Waco evening news. (Waco, Tex.) 1888-1889, 1888-08-13
NEW RUBBER SUPPLY.
A NEW YORK DEALERS CHAT CON-
CERNlNG CAOUTCHOUC.

weara Out So Quickly - Process o.
Making n Rubber Overshoe-For Hu-
manlty's sake.
Gotham rubber manufacturers were con-
siderably astonished recently by seeing in
print IN advertisement for man who had
had experience among the rubber plantations
of Central America and Para to start on an
expedition to new source of rubber supply.
Excuse me-" said dealer, with laugh,
.the new source is a secret Suffice it to say
that in some way have discovered new
field of operations 1t will be sort Of exper-
mental flyer. Tho new field may not yield
five pounds of rubber, and, again, it may be
an exceedingly rich source l want to settle
for myself which it is"
"Why do You start the expedition" the re-
porter asked. Have the present known
sources given evidence of exhaustionN
"Well, l guess not" the dealer replied.
1--WE get about 20, 900 pounds of rubber
yearly from Borneo and Africa and Para, i'll
South America. But so great is the con-
sumption of rubber in American commerce
that there is plenty of room for u new supply
IF the material.
ut is curious how little people generally
huoW dDout TuDutT any uOW, tue ucttiei
added suddenly. "They kick up row and
possibly swear when they find out that their
new rubber shoes sometimes wear out in a
couple Of days, but they don't seem to under
stand enough about rubber t. know that il
they knew more they could get rubber shoes
that were really made of rubber gum, and
wouldn't wear out in hurry. Inspired by
The complaints that went on all about me
during the blizzard by people who had got
stuck on what they declared to be paste
BOARD and paper overshoes, made jour-
1ey into history recently and jotted down
ZONE things about real rubber for the benefit
VI my friends and the American public-that
is, if the American public wants the benefit
Of it. When Columbus discovered America
ne found those old Fifteenth century Ameri-
cans were fussing away making things Of
rubber, among them rubber shoes. But
sven before the time Of Columbus the East
Indians knew that rubber was a useful
hing, and they made shoes of it, too. They
made 1t out of the juice Of tree called
Ncus elasticus, and If anybody wants to
know rirht here why rubber shoes, SO called,
wear out right off, you can tell them that il
Is because there isn't Ficus elasticus juice, SO
70 speak, in the shoes.
BOOTS AND BOTTLES.
columbus Indians and the natives OF
East India made rough rubber boots and
bottles and things of rubber in those old
days, and ever since the rest Of mankind
woke up to the fact that rubber was a good
thing, the manufacture of boots and bottles
and things has gone on boomiugly. The ruo.
bers Of those old days, though, were rubbers
that would wear well, although they had an
uncouth and clumsy appearance. Now we get
enough rubber from the valley Of the Amazon
and from Para and Brazil to justify every
manufacturer in making rubbers Of rubber
instead Of something else, and the reason
that people bave a chance to growl 80 much
about "bogus rubbers" is that the bogus rub
bers are not made by the honest process at
all.
"The mailing Of q rubber oyershoe q an
interesting process indeed, II you travel back
to the beginning and follow it from the very
outset. To get the rubber in the first place
hole is drilled in rubber tree, and the SAP in
drawn of just like sugar is drawn from the
maple tree, and the juice is dried over the
smoke fl ON a fire Of wild nuts in Para, and
when thickened is hung up to dry further.
This crude material contains SO per cent. of
raw caoutchoue or rubber. This raw rubber
has Il be cleaned with great care. and
dried afterward to exclude "a per cent. of
water that is part Of it. 1t takes all the
way from one to four months to do this
thoroughly. Before being fully dried it is
kneaded as is paper pulp, and crushed and
ground and torn up generally to remove all
the impurities. All the time this is going on
the rubber is thoroughly washed by steady
flowing bath Of water. With rubber that is
treated in this style you can make rubber
shoes that are lasting and also waterproof,
but you will have to pay more than fifty
cents or 81 pair for them. When spread
upon the cloth shell Of the overshoe, this STYLE
Of honest rubber shoe makes a shoe that is
really gum shoe, and will keep out the wet
and the snow, and will wear without going
out at the heel or the toe, or breaking en-
tirely away from the upper. And that's the
Kind of rubber that hope to get from this
new source Of supply, and if do, perhaps
will become sort Of public benefactor by
giving to Gotham commerce a material
for making gum shoes that my fellow citi.
nens, after they have worn them once, will
not be obliged to sit up the next three nights
in succession completing their vocabulary of
strong language to furnish fitting terms of
abuse for shoes that aren't rubber. The ne y
expedition is journey for the good If
humanity."-New York Sun.