December 1, 1918.; 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



123 



ENEMY-OWNED CONCERNS AND INTERESTS TO BE SOLD. 



German owned or controlled interests in tlie following con- 

 cerns are to be sold at public auction by the Alien Prop- 

 erty Custodian A. Mitchell Palmer, in accordance with the Gov- 

 ernment's plans for their complete Americanization : 



The Boonton Rubber Manufacturing Co., Boonton, New Jersey, 

 manufacturer of composite insulation; The Bayer Co., Rensse- 

 laer, New York, manufacturer of drugs and dyestufifs, which in- 

 cludes the Synthetic Patents Co., owner of organic accelerator 

 patents ; the Goetze Gasket and Packing Co., New Brunswick, 

 New Jersey, manufacturer of gaskets and packing devices ; the 

 Schaefifer & Budenberg Manufacturing Co., New York, manu- 

 facturer of engineering instruments ; the J. P. Devine Co., Buf- 

 falo, New York, manufacturer of vacuum dryers ; the Werner & 

 Pfleiderer Co., Saginaw, Michigan, manufacturer of machinery ; 

 Robert Soltau & Co., Inc., Mamaroneck, New York, manufac- 

 turer of gutta percha specialties. 



BASILAN PLANTATION TAKEN OVER. 

 The only Hcvca plantation that is producing rubber and is 

 in United States territory is the Basilan Plantation on Basilan 

 Island, Mindanao, Philippine Islands. Most, if not all, of the 

 stock was owned by Germans and has been taken over the 

 Alien Property Custodian. 



BITUMINOUS STORAGE LIMIT OFF. 



All storage restrictions on bituminous coal were removed on 

 November 22 by the United States Fuel Administration in con- 

 formity with the action of the War Industries Board in can- 

 celling its preferential industries list. Anthracite coal is not af- 

 fected, however, by this ruling. 



Every industry and every householder in the country now 

 may store as much bituminous coal as desired or obtainable, as 

 the action of the War Industries Board removes the necessity for 

 the Fuel Administration to distinguish longer among different 

 classes of industrial plants. 



The restrictions just raised provided for the accumulation by 

 the consumers in the preference classes defined by the War In- 

 dustries Board of reserve stocks of bituminous coal, in accordance 

 with their location in relation to various mine fields and their 

 classification on the preference schedule. 



The War Trade Board, in cooperation with the Committee on 

 Cotton Distribution of the War Industries Board, makes the fol- 

 lowing announcement : 



On and after December 2, 1918, no individual licenses will be 

 required for the exportation of raw cotton to Great Britain, 

 France, Italy, Belgium or Japan. A special export license (No. 

 RAC-S7) will be issued to the proper customs officials at points 

 of exit, who will be authorized to pass shipments in accordance 

 therewith. 



The regulation governing exports of raw cotton to Spain (W. 

 T. B. R. 319, November IS, 1918), whereby the quantity export- 

 able to Spain was limited and allotted among the various ship- 

 pers, is withdrawn, effective November 22, 1918, and applications 

 will be considered looking toward the granting of licenses freely. 



Applications to export raw cotton to other destinations will be 

 considered and granted freely, and where agreements exist, inter- 

 national licenses will be granted in accordance therewith. 



The regulation affecting the exportation of raw cotton (W. T. 

 B. R. 265, October 11, 1918), which required that the grade and 

 staple be specified on applications to export raw cotton and that 

 the applicant also disclose the existence of an actual sales con- 

 tract, or that there had been a freight allotment or engagement, 

 is withdrawn, effective November 22, 1918. 



THE WAR AND BRAZILIAN RUBBER. 

 The great changes brought about by the world war, and the 

 losses sustained by German traders in Brazil are reported by 

 "Wileman's Brazilian Review," as follows ; 



Before the declaration of war by Brazil against Germany, in 

 spite of all disabilities, enemy traders succeeded in shipping 12.7 

 per cent of the crop in 1915-16, 6.7 per cent in 1916-17, but only 

 176 tons, or 0.6 per cent in 1917-18, and even that insignificant 

 quantity prior to the declaration of war by Brazil against Ger- 

 many on October 26, 1917. Since then no enemy rubber has 

 been shipped at all. 



The way in which both Allied and Brazilian trade has benefited 

 by the restrictions placed on enemy traders is shown by the 

 progression of the coefficient of exports of Allied traders from 

 48.8 per cent of the crop in 1915-16 to 51. 1 per cent in 1916-17, 

 and 52 per cent in 1917-18, and of the coefficient of Brazilian 

 and Portuguese exporters from 23.9 per cent in 1915-16 to 31.6 

 per cent in 1916-17 and 33.0 per cent in 1917-18, inclusive of 

 small shippers practically all Brazilian or Portuguese. 



The term "Allied" is used merely to distinguish between Bra- 

 zilian and Portuguese and British, American and French shippers. 



Before the war, German shippers accounted for 61.6 per cent 

 of the crop and some idea of the losses their traders must have 

 suffered can be gathered from contemplation of the now total 

 suppression of this branch alone of their oversea trade. 



Since the incorporation of Suter & Co. with Stowell Bros, the 

 coefficient of British exporters has steadily improved from 'only 

 11.5 per cent (excluding Suter & Co.) for 1915-16 to 28.9 per 

 cent (including Suter & Co.) for 1916-17 and 26.4 per cent for 

 1917-18. Among British houses Stowell Bros, now rank first 

 with 19.2 per cent of the 1917-18 crop, followed by Suarez Bros, 

 with 4.7 per cent, and Adelbert .\lden with only 2 5 per cent 

 against 7.5 per cent for 1916-17 and 6 per cent for' 1915-16. 



The only American house of importance, the General Rubber 

 , • °,i^'^?"^' ''kewise improved its position from 20.9 per cent of 

 ',m-7^?i^" '^ ';''°P *° 20.4 per cent in 1916-17 and 21.1 per cent in 

 1917-18, the largest coefficient of all. 



The French house of Fradelizi & Co. shows improvement 

 from 0.5 per cent for 1915-16 to 2.4 per cent in 1916-17 and 4 5 

 per cent for 1917-18. 



Exclusive of small unspecified shippers, the largest Brazilian- 

 Portuguese exporter of the 1917-18 season was again Tancredo 

 Porto with 6.8 per cent of the crop, as against 8.7 per cent for 

 that of 1916-17 and 5.1 per cent in 1915-16. The next largest was 

 ^^,¥?!i'^"^^^,^°•• ■"■"' ^-2 per cent, as against 14.4 per cent in 

 1916-17 and 11.8 per cent in 1915-16. Pires Teixeira and J. C. 

 Araujo both lost ground, but two new comers, J. A. Mendes and 

 Chamie & Co. (previously included among small shippers), ac- 

 counted between them for 10 per cent of the crop, besides the 

 Bank of Brazil with 3.0 per cent and "small" unspecified shippers 

 with 6.6 per cent as against 6.7 per cent in 1916-17 and 12 7 per 

 cent in 1915-16. 



The improvement in the coefficient of transit rubber (Peru) 

 from 2.4 per cent in 1915-16 to 5.3 per cent in 1916-17 and 7.8 per 

 cent in 1917-18 is remarkable in view of the distance, over 1,000 

 miles, between Para and Iquitos, now cut off from direct com- 

 munication with either Europe or the United States. 



Restriction of imports bv the United States dates from May 

 6. 1917. During the first half of the 1917-18 crop, exports from 

 the Amazon to the United States, in spite of the falling off of 

 1,000 tons in entries, were only 594 tons under those of the pre- 

 vious season. During the next half-year exports to the same 

 destination show a tremendous shrinkage of 9,515 tons or 61.3 

 per cent compared with the same period 1916-17. It is a healthy 

 sign to note that from 2,400 tons last year, receipts at Para and 

 Manaos dropped in July to only 620 tons and stocks from 8,145 

 on July 1 to 6,807 on August 1. 



SOME RAINCOAT MAKERS ACQUITTED. 



The Kenyon Co., Brooklyn, New York, charged with sending 

 defective raincoats to the Army, was exonerated by the verdict 

 rendered in its case on November 9, both as to the corporation 

 and its employes. The blame for permitting defective raincoats 

 of this company's manufacture to be sent to France is laid to 

 the Quartermaster's Department of Army, since it was shown 

 by the evidence that laxness of inspection therein created con- 

 ditions worse than in the manufacturing establishments. Gov- 

 ernment inspectors were found to lie untrained for the work 

 and careless in inspection. 



