The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1892-11-13

! camp. which serves as the general rendez-
vous- They then wander off. singly and
IN couples, searching all day for new trees,
ana returning TO headquarters at night
1al. The camp consists of central hut
oullt upon stills to elevate it above the
maiarla-haunted morass 10 which rubber
trees most abound, with palm matched
roof, projecting all around like that of
swiss chalet. There are neither windows
nor door to this rude home nor any
interior furnishings except hooks upon
which nammocks may be suspended when
rams drive their owners inside. Ordi-
narlly 'sall out doorsn serves well for q
Kitchen, ana the men prefer TO suspend
their sleeping paraphernalia from the
trees around the central fire, built for the
triple purpose Of frightning away prowl-
ing beasts, counteracting the effects of
deadly dews and miasmas, and keeping OH
those troublesome pests, mosquitoes, gnats
anG garrIpOtas. All around tue little camp
is boundiess forests. SO dense that it is i'm
possible to penetrate 1t the distance of
roo beyond the hut except in those paths
which the hunters have partially cleared
with Infinite toll. But l can assure you
that visitor feels no "call'' to walk
abroad In spongy marshes where every
step sinks him in above the shoe-tops, and
poisonous water-snakes are known 10 Turk
ana Jaguars prowl in search of prey.
THE HUNTERS LIFE.
As may be imagined, the hunters life is
little above that of the wild beasts whose
howlings make night hideous around him,
anu be is constantly exposed to thousand
dangers, seen and unseen. Not only do
hungry pumas, wild bears and other pow
erful animals abound, but deadly reptiles
no longer than your finger, and tiny in
sects whose sting is fatal. There are wee
lizzaros the exact color of the leaves under
which they hide, and innumerable creep
ing and crawling things more dangerous
than the dreaded RATHER of our northern
wllGs. which at least gives some warning
of his intention to strike; while even more
10 be feared than the monstrous crocodiles
OF the lagoons aud serpents of hugging pro-
clivsues are the fevers that float upon the
noxious vapors of the terra caliente.
TREATMENT OF THE SAP.
The hunter, as he goes his daily rounds,
makes number of fresh cuts around the
trunk OF each tree which he has previously
marked as his own especial properly pro
TEN, and sets his little clay cup 10 catch
the valuable sap that will ooze from the in
clslon. Later in the day, be repeats the |
round. carrying queer sort of bucket |
made fran big gourd, which has a cover
and handle OF braided palm fiber, and into |
II he emptles the collected con tents of all |
the little cups. When he gets back TO camp |
ne pours the juice from the calabasb pail |
into the mammoth shell Of q torturuga or
Amazon turtle. In that stage the yellowish |
white huld resembles good rich Jersey I
cream more nearly than anything else to |
winch can compare IL. Different ways of I
coag nl8ting IL into the arncle known to
commerce are practiccd in various parts OF
the world. Here it is held on wooden
paddle over fire OF palm nuts which has
4 all, -
huge lamp chimney. The dense white |
smoke, issuing from the top of the pot,
hardens 1t into leathery substance, and I
at tee same time changes its color from I
pale yellow to black. AS fast as it hardens
more sap is poured on, until the mass of |
rubber on the paddle is as heavy as man |
can handle; when it is sliced of with !
huge knife.
In Central America the fluid is coagu- |
lated with the sap of wild vine somewhat
resembling the grape, which overgrows all |
those tangled forests and acts the part of a /
rennet TO cheese curG or .'mothern- pulQue
to crude mRguey-luice, for after its addi-
ton the milk soon hardens into hard cakes
OF India rubber, all ready for transporta-
ton. In other places it is soliditied by
evaporation of the liquid part in the sun,
and is then completely dried in kettles sus-
pended over wood ire. In the great
Of MANAGES and Pare you may
see enormous misses of dried caoutchouc.
say, resembling cheeses. awaiting ship
ment. BY the way, the native WORD for
India rubber (csoptchoue) sounds much
like a sneeze and is pronounced as though T
spelled kee- chook, with the accent stroug
on the first syllable. The milky juice
which now plays so important a part
among the worlds productions was first
made use OF by the Indians of Costa Rica
and by them made known TO their conquer
srs. Early as 1913 the Spaniards in Mexico
had learned TO make it into shoes and also
20 use it for waxing their cloaks in order
10 render them waterproof; and no doubt
hat was the origin of the idea of its manu-
lacture into waterproof cloth and the mod
,rn mackintosh. FANNIE B. WARD.