GUTTA-PERCHA 



2645 



GUTTA-PERCHA 



tarium for the treatment of mental disorders, 

 the Methodist Hospital, Guthrie Hospital, 

 Oklahoma Methodist University, Saint Joseph's 

 Academy and the state school for the deaf and 

 dumb: Among a number of fine public build- 

 ings are the Federal building, erected in 1904 

 at a cost of $100,000 and remodeled in 1914 at 

 an additional cost of $150,000; a city hall, 

 courthouse, convention hall, Masonic Temple 

 and a Carnegie Library. There are five city 

 parks, each containing over 100 acres. 



Stock raising, poultry raising and agriculture 

 are the principal industries of Logan County, 

 for which Guthrie is the market and manufac- 

 turing center. Alfalfa, Indian corn, wheat, cot- 

 ton, fruits, Spanish peanuts and field peas are 

 the important crops. In prosperous seasons 

 Guthrie ships over 1,000 cars of Elberta peaches 

 to Northern and Eastern markets. 



Fuel from the coal, oil and gas fields in the 

 vicinity is used by many manufacturing plants. 

 These include cottonseed oil mills, a cotton- 

 spinning mill, flour mills, a creamery, large 

 printing plants, sash and door factories, a rug 

 and broom factory and an iron foundry. 



Guthrie was founded when the territory was 

 opened for settlement in 1889. It was made 

 the capital the following year, and was tem- 

 porarily the capital of the state after Okla- 

 homa and Indian Territory were united (see 

 OKLAHOMA, subhead, History). The commis- 

 sion form of government was adopted in 1911. 

 The water works are owned and operated by 

 the city. F.L.W. 



GUT'TA-PER'CHA, a name derived from 

 the Malay language, gutta being Malay for 

 gum, and percha, the name of the tree. It 

 is the milky juice from various trees of the 

 sapodilla family that grow in the East Indies. 

 In appearance it is hard and is similar to rub- 

 ber, having great insulating power, and is very 

 flexible. To gather the juice the bark is first 

 stripped from the trees, and the thick white 

 sap is allowed to run into troughs. A thick 

 cream rises after the sap is exposed to air, and 

 the liquid becomes darker. This cream is re- 

 moved and made into cakes; after being dried 

 it is put in a machine called a masticator, 

 which is made to revolve until the mass be- 

 come hard and capable of being kneaded. It 

 is then cut into blocks weighing from five to 

 ten pounds and is ready for shipment. 



Gutta-percha is employed for insulation of 

 electrical wires, and in chemical works it is 

 valuable on account of its resistance to acids. 

 Golf balls and artificial teeth mountings are 



also made from this product. India rubber 

 and gutta-percha are often confused on account 

 of the similarity of their uses; the chief dif- 



GUTTA-PERCHA 

 Branch of tree, with leaves, flowers and buds. 



ference is that the latter, while extensible, like 

 rubber, does not regain its shape. See RUBBER 

 AND RUBBER MANUFACTURE. 



HOW TREES ARE TAPPED 

 The method is like that employed in the tapping 

 of rubber trees. 



