December i, 1907.] 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



89 



CRUDE RUBBER INTERESTS. 



A NEW RUBBER TREE IN INDO-OEINA. 



THE discovery of a new rubber tree in French Indo-China, 

 described in the Bulletin Economique, is of interest not so 

 much on account of the tree as in showing the methods of the 

 savage gatherers and the careful consideration whicli the French 

 give to all such discoveries. The new tree, which belongs to the 

 Uhnaccae, is called "may ten nong" or "teo-non," and is de- 

 scribed by Dr. Ph. Eberhardt as growing 50 feet high, the leaves 

 being a natural sandpaper. It grows only in a small area in the 

 uplands back of Tonkin, but is there quite abundant. The herring 

 bone is the best tapping, and the best coagulant is sulphuric 

 acid, though the natives usually boil the milk. The best tapping 

 is in the fall, after the rainy season, though some tapping is done 

 in the spring, at which time the latex contains 67.6 per cent, of 

 rubber. Some samples, carefully prepared in the native manner, 

 took the gold medal at the Marseilles fair, and other samples 

 were valued at 12 to 15 francs a kilo. [The higher price equaled 

 $1.31 1-3 per pound.] After the discovery of this tree there was 

 a steady increase in the output of Tonkin rubber, until the gen- 

 eral decline in rubber prices disheartened the natives, who began 

 adulterating the product, causing prices to fall still lower. 



RUBBER IN PORTUGUESE EAST AFRICA. 



The latest report (for the year 1906) of the important Com- 

 panhia de Mozambique, trading in Portuguese West Africa, and 

 having for their base the port of Beira, is generally favorable. 

 It is stated : "The quantity of indigenous india-rubber gathered 

 for account of the company, which has gone on increasing since 

 1901, has exceeded by upwards of 25 per cent, in 1906 the 

 quantity gathered in the previous year." The amount gath 

 ered is not given, but the report says : "The total net weight 

 of 1906 india-rubber which we have sold on the London 

 and Hamburg markets has amounted to 25,190 kilos [=S5,4l8 

 pounds], which have yielded, at par, ^12,638 12s. gd. [^i$6l,- 

 505.93]." The highest price obtained was 4s. gVid. [=$l.i6^] 

 per pound. Mention is made of an improvement in the quality 

 of the rubber, with corresponding better prices. The company's 

 report for 1904 mentioned the sale of 18,502 kilos [=40,790 

 pounds] of rubber, at a profit equivalent to 46^ cents per pound. 

 The latest report states that the natives are being encouraged to 

 plant Ceara rubber. 



RtTBBER DIRECT FROU lOUITOS. 



A DIRECT steamship service between New York and Iquitos, 

 Peru, has been inaugurated by the Iquitos Steamship Co., Limited, 

 for which Booth & Co., of New York, are agents. For the 

 present the trade will be taken care of by two boats, the Bolivar 

 and Ucayali, with sailings from New York every 40 to 45 days, 

 the distance being about 4940 miles. A regular steamer service 

 between Iquitos and Europe has existed for some years, so that 

 the greater part of the rubber produced above that port has gone 

 across the Atlantic rather than to New York, and New York 

 shipments to the upper rubber districts have been transferred to 

 lighters at Manaos, Brazil, and towed to their destination. 



BRITISH GUIANA. 



The difficulty over the British Guiana rubber concession [See 

 The Indi.\ Rubber World, August i, 1907 — page 337] has been 

 settled. The withdrawal of a certain suit against the governor 

 of the colony over granting the concession asked for by the 

 British Guiana Rubber Concession, Limited, having been filed, the 

 concession has been granted. 



Exports of balata from British Guiana from January i to 

 October 30 of this year amounted to 823,940 pounds ; for the same 

 period last year, 543.651 pounds; the greatest amount for any full 

 year in the past, 550,691 pounds. 



NATAL, SOUTH AFRICA. 



The first shipment of Tongaland and Zululand rubber was 

 dispatched from Durban for London on October 11. A large 

 tract of rubber country is being worked under a concession 



granted by the Natal government and regular shipments are ex- 

 pected. The quality of the rubber is said to be excellent. 



CONGO FREE STATE. 



The steamer Bruxellcsville, leaving Antwerp on October 3 for 

 the Congo, carried 155 cases, containing 86,000 seeds of Hevea 

 Brasiliensis, to be distributed among the principal rubber trading 

 companies. 



RUBBER INTERESTS IN EUROPE. 



GREAT BRITAIN. 



jV/IR. FRANK REDDAWAY, j. p., chairman and managing 

 ^'•'- director of F. Reddaway & Co., Limited (Manchester), on 

 his recent birthday, which was the occasion for an outing for the 

 employes, was presented by the latter with a handsome silver 

 casket. The date also marked the completion of Mr. Reddaway's 

 thirty-fifth year in connection with the company, of which he was 

 the founder. They are makers of the "Camel's Hair" belting and 

 mechanical rubber goods. Mr. Reddaway had just returned from 

 Moscow, Russia, where the company for some years have main- 

 tained a branch factory, employing 800 to 1000 hands, according 

 to the season. 



W. T. Henley's Telegraph Works Co., Limited, announced, to 

 take eflfect from October 24, a reduction of 10 per cent, in their 

 list prices (dated March, 1907) for rubber covered wires and 

 cables, the discounts to remain unchanged. 



Messrs. Joseph Fynney & Co., india-rubber merchants of Liver- 

 pool, have removed from Old Hall street, where they had been 

 located since the establishment of the firm, to a larger and more 

 convenient suite of offices at 55, Brown's buildings. Exchange. 



NORWAY. 



The exportation of rubber footwear from this country to 

 China has begun. Such goods are exported to China also by 

 Great Britain, .'\ustria-Hungary and Russia. 



ITALY. 



Tenders were received lately for supplying to the Italian navy 

 rubber goods to the value of 185,200 lire [=$35,733.60]. 



WANTS AND INQUIRIES. 



[447J \Y/ANTED names of makers of aluminum lasts for 



w 



rubber boots and shoes. 



[448] A correspondent writes to ask who makes rubber 

 castors. 



[449] "Would you favor us with the names and addresses of 

 some firms who handle rubber valves of all kinds, that you could 

 recommend as responsible parties to handle such goods for us?" 



[450] "I have a quantity of medicinal plaster leavings which 

 contain about 20 per cent, of upriver fine Para rubber and would 

 like the address of waste rubber dealers likely to be interested 

 in goods of this class." 



[451] Who makes "Rhiner" belting? 



[452] Wanted names of dealers in a very fine texture of 

 sulphur. 



[453] Who makes rubber heels bearing a monogram the 

 letters of which are "T. R. and E."? 



[454] Wanted names of manufacturers of a flexible metallic 

 hose. 



[455] Who are manufacturers of chopping blocks? 



[456] Is there a machine for making rubber toy ballons, and 

 if so, who makes it? 



[457] A correspondent asks who are the principal dealers in 

 flour of sulphur? 



[458] Information has been requested regarding the process 

 of Foelsing and Bogel for the extraction of rubber from various 

 plants. 



[459] A foreign correspondent wishes to communicate with 

 someone well acquainted with American rubber balloon manu- 

 facturers. 



