October 1, 1915.] 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



WHOLESALE RUBBER WASHING. 



RUBBER planters in the Far East, particularly those who are 

 situated near forests that abound in wild rubber, have for 

 a long time been in the habit of purchasing gum from the na- 

 tive collectors. At first such rubber was shipped in the condition in 

 which it was received. Later, however, the progressive planters 

 installed machinery for washing and drying, and were able to 

 substantially improve the quality of the wild product. A typical 

 instance of this planting accessory is furnished by the Kusching 

 Trading Co., Limited, of Sarawak, Borneo. 



It was formed in 1909 by J. H. Brodie, a Scotchman who had 

 spent 6 or 8 years in Sarawak with the Borneo Co., Limited, 

 and was thoroughly familiar with local conditions, and R. S. 

 Hardy, an American who had spent several years in Mexico in 

 the guayule business, together with a number of local Chinese 

 traders. 



An old "Go-Down," or storehouse, was secured and reno- 

 vated, and in it were placed a small 8-inch washer and an up- 

 right engine which ran the washer by belt. The original object 

 of the mill was to refine Borneo rubber by washing and sheet- 

 ing, and then to dry it ready for shipment instead of shipping 

 in the crude form. For a while the 8-inch washer did its work, 

 but often with additional coolie power, for at times the stifif 

 chunks of rubber stuck in the 

 rolls, and the belt would slip, 

 until a couple of coolies gave 

 it an additional heave, forcing 

 the rubber through the rolls. 



Finally it was decided to put 

 in real washers, and two 24- 

 inch washers were built for the 

 company in Singapore and a 

 75 horsepower engine was ob- 

 tained. These washers were at 

 that time the heaviest and 

 largest ever used in the Far 

 East. The company had some 

 difficulty in installing this 

 larger machinery, for the tubu- 

 lar boiler which was brought 

 over from Singapore was quite 

 a problem. It was landed on 



the dock in Kuching and fortunately the chief engineer on the 

 steamship "Rajah of Sarawak," who purchased the boiler for the 

 company, had foresight enough to bring over a truck to get it 



steam winch onto the truck on the wharf, and then coolies with a 

 long rope pulled the truck through the wharf storehouse to the 

 street. Here every stray Chinaman and Malay was gathered in 

 and pressirl into si-rvice until there were 50 of them luillinfc the 



Inter 



boiler up to the mill, with great shouting and yelling. After 

 much hard labor the new equipment was set going. A vacuum 

 dryer was also installed, the first ever used in Borneo 



The company progressed 



^?s^r-^"\ 



Pi. 



finely for a time, but the ad- 

 vent of plantation rubber in 

 quantity and its low price, and 

 the falling off in use of low- 

 priced wild rubber caused the 

 company to drop this work 

 and devote its attention to 

 washing plantation rubber. 



In Borneo the natives have 

 planted many acres of Hcvea 

 trees in small areas — anywhere 

 from one to one hundred 

 ■icres — and scattered all over 

 llie country; and as their trees 

 came into bearing they were 

 able to tap and collect their 

 LCHixc Tr.\I)!.\i^ Co. latex and coagulate it; but 



their method of sheeting was 

 by rolling the coagulated latex with a bottle or a rolling pin. 

 The company, therefore, has been a great help to them, as it now 

 takes the coagulated latex, either buying it outright or charging 

 so much per pound, and sheets and washes the rubber properly. 

 Some of this rubber which the Kuching company has prepared 

 lias brought the highest price in the Singapore auctions. 



AS TO FEEDING HENS ON LATEX. 



unilicr of The Imu.\ Rubber WoRi.n there was an 



from the wharf up to the mill— a distance of about a mile. In 

 Sarawak there are no horses or motor trucks; in fact, coolie 

 labor only. The boiler was transferred from the steamer by the 



article forecasting uses for rubber, the concluding paragraph of 

 which ran as follows: "The list grows long and this is but a 

 beginning; there are scores of industries yet to be viewed, and. 

 above all, the backbone of all industry— the farmer— has been 

 nculected. Perhaps— and this is but a vague suggestion— if he 

 raised his milk-fed hens on rubber latex, egg shells would cease 

 to be fragile." 



The "Goodrich," the spriglnly pul>lication issued monthly by 

 The B. F. Goodrich Co., quoted quite extensively from this ar- 

 ticle in a late number and followed the concluding paragraph 

 with this addendum: "In this connection we are reminded of 

 certain hotel-served poultry which gave the impression that it, 

 too, had been raised on latex, with the result that instead of pro- 

 ducing a bounceablc egg the rubber substance had become in- 

 corporated in the edible tissues." 



