118 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



[December 1, 1914. 



The view of some that England is going to effect a 

 ler on plantation rubber and boost the price is too 

 weird to be considered. It isn'l the wa\ she does things. 

 Besides, the I Fnited States is too good a customer to treat 

 in any such fashion. So taking it all in all, the confident 

 belief is that there will lie plenty of rubber and that there 

 will not be any great increase in price. 



DRY AND WET SEASON PLANTATION RUBBER. 



FOR some time past an American ruhber factory has 

 been testing the tensile strength of rubber from an 

 rn plantation in which it has an interest. One re- 

 sult has been the discovery that rubber gathered in the 

 dry season has twenty-five per cent, more tensile strength 

 than rubber from the same trees gathered in the wet sea- 

 - m. 1 f this is found to be the case generally there will in 

 time be two added grades to plantation sorts, i. e. — Wet 

 ami Dry Season. 



THE FAR EAST KNOCKING AT OUR DOORS. 



UNDOUBTEDLY one strong actuating influence 

 which has moved the English to put an embargo 

 on the shipment of rubber from their Eastern colonies to 

 American ports i- the fear that Eastern rubber might get 

 the habit. It is obviously to the advantage both of the 

 Eastern planters and of American manufacturers that 

 rubber should be shipped direct from one to the other, 

 but it i> equally obvious that this method would not be 

 looked upon with favor by rubber circles in London. 



But while direct shipments may not take place, at least 

 from British colonies, during the war, it is quite probable 

 that they will follow its conclusion, For the East is ex- 

 ceedingly anxious to get into direct touch with the largest 

 consumer of its plantation product. Interesting light is 

 thrown on the Eastern attitude by two letters which ap- 

 pear on another page in this issue. One comes from a 

 firm of Rotterdam dealer- who market the rubber from a 

 number of Dutch estates in Java and Sumatra. They ask 

 for information a- to the best wa\ to get in contact with 

 American customers. They write: "We have gone so 

 far as to suggest the idea of establishing an office in the 

 United States for joint account of our companies to sell 

 our product there; and we have considered the possibility 

 that the Americans might work hand in hand with us to 

 a market in your country direct, instead of taking 

 the way via England." 



The other letter comes from a correspondent who has 

 contributed before to the columns of this publication and 



who lias long been familiar with conditions in the East. 

 "There is now the chance of a lifetime," he says, "for 

 American firms to buy rubber direct here in Singapore, 

 and to establish direct relations with the center of produc- 

 tion. Rubber was selling here in August at Is. to Is. 6d. 

 per Hi. — prime smoked sheet — but no orders could be ob- 

 tained from anywhere. Where were your manufac- 

 turers? If they had had agents here they would have had 

 the chance of a lifetime to lay in stocks on the ground 

 floor." 



It is not characteristic of American manufacturers to 

 continue the long way around when there is a short cut 

 in plain sight, and there is not likely to be an indefinite 

 continuance of the system by which Eastern rubber in- 

 tended for New York must first go somewhere else, some 

 distance out of its way, with no other result than that its 

 receipt is materially delayed and its cost considerably 

 increased. 



THE RUBBER CLUB'S RELIEF FUND. 



"""I -1 HE relief fund being raised by the Rubber Club 

 *■ of America for the assistance of the Red Cross 

 work and for the succor of the Belgian victims of the 

 war, had on November 25 reached nearly $2,000. This 

 -inn will undoubtedly grow considerably during the pres- 

 ort month. A more extended reference will be found on 

 another page to the club's appeal to its members and their 

 response. It will be noticed there that, while perhaps a 

 majority of the members contributed to the fund '.he sum 

 that would normally have been paid for attendance at the 

 usual annual banquet, quite a good many others gave 

 contributions far in excess of this sum — many sending in 

 contributions of $25, some of $50, and some exceeding 

 $100. This is an excellent showing in view of the fact 

 that appeals for the Red Cross work and for the Belgian 

 sufferers have been made from many quarters during the 

 last few week- and without doubt a large number of the 

 club members had alreadj made substantial contributions 

 to these causes through other channels. 



ONE PITFALL THE EXPORTERS SHOULD AVOID. 



THE opening door of the South American market — 

 which will be likely to open wider with the contin- 

 uance of the war — will undoubtedly attract not a few 

 American manufacturers, and among them makers of vari- 

 ous rubber g Is. Their success in this field will be 



in proportion to the discretion with which it is entered. 

 The difficulties in the way of inaugurating profitable 



