his report, or a wilful 

 and malicious purpose to destroy the confidence of the American people 

 in an industry which has every reason to be encouraged and every pros- 

 pect of success, and in which large sums of American capital are legiti- 

 mately invested. 



We respectfully submit that if the industry is of sufficient importance 

 to be reported upon at all, it is first entitled to investigation by one who 

 is qualified to express an intelligent opinion. Certainly this Mr. Conley 

 is not so qualified, and for a department of the government to publish 

 and circulate, as an official report, any such aggregation of misstate- 

 ments, is to utilize its powers to injure instead of promote the interests 

 of American citizens. 



We know not how other rubber planting companies feel upon this 

 subject, but, speaking for ourselves, we beg to assure you that we shall 

 welcome to our plantation at any time a competent representative of 

 your honorable department, whose report we are sure will show the in- 

 correctness of Mr. Conley's statements. 



We respectfully assure your honorable department that we ask no fa- 

 vors or encouragement from any one, but we do seriously object to the 

 alleged " reports " by such of the consular service as serve only to bring 

 discredit upon their calling. Respectfully, squire carnsey, 

 Secretary. 



HOSE ON NEW YORK HARBOR BOATS. 



THE recent disaster in the East river, New York, where over 

 a thousand passengers on the steamer Slocum lost their 

 lives by fire and drowning, was followed by a rigid inspection, 

 by government employes, of the steamboats in New York har- 

 bor, from which it appears that conditions generally on the 

 boats are better than on the ill fated Slocum. This applies to 

 the fire hose on the boats, as well as toother equipment, though 

 it appears from a report in the New York Sun that the cotton 

 ,hose made a better showing than rubber. The captain of the 

 steamer Saratoga is quoted as saying : 



" These tests show just what my experience has taught me. 

 Unlined cotton hose is the best for use on boats. It can be 

 stowed away easier, is easier to get into action, and will wear 

 longer. Fold up a coil of rubber lined hose as you have to on 

 boats like this, and the rubber gets bad before you know it." 



ADDITIONAL TRADE NOTES. 



DURING a storm on July 28 one of the buildings of the Vul- 

 canized Rubber Co., at Morrisville, Pennsylvania, was 

 struck by lightning, causing flames which were extinguished by 

 the factory fire brigade, assisted by the town fire department, 

 only after a loss amounting to $10,000 had been caused. It was 

 an old frame building used for the storage of scrap rubber, and 

 the only one of the company's buildings not insured or pro- 

 vided with automatic sprinklers. Plans had been made already 

 by the eompany for a new two story brick building for the stor- 

 age of scrap. 



= A good exhibit of Daniel's P. P. P. (packing) was made by 

 'the Quaker City Rubber Co., Coronation House, Lloyd's 

 avenue, London, E. C, at the International Colliery Exhibition 

 held in London, from June 25 to July 2. 



= The Edward M. Caffall Waterproofing Co., incorporated 

 during July under New York laws, with $50,000 capital, has no 

 relation to the waterproof clothing industry. The Caffall 

 waterproofing compound has been applied to the Egyptian 

 obelisk in Central Park, New York, as a preservative, and the 

 idea is to apply it to stone work generally, where exposed to 

 the elements. 



PERSONAL MENTION. 



Mr. William H. Acken, president of the New York Rubber 

 Co., sailed on July 13, on the new White Star liner Baltic, for a 

 vacation in Europe, to last about two months. He was accom- 

 panied by Mr. John P. Ryder, vice president of the company, 

 who may remain in Berlin for a year or more. 



= Mr. Hermann Muller; of F. R. Miiller & Co., crude rubber 

 merchants, of Glasgow, Scotland, recently paid his first visit to 

 the United States, during which he saw a number of the prin- 

 cipal rubber works. 



SPORTS OF RUBBER MEN. 



Employes of the importing house of George Borgfeldt & Co. 

 maintain a baseball team, which would be pleased to arrange 

 games with other teams in the rubber trade. Applications 

 may be made to C. H. Norton, manager, Nos. 48-50 West 

 Fourth street, New York. 



REVIEW OF THE CRUDE RUBBER MARKET. 



HIGHER prices are prevailing for rubber at this writing 

 than have ever before been quoted in this Journal — 

 higher, indeed, than have ever been known in the 

 trade, save in a single case, a good many years ago, 

 when extreme figures resulted from a speculative movement 

 which was bound to be short lived. To-day's prices, however, 

 cannot reasonably be expected to decline so suddenly, or to so 

 great an extent ; they are the result of conditions of a more 

 permanent and a more legitimate character. 



It is hardly worth while to recount here the details of stocks 

 and of consumption which have been indicated constantly in 

 our pages, in view of which present prices are not a cause for 

 surprise. It is true that the course of rubber prices is not al- 

 ways along the lines indicated by what is called the " statis- 

 tical position " of the raw material, lower prices occurring at 

 times with declining stocks, but this is, we believe, exceptional, 

 if the whole visible supply of the world is considered. 



The size of the Amazon river output — Para rubber and 

 Caucho — for the crop year ending June 30 has already been in- 

 dicated, showing an unimportant increase over past years. 

 The first month of the new season shows even less encourag- 



ing returns, arrivals at Para during the first 28 days of July 

 being reported at only 1000 tons, against an average of 11 50 

 tons for the complete month of July for five years past. The 

 future tendency of prices must be determined by the extent of 

 the consuming demand, and there are not apparent any in- 

 dications that this is to be less in the near future. In the 

 United States it has been usual to expect a decline in general 

 business activity just prior to a national political campaign, 

 but nothing of the kind appears imminent in connection with 

 the presidential contest now opening. Nor is there visible in 

 Europe any evidence of an early decline in industrial activity, 

 and, therefore, in the demand for rubber. 



It is true that the figures referred to above relate only to 

 Para rubbers, and that prices of these sorts have in the past 

 been modified by the output of lower grades. While our Ant- 

 werp statistics show some improvement in arrivals at that port 

 during the present year, the figures still are lower than for past 

 years, while we print on another page some predictions entitled 

 to weight that the African output, as a whole, is on a decline. 



As for prices realized at Antwerp last month, while the figures 

 indicate a fall, the opinion continues to be expressed in Amer- 



