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Chester Chemical Company", which has for its object the production 
of camphor by synthetic process. The share - capital amounts to 
loooooo dollars, in loooo shares of lOO dollars each. According 
to the prospectus which we have before us, the world's consumption 
of camphor is said to amount to 8000000 lbs., that of the. United 
States to 2 000 000 lbs. 
It is claimed that the camphor produced synthetically is decidedly 
purer than the natural article (probably crude camphor) as it is received 
from Japan, or Formosa, for the purity of the latter is given as 88 — 90 
per cent., that of artificial camphor as 99 per cent. The process is 
protected by patents. 
The factory has been established in Fox Island, with plant for an 
annual output of 2 000 000 lbs. The immediate production is said to 
amount to 600000 lbs. 
The crude material employed is oil of turpentine, and the yield 
is 98 lbs. camphor from i barrel of the oil. 
With the proposed maximum output of 2 000 000 lbs., the company 
expect to pay dividends of 50 per cent. 
It appears to us that in the calculation the cost of turpentine oil 
of 6 Y2 cents per lb. is taken too low, in view of the present market- 
quotations, whilst the selling-price of camphor at 50 cents per lb. is 
taken a little too high. The Company may perhaps prosper, so long 
as the price of crude camphor in Japan is not reduced to such an 
extent that the estimates are upset. This new competition would 
probably only affect the value of the article, when the production 
exceeds the demand in the United States, and when the Company 
would be forced to export its product. 
The prospectus of the Company contains the following interesting 
communications on the camphor production in Asia, taken from the 
reports of the American Consul in Formosa: 
"Hitherto camphor has been produced from the wood of the camphor- 
tree which grows in Japan, China, and chiefly on the island Formosa. The 
production of Japan has fallen to 300000 lbs., that of China has never exceeded 
220000 lbs., whilst that of Formosa in 1895 reached a total of 7000000 lbs., 
and in the last four years amounted on the average to about 6000000 lbs. 
For all practical purposes, Formosa therefore covers the world's requirements, 
and its production yields an annual revenue of about $800000 to the Japanese 
Government. In order to protect the industry, it is now obhgatory to plant 
immediately a new tree for every camphor-tree which is cut down. • The pro- 
duction in Formosa is moreover a monopoly, and is protected by 1500 armed 
guards who also control the afforestation as prescribed by law." 
Cananga Oil. The stocks available in Holland and at Antwerp 
are only very insignificant, and consist partly of old stocks of inferior, 
viscid quality which gives a considerable loss in rectification, and which 
compares unfavourably in net cost with the fresh article imported 
