Northern Wisconsin advertiser. [volume] (Wabeno, Wis.) 1898-1925, 1903-10-29
RUBBER AND IT'S SUBSTITUTES.
Nothing Yet to Compete With the ORR
nocc Brand.

nocc Brand.
New York Times.-Importers and
manufacturers Of rubber in New York
and Boston, which are the centers
of the rubber trade in this country,
are not worrying about the tocsin
sounded in England and Belgium
over the discovery of an African
plant by French botanist. that, it is
alleged, is going to revolutiOnize the
market, and break up the trust that
has for so many years controlled the
rubber supply from the Orinoco.
A representative of several Ameri-
can firms has been abroad TO examine
specimens of this new plant, which is
scientifically called LandOlphia
thralloni. He reports that while its
roots will undoubtedly produce a
fbrous elastic, they will not produce
rubber. For commercial purposes
there is as much dtHerence between
the two as between cornmeal and the
finest white -four.
The king of the Belgians is the larg-
est individual owner of rubber-proiuc-
ing trees in the world and he has
spent large sums of money in trying
to bring the African rubber trade up
to the Orinoco level, but at it's best
the African supply is worth only 80
cents a pound on the market, as COM
pared with 80 cents for the South
American product. The plant just
discovered by the French botanist,
who was making Investigations for
King Leopold, is said to be a great
thing Tor the African trade. The En-.
glneer OF London, in an article about
1t, says that the demand for African
rubber is increasing, but the difference
between the qualities of Congo and
Orlnoco rubber is still so marked that
even If the African yield increased to
a very considerable extent, it would
not have any effect on the price of
the Venezuelan and Brazilian product.
rms product has ruled the market for
5O years, and regulates the price of all
inferior products. There is no reason
to suppose that the position Is likely
TO undergo any change, no matter how
great may be new discoveries made
elsewh ere"
William F. Blair, who spends
several months each year in the
Orlnoco basin looking after the affairs
Oh American rubber firms, arrived in
New York and London last week.
When asked by reporter for the New
YORK Times about the trenchman's
new African rubber plant, he said
Some of the English and French
trade papers are discussing it's merits
with a great degree of vigor. Speci.
mems of it were promptly sent to
London, but l do not think any have
been sent to New Yorn vet. Nv
personal opinion is that the elastic
1 produced from the root of the
LandOlphia thralloni is not one whlr
better than can be obtained from the
pam American corn cob. 1t is no,
! generally known that a product NAV
be extracted from corn cobs which nv
mixture with other chemicals. gives
very good rubber. But repeated ey-
periments demonstrated that it cost so
much to make that it was useless to
compete with the South American
article
duce an elastic quite as good, in my
opinion, as the plant the Frenchman
mas discovered. But there is not
enough OF it to make any showing in
comparison with the rubber tree. In
all that has been written about the
new discovery have not seen a state
ment that an adequate supply of the
new plant can be found. 1t was dis.
lowered on the sandy plains of the
Frencn Congo, but there was scarcely
sufficient there for samples; certainly
not enough to make rubber in com.
mercial quantities. More of it was
found in lower Guinea and the French
Congo This led an English manu-
tacturer to send an expedition into
northern Nigeria, where it is hoped
there will be an important supply.
But it is all problematical.
Importers and manufacturers all
over the world would welcome a sub
stantial rival to the rubber tree. They
have been looking for it for years. and
II may come yet. AS o. F. Cook. an
expert botanist in tropical agriculture
recently said in report to the United
States government: 1t cannot be said
that ruUoer culture has passed the ex-
detrimental stage, if, indeed, that
period has been fairly reached. You
VIII remember that Andrew Carnegie
said in an interview, not long since
ne would not go in for steel, but for
rubber There are possibilities in the
rubber trade that make the Klondike
look foolish. and some fine day some
man will find the plant that will make
his fortune"