The daily morning journal and courier., 1903-03-28
OUR TRADE IN RUBBER.
WHERE THE COMMODITIES NoW
 PRODUCED

try-Lifs of the Native Lab0reTs in
 the Forests Along the Amazon.
 When it snows in New York the na- lives who work in the rubber forests a thousand miles up the Amazon River soon expect more wages in rum. Snow is the greatest influencing factor in the rubber trade and when the populous district os America have heavy fall, as in the past winter, there is great rejoicing down in the tropics where rub Der comes from.
 Contrary to the first impression, per haps, that rubbers are commonly worn more on account of rain, it is the fact that a snowfall immediately creates a demand upon the retailers more import ant and lasting. A rain seldom contin- ues for days, as one snow does, and snow makes wet walking from the moment it falls until it melts away. Retail stocks became exhausted early this year, and shoe dealers had the con- fidence to place large orders on the strength of the early promise of the season.
 Manaos, in the state of Amazona, 1900 miles up the river, has, through the in- vestments of American capitalists in the rubber trade. become a flourishing medren city of some 10000 inhabitants, chiefly engaged in this industry. The city is lighted by electricity, has street cars, and. in the midst of jungle of luxuriant tropical growth is connected with the outside world by telegraph to the mouth of the river and thence by cable. Consequently any important event in rubber speculation, or condi- ton which governs the trade, is soon learned there, and the natives, who are dominated to a great extent by labor agitators, expect larger allowance of liquor in their pay, or more wages to buy it with.
 The rubber which comes from upper Brazil district, has threatened to be- come exhaus because Of the great demand made upon this hightest grade known by the requirements for insula- tion in electric service. For this reason scientists have explored all parts of the world for species of trees and plants that might supply high grade rubber to take its place. Over 1,50O varieties have been discovered, some of them in the jungles of Africa up the Congo, but only about twenty-five are of practical value. The Amazon district, in South America, has long supplied the markets of the world, until within the past few years it's rubber forests have been laid low and in many sections will scarcely be replaced. This necessitated pene- trating further and further to wilds of the upper river.
 Since the persons engaged in this in dustry became convinced that their in- terest lay in preserving the forests under their control. rather than in rashly destroying them, and then mov- ing further on, systematic plan has been followed. where practical. to tap the rubber tree as the maple tree is tapped about this time of the year here, instead of cutting the tree down and taking rubber sap from it to the last drop. In the latter method there is a larger immediate return, but it has been through this practice that the pro- ductive ancient forests of Brazil have rapidly succumbed to the axe. In the vicinity of Manaos the forests are being preserved this way, as the maple groves of New England always have been, and for the best of reasons. The future of the rubber trade and of such cities as Manaos depends upon the preserva- tion of these forests.
 The sap is collected and brought to the kettles, where it is boiled down to a cer- tain fineness. Then the product in it's crude form is rolled into balls of about one and one-half to three feet in diameter. when it is placed in store houses to follow much the same course in it's journey toward the market and manufacturer as any product which need not be immediately used. Specu- lators hold it for the best prices that they can demand, and often, where the winter has been unsea asonable in the colder portions of the civilized world they have to carry their rubber from one tojtwo or three years. A great deal of the crude product is always in the warehouses in New York, and the banks loan money on it with regard to the uncertainty of demand and supply. Sometimes they get caught on a large amount, as was the case last year, owing to the embarrassment of the company referred to above.
 Beside the demand for rubber, which is increasing all the time through the requirements of electricity, there is an increasing use of it for automobile and carriage tires. The bicycle has fallen from it's maximum use of a few years ago, but the modern demand for rub ber-tired vehicles of all descriptions has more than made up for this. Rubber shoes" as they are called in the trade, are used in proportion as the winter season is wet or dry. When the great rush to the Alaskan gold fields began in 1890 and 1900 an immediate demand for rubber shoes of all kinds and rubber boots was anticipated by shrewd dealers, One speculator who had an eye to busi- ness, knew of 8 large lot of rubber boots and shoes which had been in storage here in New York for several years, a drug on the market. He also knew that the owner would be glad to get rid of them at almost any price. Going to a banker who had confidence in his Judgment, the man borrowed enough to get the whole stock, shipped 1t to Seattle, Spokane and Tacoma, Washington, and to Portland, Oregon, where miners were getting their out fits, and sold every pair at a large xuaa4 usl,c. 5o,,,o,,J fo,. ,bbor Loeo eon