The Portland daily press., 1899-05-13
GUTTA PERCHA FAMINE.
rhe Gable to the Philippines May Ex-
hauss the worlds Available supply.


hauss the worlds Available supply.
Washington, May 6-rhe complexity Of
our oivilisation Is exhibited In nothing
moro clearly than the disturbance that
may be caused by the interruption Of the
traffic In some material from distant and
perhaps barbarous lands. Az shown by
tsa and coffee. things that are ouriositiss
or great luxuries to one generation be-
this latter stage is reached the failure Of
the supply beoomes public calamity.
Such q calsmity IL impending In tho
falling Oh In the production Of gutta per-
cha This material enters very largely
into electsical construction, as its insulat-
Ing properties make 1t invaluable in the
manufacture Of cables and Its wide limit
Of elasticity diminishes the danger OF
breaking. Nothing that has yet been dis
covered is capable Of replacing 1t. IL Is
also used for many Of the purposes OF in
dia rubber, and Is an article OF prime
importance.
Gutta percha is q gum derived from
several species Of sapotacox, found In the
Far East The trees are Of slow growth.
but may attain great size. good tree
will measure thirty or forty feet In height
and have . trunk from one and q half to
three feet In circumference. Such tree
will yield two or three pounds of gum,
but trees are known that have girth OF
twenty feet at distance of fourteen feet
above the base and rise from 100 to 140
feet to the first branches. Tho wood IL
soft and spongy in texture, and is
marked by longitudinal black lines that
show the channels occupied by the gum.
The precise tree that supplies this gum
has not been determined, and II the ma
tive names indicate anything there must
be about thirty varieties, but 1t Is likely
that many of these names are synopy-
nous. Its geographical range is limited
to about degrees latitude north and
south and between the Tooth and 12Oth
meridians of longitude Outside of
this area 1t has not boon made to thrive.
The native mode of extraction is very
wasteful. The selected tree is felled and
the branches lopped on as quickly as pos
sible to prevent the sap running into the
twigs and leaves. Ths juice slowly runs
then the wood ia pounded with heavy
mallets to press out all the gum. From
this 1t may be seen that . tree Is de-
stroyed by each operation, and, as about
thirty years Is needed to replace 1t, the
forests are rapidly depleted.
The juice is collected in suitable ves-
sells, where 1t grows very dark and finally
coagulates. If water gets mixed with 1T
the gum is lighter in color and becomes
stringy, but after boiling seems to be as
good as ever. In this first coagulated
state IT, is known as raw gum and is
next step, the boiling. The Jumps Of gum
are put into kettles with either plain
water or, In some cases, lime juice or CO. |
coanut oil, and boiled vigorously. 1t Is
said that the lime juice makes a firmer |
and more homogeneous product. After
com ing to the factory the crude gutta |
percha is passed into a mastioator that |
tears it into shreds. These are then heat |
ed to the melting point and poured into |
sheets or cast into the desired form.
Submarine telegraphic cables use a
large portion of the gutta percha of the
world. The cables consist of a core of |
copper wire covered by layers of gum. |
The wire is first coated with "ChRtter-
tons compound" a mixture Of gutta per- |
cha, resin and Stockholm tar, and Is |
then run through a cylinder of warm |
gutta percha. As the wire Is drawn |
behind and 1t adheres as thin coating |
to the wire. A coat of Chattsrton's COM
pound is laid over this first layer, and |
the process is repeated until the insula-
tion reaches the desired thickness.
Gutta peroha is the product of q wild |
tree of the jungle and is liable to many |
dangers. When an enterprisng Malay |
or Chinaman wishes to clear bit of |
ground he sets the jungle on fire and de- |
stroys many gutta percha trees. Storms
and natural enemies aid in diminishing |
their numbers, and no steps have been |
taken toward restoring them. Culture |
might be tried in Borneo, Sumatra, Java, |
the Celebes and the Malay peninsula. as
these lie within the geographical limits. |
and 1t should be begun at once. The |
supply fails to meet the present demand. |
and 1t is thought that II the proposed Pa
ci1c cable be constructed 1t will be the |
last-at least for many years.
Fully thirty years will lie required for |
an orchard of gutta peroha trees to be- |
come productive. Great Britain and |
Holland should give attention to this Sc
rious menace, and this government |
might make experiments with these trees
in of ho Iolo