Tama County Republican. (Toledo, Tama County, Iowa) 1867-1872, 1872-06-13


1.-THE carriage fees to foreigners, or &c
i lsofter. Inducements TO bnild cloth
blanket and carpet factories at youi
4 very doors and consume your food
i here ea ~,
From the Springfield {aiass.) Republican
How Cut;a Percl,a.was discovered.
A Ransble at Singapore ana gsha
asor.isy Can,c OK. e.tf
| Singapore, as everybody knows, is
| a city of Southern India, situated at
the extremity OF the long and narrow
istfinius tof MaIacca. It is almost
exactly under the equator, and con.
segnently has very hot climate in.
deed, the heat and insa'ubrity OF the
coast prevented, to great degree,
the explorations necessary to a
knowledge OF the natural products OF
the region, until a. comparatively re-
cent date. s5
More han thirty years ago, an. En-.
glish physician named Montgomery,
llwho was spending a little time at
Singapore, took 1t into his lead, one
day, to ramble in the skirts of the
tropical forest. whlch at that period
stretched northward at no great
distance from the town. The heat
being oppressive he kept on, having
in view tire denser shade OF certain
large treeslyhich he perceived in ad-
vance otilim; While resting here a
few minutes, he heard tile sound OF
the AK and concluded to follow it,
though It led him deeper into the
thicket thnn he had at first intended
to 60. lie came, at length, to group
of native wood enters, busy at their
work Of levelling trees with the
CLUMSY paranr, a rude implement Of
tile hatchet kind ei 80
Sitting DOWN on log to watch
them, he NOTICED enc of these ins,ru-
lruents struck into it, with the handle
toward him This led the doctor to
observe 1t carefully and he saw with
surprise. that upon 1T were carvings,
as he Supposed of quite an elaborate
character, giving the handle highly
ornamental appearance. It's material,
too, excited his curiosity, and, as lie
could not make out what kind OF
wood 1t was, lie -calted one of the
workmen and inquired. He was told
that the handle of the parang was
not of wood, Lnt was made of the
gum OF just such trees as they were
then cutting We my imagine with
what interest our s,i ntifc doctor
prosecuted his inquiries about this
subssancerot which he ha9 never be-
fore heard.
1T is jnst the gum Of these percha
trees said the native, in the worst
possible English, but which the awak-
ened interest of his interlocutor help
ed him somehow, to make out; "see,
here Is some Of the gutta Tor gum !; 1t
now looks Ike dirty milk, but viii
soon harden in the air. Then if you
put it into hot water it Will grow
soft again, and you can make it into
any shape you choose. You can in.
dent it with turrows, or press into. it
any ornament you like, and it win
take,.ha exact form Of it. This is
my parang, and l made the handle
mysel.i in that way. When cooled,
it retains all those pictures and looks
as you see, like carving
/ Doctor Montgomery farther learn
ed, from his simple Informant, that
the Malay people had used this sub
stance from ancient times to- make
various articles OF copventence, such
as whipss shoes, jugs, basins, etc,
some of which had occasionally
attracted. the, notice Of foreigners,
but there had never been any demand
IN market for the gum and it, was on.
~ gathered in small quantities by
any one who wanted il toy Lome use.
1t, was not considered of sufficient
value 10 lead to the protection otthe
trees. which We're destroyed in the
rude methods of procuring the gum
resorted to by the natives.
This led to . careful examination
Of the trees themselves, by the doc
tor, who was, beginning to compre
hend what value such singular sub.
stance might acquire in the hands OF
those who could turn, it to .sAlliul or.
account. The trees grew
all around him to the height, OF fifty
or sixty feet, with trunks from two
to three feet in diameter. The leaves
were Of a pale green on the upper
surface, and beneath Of a lighter
color aud covered with reddish
brown hairs. The gum was abunJ-
ant, and " would't'ow readily from any
slit orornncture Of the bark, though
the natives usually feited the tree to
obtain It the more readily. The for
ests were,at that time, however, gen
orally cohsidered as common proper
ty, out Of which any one might ap-
propriate what he chose. And as the
gum IN duestion'had no com:mprciai
value, nobody knew or cared how
many of those valuable trees were
annually destroyed.
Doctor Montgomery returned
from his rarnbie in the forest much
wiser than lie was before. on one sub.
iect, at least. Re rovolyed it.in his
mind, obtsiued additional irfsrma-
tiou, made tests and trials with the
sgutta," called to it the attention Of
some Of our ign'residents an Sin
gapora, aud finally wrote q minute.
account and forwarded specimens of,
it to several,ot his scientific ffienis
in Europe. And though at first the
interest manifested by his country.
men seemed tardy snd incredulous,
It was at length fully awakencd.-
The properties of the new product
were examined and analyzed, and it's
applicability to 4 great number of