The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1905-03-28
THE SHORTAGE OF RUBBER.

lean Inventor, upon the shortage
the rubber crop. matter of value
our own people Where the demar
for an article in common use Is IL
creasing and the supply decreasing
the fact that Hawaii has the pOtentis
means of adding to the output become
at once of prime Importance to US a
and particularly to the government
which may yet see the wisdom of re
foresting the mountains with trees tina
pay in produce as well as in waite
conservation.
The Investor says: The United State
government has issued a bulletin up
on the subject of rubber gathering. il
the Philippines. 1t is known that il
some of the southern islands the Heves
or Para rubber tree grows as well as
it does upon the Amazon and its trib-
utaries. and in all the islands the
| Castilloa. or Mexican. rubber tree car
be made to grow.
This is a matter of Importance to
| the philippines and of utmost interest
to American trade in general. 1t is
especially interesting to know that the
Hevea tree can be raised. This is by
far the most valuable of all rubber
trees, and the earth is being gone over
to find territory in which it will -four
ish. From it comes the highest grade
of India rubber, Para, which has for
New York market at more than dol
lar a pound. The supply of this rub
Der, and, in fact, of all rubber, is new
er up to the demand. The demand
is increasing in jumps, while the sup
ply is barely holding its own.
With the multiplied demand for rub
rubber clothing and footwear, the use
of rubber as floor covering. the sub
stitution of rubber fire hose for leather
or canvas hose, the development of
pneumatic tools. the invention of rub
Der sponges, the increase in the use
of rubber toys and in hospital sup
plies. and the variety of new uses of
hard rubber. the demand has become
very great. New rubber factories are
going up everywhere. and there are
thousand patents for new rubber appli-
ances every year
The United States Rubber Company
sold $4,000, 900 worth of rubber boots
and shoes last year. and bought more
than s10,000,000 worth of crude rubber.
The Rubber Goods Manufacturing
Company sold almost s15.OOOOOO worth
of goods and bought about $1,000 600
worth of raw material. This is the
of only two big compa-
MES, and it is safe to say that the in
consumed even more crude
rubber than the trusts.
In every instance these quantities are
larger than they We're in the previous
year by a considerable percentage, and
the growth has been gaining every
year. The production does not keep
pace. The worlds visible supply of
rubber April 1 was 25O6 tons On the
same date in 1903 it was 4547 tons. and
in 1902, 5s11 tons
The collection of rubber is also show
ing little or no increase The receipts
at Para from July 1 to April l were
%, 345 tons in 1904 21,211 tons in 1908,
and %, 269 tons in 1902. There is also
a prospect that the supply will de-
crease in the near future. Every year
the rubber gatherers on the Amazon
have to go further into the jungle TO
find rubber trees. Every year thous-
ands of trees along the river are de-
stroyed by ignorant tapping or wanton
greed, the natives frequently cutting
down trees to gain few more ounces
than can be drained by tapping.
The necessity of burrowing deeper in
to the forests increases the cost of
getting to market and reduces the sup
ply of labor available. The time is
coming when the Amazon will have
reached it's limit of production When
trees are destroyed and used up and
no thought is made to propagate new
trees, there is no question as to the
ultimate end.
In Africa, too, there has been a great
falling off in the last few months in
production. African rubber comes
from a wild vine, which is destroyed
when the rubber is gathered, but as
the vine grows rapidly its destruction
is not so serious as that of the Para
tree.
All these causes lead to one solution,
to a trade crisis that is near. This is
the rubber plantation. There must be
by some method steady
supply of rubber if there is to be safe
ty for the manufacturer or stability in
ID