364 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



[August i, 1908. 



to convey. The mechanical tests adopted for testing the qualities 

 of different rubber mixings, tests such as exposure to a powerful 

 sand blast and to streams of falling ore, certainly seem to have 

 been conceived in a right spirit as having a direct connection with 

 practice. Although the author gives a summarized account of the 

 manufacture of such belting suitable to the uninformed engineer, 

 he does not give away anything on which the rubber manufac- 

 turer might seize as a material guide to successful emulation. 

 There should not, however, be any lions in the path of those 

 who are desirous of competing with the Robins belt. Mr. Bald- 

 win refers to the harm that has been done to the belt industry' by 

 the mining men having only a limited knowledge of rubber, 

 but surely blame is equally to be laid at the door of the rubber 

 manufacturer who makes belts for mining purposes of which 

 he is totally ignorant, and who does not take the trouble of dis- 

 pelling any of this ignorance by consultation with a mining expert. 

 Mr. Baldwin is evidentally of much the same mind as myself, as 

 he advises the purchase of belts only from specialists who know 

 the conditions of their use and can be held responsible. I am 

 not quite sure that rubber manufacturers generally will care to 

 give a guarantee for conveyor belts ; anyhow, it would require 

 careful consideration because what might last a long time with 

 amorphous material could not be expected to do as well with crys- 

 talline rocks or angular ore particles. 



Among the portraits from his I\Iajesty downward, which are 

 to be seen this year at the Royal Academy exhibition, in Lon- 

 don, is a good one bearing the inscrip- 

 PEESONAL. jj^j^ "Presented to John Sykes, Esq., 



J. P., by shareholders of the English Card Clothing Co., Limited, 

 in recognition of his ten years' chairmanship." That at least is the 

 substance of the inscription, as far as I remember it. Mr. Sykes, 

 though also concerned with cotton spinning, was the moving 

 spirit in connection with the formation of the above company, 

 and is well known in England and America in the advocacy of 

 its interests. A Liberal L'nionist in politics. Mr. Sykes is strongly 

 opposed to the tariff reform proposals now so much in evidence, 

 and is always ready to back up his dislike of these proposals by 

 facts and figures from the cotton trade, with the details of which 

 he is so much at home. 



AN ENGLISH RUBBER FRAUD. 



Til li high esteem in which rubber investments are held in 

 Great Britain is indicated by the ease with which frauds 

 of the baldest character have been perpetrated in the name 

 of rubber. Recent proceedings in the London bankruptcy court, 

 in respect of "The Brazilian Rubber Plantations and Estates, 

 Limited," recall the prospectus of that company, issued in Febru- 

 ar\-, igo6. in connection with half page newspaper advertisements 

 inviting the public to buy its shares. This prospectus was drawn 

 up in the most approved form, starting with a list of directors 

 headed by 



Sir ARTHUR PERCY FITZGER.ALD AVLMER, Bart.. Donadra Lodge, 

 Westend, Hants. 



The capital was £ 180,000 [=$875,970] ; there were to be no 

 debentures; the plan was to consolidate four estates in the state 

 of Ceara, Brazil, near the seaport of Fortaleza, on which had 

 been "systematically and scientifically planted" about 400,000 trees 

 of the Hci'ia Brasiliensis and Manihot Glaziovii species, said 

 then to be ready for tapping, and estimated to yield 450,000 

 pounds of rubber t'hc first year, giving a profit of £67,500, be- 

 sides the returns from coffee and sugar cane, already productive. 

 The area was stated to be "approximately 12,500 acres." All of 

 which was very alluring, though on looking back to the pros- 

 pectus one may note that nowhere in the document is a state- 

 ment made in such terms as to be capable of verification. 



It transpired in the bankruptcy proceedings — for everything 

 turned out wrong, and there was a general rumpus, and a 

 motion to go into liquidation — that the history of the company 

 developed in these stages : 



(1) An option was given for the purchase of certain properties 

 for £15,000, to persons who gave 



(2) .\n option for their purchase at £20,000 to parties who 

 turned it over to 



(3) The Estates and Industrial Syndicate. Limited, of London, 

 for the stated purchase price of £50,000 in cash and shares. The 

 final step was the sale, by the syndicate, to 



(4) The Brazilian Rubber Plantations and Estates, Limited 

 — formed January 31, igo6 — who were to pay £150,000 (wher 

 the public supplied the funds). 



These transactions followed close one upon the other, and in 

 volved the handling of very little money. A witness who was 

 identified wath every step in the transactions testified that upon 

 the organization of the final company, when some cash was 

 actually essential, he borrowed £1,500 upon an engagement to 

 pay £1.000 for its use for five or six days. 



"Why did you borrow at that high rate?" he was asked in 

 court. 



"Because I was a fool." [Renewed laughter.] 



The deal was facilitated by favorable reports made by Mr. 

 Knevett Meiter. who testified in the bankruptcy court that he 

 had never seen the Ceara estates, or been within 500 miles of 

 them ; he did not know one rubber species from another ; he had 

 been paid £50 for writing one report, without knowing what it 

 was for, and had signed another which was handed to him, 

 without his having helped to draw it up. There were mistakes 

 in the reports, he had learned. A letter had mentioned twenty 

 "mules" on the property, which had been read twenty "miles," 

 and translated into 12,500 English acres, whereas the area was 

 found later to be only 2,700 acres. Other witnesses testified that 

 the promises of the prospectus were not realized, with respect 

 either to the rubber trees or the buildings and other improve- 

 ments on the estate. 



.•\s to the baronet on the board, one of the promoters, a Mr. 

 Harbord, testified to paying £50 in cash and £500 in shares to 

 secure his introduction as a director. Sir Arthur Aylmer him- 

 self gave evidence. He had never been on a board of directors 

 before and he had no knowledge of rubber estates. He had 

 been present at some of the meetings, but had no clear recollec- 

 tion of what took place. The record concludes : 



The Official Receiver. — You simply did as you were asked to do when 

 you attended at the board meetings? 



Sir Arthur Aylmer. — Certainly. [Laughter.] 



Mr. Harbord (a former witness). — Do you suggest that I deceived you 

 as to Mr. Meiter's report? 



Sir Arthur. — Not that I know of. Did you deceive me? 



Mr. Harbord. — Certainly not. [Renewed laughter.] 



A MEXICAN RUBBER YARN. 



T T was at a reunion of old timers, exchanging mining e.xperi- 

 •'■ ences in ^lexico, that the reporter for the Parral Miner picked 

 up this story which he regarded as the best one told : 



"Did I ever tell you of the rubber tnine I discovered on the 

 isthmus?" asked the man from the hot country, a tall, slim, 

 tanned man with a cigarette in his mouth. "Well, this mine I 

 discovered by accident. I was riding along an arroya one 

 day, when I noticed an outcrop of a peculiar looking 

 mineral, which on closer inspection proved to be a vein 

 of pure rubber. • I commenced to count my money right 

 away and thought I would just load up some of my pack mules 

 with some of the bonanza, but couldn't figure how to mine the 

 bloomin' thing, then I thought of hitching a team of my mules 

 to it and pulling it out. Well, that was a fair idea, but it wouldn't 

 work ; the mules pulled and tugged along till they got a good 

 piece of the rubber out of the ground. Then they stopped for a 

 breathing spell; they sort of lost their hold in the rocks and the 

 rubber slammed them back against the rocks and crippled them 

 for life. I still Icnow where this is and am willing to show it to 

 any of you for the price of a drink." 



