184 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



[March i, 1908. 



ALUMIKUM LATEX CUPS. 



G. VAN DEN Kerckhove, the Belgian rubber expert, has brought 

 out a line of latex collecting cups made of aluminum. They 

 are referred to as having these advantages: The metal does not 

 oxidize, and the latex remains clean ; besides, the '"V. D. K." 

 cups do not bend and are almost unbreakable. Though the price 

 is somewhat higher tlian some other collecting cups, it is sug- 

 gested that planters will find them more economical in the end. 



PLANTING COMPANY NOTES. 



The Pataling Rubber Estates Syndicate, Limited, of London. 

 with estates in Selangor, issued originally 20,000 of the 30,000 

 li shares of their authorized capital. In January it was decided 

 to issue 2500 additional shares, at a premium of £3 per share, 

 these to be offered first to the existing shareholders and to be 

 paid for by March 31. This issue will provide the company with 

 £10,000 [=$48,665]. 



The Damansara (Selangor) Rubber Co., Limited, who are pro- 

 ducing rubber in Selangor, announced in January a dividend 

 of 2 per cent, on the paid up capital as of June 30, 1907. 



The directors of Cicely Rubber Estates Co., Limited, have de- 

 clared an interim dividend of 15 per cent, on all their shares, for 

 the year ending March 31, 1908, and it is expected that the com- 

 plete dividend for the year will be 30 per cent., against 10 per 

 rent, last year and 5 per cent, the year before. 



Gow, Wilson & Stanton, Limited (London), in their regular 

 circulars relating to rubber producing companies producing rub- 

 ber in Ceylon and Malaya, report dividends declared by 29 

 companies. 



V. O. Peterson, formerly a professor of chemistry at Rock 

 Island, Illinois, and secretary of the Rock Island Plantation Co., 

 has taken charge of the development of their estate in Oaxaca. 



Charles A. Benham, of Cleveland, Ohio, has been chosen by the 

 investors in the Tehuantepec Rubber Culture Co. as official in- 

 spector of Plantation "Rubio" for the current year. 



BRIEF MENTION. 



Sir IIenkv McCallu.m. governor of Ceylon, in an address to 

 the planters of that colony, said: "The iron age is past, but we 

 have now the steel age and the rubber age, and I feel certain that 

 the rubber age, which is just now in swaddling clothes, is going 

 to be one of the main things in the world's progress and that we 

 are perfectly right in looking forward to rubber as one of the 

 great industries of the world." 



The acreage planted to rubber in Java thus far is reported at 

 20,oco, and the prospects, owing to cheap labor and rich soil, are 

 said to be extremely favorable. The capital and promoters are 

 ma-.nly British, very few Dutch being interested. 



The fifth joint annual agri-horticultural show of the Straits 

 Settlements and the Federated Malay States is to be held at 

 Kuala Lumpur, Selangor, in August. It is expected that planta- 

 tion rubber will figure very prominently among the exhibits. At 

 last year's show fourteen prizes were awarcfed for displays of 



rubber. 



MERITS OF PLANTATION RUBBER. 



LEWIS & PEAT (London) in tluir rubber review for 1907 

 say: "It is with satisfaction that at the end of another year 

 we are able to report an increase in the number of manufacturers 

 and consumers who are now using plantation rubber, and who 

 send regular orders for all kinds as they are offered on the 

 market. There is no doubt that this means that by degrees old 

 prejudices arc gradually being overcome, and that experience in 

 how best to use the rubber by manufacturers is proving to 

 consumers the superior merits of cultivated over native kinds, and 

 considering the purity and reliable quality of the bulk of supplies 

 sent home for sale, we anticipate manufacturers wilt further 

 adapt their plant and use plantation more and more. We have 

 had some most satisfactory results of tests for strength brought 

 before us. and if producers will only maintain the reputation 



for purity and evenness of quality, we have no fear for the 

 future of the article, although it may be as supplies increase at 

 lower prices." 



The firm say that while "block" rubber is in demand, very few 

 planters have succeeded in producing it in even quality or of 

 clear amber color. Wet block has not been favorably received 

 and has been difficult of sale. Crepe is coming to the fore and 

 has made great strides among consumers during the year. Very 

 high prices have been paid for the best quality of worm rubber. 



THE LONDON RUBBER EXPOSITION. 



A RRANGEMENTS have been further perfected for the In- 

 ^"^ ternational Rubber and Allied Trades' Exhibition, to be 

 held in Royal Agricultural Hall, London, September 21-26, 1908, 

 and referred to last month in The India Rubber World (page 

 162). The advisory committee as now constituted embraces a 

 number of persons in different countries identified with various 

 branches of the rubber interest — planting, chemical, manufactur- 

 ing, and commercial. The list is too extensive to be given 

 here, but its character is such as to commend the enterprise. The 

 program provides for exhibits of rubber manufactures, under 23 

 headings ; machinery for rubber factories ; accessorries for rubber 

 planting, and crude and prepared rubber of every description. 

 Further information is available from A. Staines Manders, 

 y^. Chancery lane. London. W. C, England. 



THE GUAYULE RUBBER SITUATION. 



AN important rubber manufacturing concern in Austria writes 

 to The India Rubber World to ask if it is true that a 

 number of Mexican factories preparing guayule rubber have been 

 closed, and adds : "If so, an advance in the prices of this product 

 might be expected in the near future." It is true that, with the 

 reduced activity of the rubber market for some time past, and 

 the decline in prices of rubber of all grades, the production of 

 guayule became less active. Some of the smaller concerns stopped 

 work entirely and even the larger ones curtailed operations. It 

 is to be presumed, however, that the return of an active market 

 would at once stimulate work in the Mexican factories. 



It happens that the Mexican Herald of recent date contained 

 a dispatch from Torreon, the chief center of the guayule interest, 

 stating : "The guayule market is showing a marked improvement. 

 The price is better, the demand stronger and the shipments larger 

 than for two months." It may be noted, however, that the 

 Mexican paper presents no statistics or price quotations. 



THE ARTIFICIAL RUBBER PROSPECT. 



WHILE a great deal has been printed in England and the 

 British colonies during the past year on the subject of 

 "artificial" or "synthetic" rubber, and the possibility of some such 

 material competing with natural rubber, it does not appear that 

 any real progress has been made in the new field. In other 

 words, the rumors referred to have served only to scare some in- 

 vestors in rubber planting companies. 



The sentiment of the British crude rubber trade, after a year of 

 such rumor mongering, is well expressed in this paragraph from 

 the review of the trade for 1907 issued by Lewis & Peat, London 

 rubber brokers : 



"During the past year artificial rubber has been talked about 

 a great deal, but so far nothing tangible has been forthcoming, 

 and we do not know anyone in the rubber trade of any importance 

 or authority who believes in the likelihood of the production of a 

 substitute for the real article, or has seen a sample of it, and at 

 the lower range of prices for all kinds of rubber and the in- 

 creasing supplies the danger now from this source is more re- 

 mote than ever." 



