300 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



[March 1, 1916. 



Born at Stillingflect in Yorkshire, England, on July 20, 1830, 

 of a noted naval family, he entered the navy in 1844. After eight 

 years of service, during which he visited Peru, and also took part 

 in the e.xpedition of 1850-1, that searched for Sir John Franklin, 

 he resigned his 

 commission in 1852 

 to devote himself 

 to travel and scien- 

 titic investigation. 

 While in Peru in 

 1852-4, he be- 

 came acf|uainted 



trees yielding qui- 

 nine, and with 



Mfll.iUHIS (HC- 



vrus). yielding 

 rubber. He intro- 

 iluced the cultiva- 

 tion of Cinchona 

 into British India 

 in 1859-62, with 

 the result that the 

 price "i this drug 



Sir Clements R. AL' 



shilling an ounce 

 in London, and it 

 liecame available 

 for general use. 

 assistant secretary in 

 ubber activities are of 



in 1856, continued the small rubber textile business which his 

 father had started in 1832. From a very small workshop in an 

 old residence in the suburbs of Vienna, there was developed the 

 large rubber manufacturing business that today employs many 

 hundreds of hands in its factories at Garsten and Pyrach, near 

 Steyr, in Upper Austria, and at Treucsein, in Hungary, where 

 soft rubber articles, insulated wire and cables, tires and general 

 mechanical rubber goods are manufactured. 



For years a leading figure in .\ustrian industrial and com- 

 mercial circles, Mr. Reithofler was a "counselor of commerce," 

 a title conferred only on distinguished financiers and men of 

 large business. He possessed exceptional ability, a fine character 

 and strong personality. 



From 1858-87 Sir Clements served as 

 India. It was during this period that his 

 interest. .According to an article contributed by him to the 

 March, 1894, issue of The Ixdia Rubber World, he came to the 

 conclusion in 1870 that it would be desirable to establish planta- 

 tions of ficus c/astica in British India, and also to introduce the 

 best yielding plants from South .America. 



The first step was the planting of native Indian trees in As- 

 sam and other parts. He also planned for the introduction of 

 South American varieties yielding better rubber. He decided that 

 the Castilloa seed should first be obtained as these plants throve 

 in a greater variety of soil and climate than the Hevea. The 

 collecting of the needed Castilhm plants and seed — a difficult 

 task — he assigned to Robert Cross, who, in 1875, gathered six 

 hundred young plants of the best species, .\gain in 1876 Mr. 

 Cross was sent to Brazil where he collected 1,080 Hcvea plants, 

 H. A. Wickham gathered 70.000 seeds the same year. Mr. Cross 

 also proceeded to Ceara where a few young Manihot plants 

 were collected together with 700 seeds. 



Sir Clements hoped that Castilloa trees would find a congenial 

 home in western Ghats, that Hcvca would thrive in Burma and 

 that Ceara would be extensively grown in the drier plains of 

 India. 



His watchful attention to the subject of rubber cultivation had 

 much to do with the estabHshment of the eastern plantations. 



He was secretary from 1863-88, and president from 1893-1905 

 of the Royal Geographical Society. He wrote books on vario.is 

 subjects as well as editing 25 volumes. His recreation was trav- 

 eling and topographical research. Sir Clements was Commander 

 of the Order of Christ. Commander of the Pole Star of Sweden 

 and of St. Olaf of Norway. 



MORIZ JOSEF EEITHOFFER. 



Moriz Josef ReithoflFer, senior member of the firm of Josef 

 Reithoffer's Sohne Gummi- und Kabelwerke, Vienna, .Austria, 

 one of the pioneers in the .Austrian rubber industry, died at 

 Vienna, on December 14. 1915, aged 77 years. 



Mr. Reithoffer, together with his brothers, Gustav and Robert, 



RICHARD S. BRYANT. 



Richard S. Bryant, factory manager of the Standard Weld- 

 ing Co., Cleveland, Ohio, died at the Post-Graduate Hospital, 

 New York City, on January 28, aged 46 years. 



Mr. Bryant was an authority on automobile rims, of which 

 he invented several special types. He organized the Bryant 

 Rim Co., Columbus, Ohio, which was later absorbed by the 

 Diamond Rubber Co., Akron, Ohio. He was then appointed 

 consulting engineer of the United Rim Co., of Akron, a hold- 

 ing company for several rim patents owned by large rubber 

 companies. Later he became consulting engineer of the 

 Standard Welding Co., and also its factory manager. Mr. 

 Bryant was a member of the Standards Committee of the 

 Society of Automobile Engineers. 



TH. L, A. RUNGE. 



Th. L. .\. Runge, said to Ije the first to introduce rubber 

 planting in Sumatra, died on December 28, 1915, in Hanover, 

 Germany, from injuries received in a street car accident. In 

 1890 he planted "Boeloe" Fkus on the west coast of Sumatra, 

 and in 1900 introduced Hevca into his plantations. Two years 

 ago he took up his residence in Hanover, but retained the man- 

 agement of his plantations. 



HOLLAND PROHIBITS RUBBER EXPORTATION. 



-A royal decree issued on January 27, 1916, prohibits the ex- 

 porting of rubber from Holland. It is understood that this 

 measure will result in Great Britain ordering no further inter- 

 ference with shipments of rubber to Holland. Heretofore rubber 

 cargoes have lieen held up until it was conclusively proved that 

 they were not consigned to German agents in the Netherlands. 



RUBBER CLUB ANNOUNCEMENT REGARDING EXPORTING. 



It has been announced Ijy tlie Rubber Club of America, Inc., 

 that it has recently come to the attention of its Rubber Advisory 

 Committee that some export managers are not familiar with the 

 provisions of the British Rubber Guarantee with respect to ex- 

 port shipments of manufactured rubber goods. 



Many manufacturers have obtained lucrative export orders 

 from Scandinavian countries on the express stipulation that the 

 goods be shipped by direct steamer. Members of sales organiza- 

 tions will often go ahead with such orders in evident ignorance 

 of the guarantee which the executive head of their firm has 

 signed, and it is only when they find that the steamship company 

 refuses to take the goods that they come to a proper under- 

 standing of the situation. 



It makes no difference who the customer in the neutral Eu- 

 ropean country may be, whether it be the Government of that 

 country or anyone else, for under Great Britain's restrictions, 

 all rubber goods must be shipped to a consignee in the United 

 Kingdom and a license obtained from the War Trade depart- 

 ment in London for reshipment therefrom. 



