The evening times., 1898-12-01
RUBBER INDUSTRY
ALONG THE AMAZON
Report Of Consul kenneday at
Para, Brazil.
A NEED OF SKILLED LABOR
0rer Twenty-Five Thousand Tons
Exported During the Year.
Ana Interesting Account of thc Nam
Ber ef Collecting aun Curing
the Rubber.

The annual report Of Consul Kenneday
Al Para, Brazil, has been submitted to
th,. Secretary of State and contains many
interesting facts concerning the rubber
industry of that country. 1t tells tha; the
rubber-producing area which was recently
discovered in the Amazon section, near
Para and which has never been civilized
is hundreds OF times larger than that
now. being worked. This years crop of
rubber will greatly exceed amy other out
put for number OF years and the indus
Try is steadily growing. The price of
crude rubber is fixed in the foreign mar
kets especially New York and London.
The buyer stationed here, carefully
watches the market, and calculates his
price in accordance with quotations re-
ceivod from those cities.
There entered the port of Para during
the fiscal year lS91-9S 22,2 ,257 tons of rubber,
and of this -f1-7Z2 tons were shipped TO
The United States and 1875 to Europe
/ This city Is convenient shipping point.
! on account of it's telegraphic and banking
! facilities. The principal bearing areas in
! the State of Para are: The islands in the
! RIVER Amazon. near lltt tllA. lllt pa liiNl-
/ pal Maraio. having an area Of 2-500
/ square miles: the banks OF the River To-
cantins: the banks of the Rivers %ingu,
! Jary and Tapaios. The upper and lower
! districts of the Amazon produce the same
kind Of rubber. but that coming from the
upper river obtains slightly higher
/ price being dFier 10y the time ii reaches
the port OF shipment.
! The 'heYea" tree is not conspicuous,
"a. laI I,tp of miles
through the rubber region and lived for
years in the centers Of the industry with
out even noticing ii.
The localities whore rubber trees thrive
the best are on islands and low ground
near rivers where the banks are periodi-
caily inundated. The popularity of this
rubber tree is that il viii not grow salts
factorily on cleared OF opened ground. 1t
requires the shade of other trees and still
air from the time that its growth begins
until il becomes an adult tree.
The "hevea requires about fifteen
years to mature. The area that is known
&c produce Para rubber amounts TO at
least 1860 go square miles. Furthes eX-
ploratiOn will no doubt show that this
area is far underestimated On the River
Auuiry two hundred trees yield as much
rs three tons Of rubber per annum.
The governor of Para has recently is
!
sage be given to persons who wish To mi
CRATE hither from the drought-stricken
regions of Ceara. The last steamer from
the south brought about 100, making
total of 25 019 immigrants since the first
| of the year.
z Rubber Estate of Para owns an
area 2S4 square miles or about IS2 254
acra=, containing three thousand rubber
roads OF one hundred trees each. The
output on these estates has reached in
| one year 80 tons.
Among other articles used in the india
rubber industry is a clay funnel, in shape
very much like an ordinary toilet water
Jug without q bottom or handle. The
fuel used in the funnel consists generally
of nuts 1t was at one time imagined
| that the excellence of Para rubber was
J greatly due TO the kind of fuel used in
| curing il.
| Everyone engaged i'm the forest carries
| A wood. knife. One Of its uses is to cut
| down fuel for the preparation of rubber;
the blade is about 26 inches long and
! about two inches broad. All the knives
| are imported from the United States.
The rubber collectors AK is very
| small affair. It is required TO chip d
smooth surface on the bark preparato'
! 10 attaching a cup TO the tree. The hand
der not to injure the bark. The cups are
| OF clay or tin.
Part of the collectors outfit consists
OF a light gourd-large enough to carry
! the contents OF from 800 to 700 cups. 4
/ clay bowl Is next required, in order 10
/ receive the contents OF the gourd. It Is
! of sufficient size to contain the product
! of several days work before it is cured
| The calabash tree provides calabashes.
I
/ from the clay bowl into the mold A
broad-bladed wooden paddle is used as
a mold. This completes the outfit of the
rubber collector. All these articles are
made locally, with the exception of the
knives. The axes and the tin cups are
manufactured in the towns and villages
| of the Amazon region.
| The collector has 10 use his knife TO cut
| his way through the underground. and
, also to cut down a sapling, occasionally.
| TO bridge a riyulet. At times he is knee
deep in ooze or up to the waist in water.
On arrival at a rubber tree he chips
away the rough parts Of the bark, makes
a more or less smooth surface. attaches
cup and makes a small cash above for
| the sap 10 fail into the cup and repeats
| this process in a line around the tree
until he has attached six or seven cups,
Then he proceeds to the next tree and
| does tnesSdme. -On the following daV
gashes in the trees are made triae
lower down than the first ones An ex-
pert gathers seven pounds daily in the
Lower Amazon; in the Upper Amazon
three times this amount Is collected.
When the accumulation of rubber is
sufficient-usually in three or four days
the collector lights a fire in the hut he
has erected, places the funnel over a
fire, pours thin coat of milk over the
paddle and holds it over the smoke to
| coaGulate. The process is repeated until
large cake has been formed To re-
lease the paddle from the cake it is nee
essary TO make slit on one side. The
process of curing rubber is extremely
| injurious to the eyes. Many cases of to-
tai blindness result therefrom
insufficient labor is the most serious
| difficulty in the rubber industry. In reali-
| ~, the genuine owner of the product of
the forest is the collector, not the land
| owner
As a rule, the landowner makes ad-
Nances to the collectors for their outfit.
| lood, etc, and in return receives the rub
| Der collected Ipgr