XIII, A. 6 King: Philippine Coir and Coir Cordage 333 



coir ropes broke their moorings during severe tropical storms 

 and were carried high on the beach. As a result the Filipinos 

 have learned that, while coir and other cheap ropes made of 

 maguey, bamboo, etc., may serve for everyday use, abaca rope 

 is the most dependable for emergencies. 



Mr. Don Strong, fiber expert of the Bureau of Agriculture, 

 relates that in 1912 the small steamer Camiguin, 53 tons gross, 

 ran on a coral reef off the Masbate coast while loaded with abaca 

 fiber. Mr. Strong, who was on board, secured the assistance 

 of a lighthouse tender, whose captain first passed a new 12-inch 

 coir rope to the Camiguin. An attempt was made to pull off 

 the steamer, with the result that the coir rope began to stretch 

 excessively, visibly became reduced in diameter, and finally 

 parted at several places. During the attempt not the slightest 

 tremor passed through the reef-bound vessel. A 7-inch abaca 

 rope was then made fast to the Camiguin and after a single 

 attempt the steamer was successfully pulled off the reef into 

 deep water. 



When a coir rope breaks there is very little reaction, for the 

 rupture occurs almost imperceptibly. On the other hand, an 

 abaca rope made of good grade fiber -gives a sharp report at the 

 instant of rupture and violent reaction occurs which, in the 

 case of ropes having a circumference of 75 millimeters or more, 

 jars and shakes the testing machines. This violent reaction is 

 due to the giving back of a relatively large amount of potentially 

 stored resilient energy. Coir is not used at all in Manila at the 

 present time, due to the unsatisfactory results that have been 

 obtained. Cordage made of abaca, of which there are numerous 

 grades, has supplanted the little coir that was once used. Even 

 though abaca rope costs considerably more than coir cordage, 

 the more expensive fiber is the more economical in the end. 

 Abaca is much stronger, less bulky, more reliable, and much 

 more elastic and resilient than coir. I have inquired for coir 

 cordage in several places in Manila, but was unable to get quo- 

 tations or even to see a specimen. Even the small Chinese 

 retailers who handle the most unexpected kinds of merchandise 

 did not have supplies of coir rope, though other nonstandard fiber 

 cordage was procurable. Among the latter, small coils of rope 

 made of the black stiff fiber locally called "cabo negro," obtained 

 from a palm (Arenga saccharifera) , were on sale in nearly all 

 of the Chinese stores dealing in fiber products. Unless the dif- 

 ference in price of coir and abaca rope is large enough to create 

 a demand for the former on the basis of price alone, coir cordage 

 will never find extensive sale. 



