Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1888-10-06

in any out-of-door occupation carries upon
all occasions. The hunter ties one end of
the rope around his waist, throws the other
over the lower branches and scram5les up
the tree, mediate in hand. Having reached
convenient limb he secures himself by
means of the rope, and proceeds to make
| an incision in the tree, from which-grad-
| ually letting himself downward-he cuts
| deep channel through the thick bark,
around the trunk, to the ground In most
| cases the careless fellow cuts much deeper
than is necessary, thereby running the
! future usefulness of the tree; for if pen
knife, or even 4 pin, be thrust into
thrifty young tree, the milk" spurts out
in copious flow.
The yellowish-white juice resembles
| good, rich cream more nearly than any
thing else. If the tree is fully grown and
has never before been tapped, the sap will
| flow from the incission in streams, and
running down the channel, is received into
pit dug at the roots. Sometimes tin cans
or earthen pots are used as receptacles for
the juice, and occasionally the Indians
manufacture baskets of leaves and plaster
closely around the lower part of the tree.
| The pit, however, answers every purpose.
The fluid is generally coagulated with
] the sap of wild ivne somewhat resemb-
| ling the grape, which oyergrows all these
| tangled forests and acts the part of rem
net to cheese curd, or mother" -pulque to
maguey-juice; for after its addition, the
milk is soon hardened into solid cakes of
| India-rubber all ready for transportation.
In South America, am told, ii is solidi-
fed by evaporation of the liquid part and
| is dried completely by being exposed to
gentle heat suspended in kettles over
wood fire. In Brazil it is the custom to
maintain the fame with the pungent
| fruits of the auricuTd, in such manner that
| the caoutchouc may receive all the smoke
hence the blackish color much of it pre-
septs.
Many attempts have been made to i'm
| port the juice of the tree in its natural
state, but SO far none have been successful.
While yet in liquid form it may be fash
Toned into any shape by means of molds,
| but no process has been discovered to pre-
vent qualification. There is always a
| good deal Of partially hardened caoutchouc
| adhering to the bark of the
tree, which is torn off in long, stringy
masses. This is called berucha.
and of course is not nearly so valuable as
the solid cakes, but is wrapped in bundles
and exported for various uses. CONNER.
cially speaking, the caoutchouc of Para is
considered best and commands the highest
| price in market, while that from the west
ern coast of Africa is the least desirable,
being only slightly elastic and like its col
| lectorS, extremely offensive in odor. Great
| quantities are also brought from British
| India, MauritiuS and the Indian Archi-
! pelago.
The MILKY juice ihai l-JH plays So im-
! portant a part among the worlds produc-
tions was first used by these Central Amer
| lean Indians. Their caoutchouc was made
known to the world as "elastic gum" and
was long after given the name of rubber"
from the discovery of its usefulness in rub
bing out the marks of black lead pencils.
For the latter purpose it began to be i'm
ported into Great Britain toward the close
of the last century. Early as 1913 the
Spaniards in Mexico had learned to
make caoutchouc into shoes, and also
used it for waxing their cloaks to
render them waterproof. That, no
doubt, was the origin of the idea
OF Its manufacture into waterproof cloth,
which first gave it great commercial i'm
portance. Not until 1920 did its employ
ment extend much beyond the erasing of
pencil-marks, though the quantity i'm
ported had greatly increased. Long before
that time limited quantity had
been used for manufacturing hexi-
bic tubes for surgeons and chemists,
but the expensive character of the only
solvent then known prevented its general
application for useful purposes Finally
method was discovered for fabricating arti-
cles of various kinds by casting the caout-
chouc into molds. Its remarkable elastic
ity and fexibility, as well as its insolubil-
ity in water and impenetrability to gases
and fluids in general have adapted it to
more uses than any other one commodity
can be applied.
AT present by far the greatest number
of its applications is employed in what is
known as its "vulcanized" state-a process
invented about forty-fve years ago. since
which time thousands of patents have been
granted for as many different applications.
Charles Goodyear in the United States.
and Thomas Hancock in England, seem to
have discovered almost simultaneously the
great changes which caoutchouc undergoes
when mixed with sulphur and heated.
AS everybody knows the manufacture
Of lndia-rubber goods is now one of the
most extensive industries in the United
States, while in England are many i'm
menSe manufactures. and in France alone
the consumption of raw eaoutchouc is
nearly 100000 pounds per annum, the
approximate value of which, when manu-
featured, is $12,000,000. But everybody |
does not know that it first came into notice |
through those rascally Spanish Conquis-
tadores, who, providing around the forests of /
Central America in their greedy quest for !
gold, found their garments coated with the |
gum and rendered waterproof exactly as
are those Of the yularoes to-day
In view of the immense value of the T!
material, and its yet undiscovered posi-
bilties, the nations of the earth should
combine for the protection of the trees
that yield it. FANNIE B. WARD.