Los Angeles herald., 1906-01-29
RAM DISCOVERS
AMERICAN RUBBER
IMPORTED ANIMAL DIES OF EAT.
ING STRANGE WEED
At an Inquest They Found Caoutchouc
in Its tomach--Secretary Hitch
cock Reserves From Public Colo
RADIO Township Where Plant Grows
Special to The Herald.

Special to The Herald
WASHINGTON, Jan. 2S.-The vora-
ciouS appetite of an imported ram is
responsible for the discovery of a rub
Der bearing plant in Colorado which
yields a product the equal in every re-
spect of Para rubber.
Secretary Hitchcock of the interior
department is so impressed with the
possible future of the plant that he has
Withdrawn from sale or settlement an
entire township six miles square near
Durango, Colo.
A ranchman named Dunbar, living
near Durango. has large herds of
sheep. which he grazes on the public
lands. He noticed that the sheep re-
fused to eat certain plant which
grew in great profusion. 1t was a
bush of much foliage, hardy and al
ways the first green thing to appear
after the winter SHOWS. Although it
was generally up long before the grass
the sheep would not touch it. Dunbar
made up his mind that it was some
kind of 'loco" weed, and congratu-
lated himself that his herds We're wise
enough to avoid it.
More than year ago Dunbar i'm
ported for breeding purposes a ram
and several ewes from England. The
imported animals arrived in good con-
dition and Weathered a severe winter.
They were in such excellent condition
at the close Of winter that Dunbar was
considering the advisability of getting
more of them.
When spring came the imported ran
and ewes were turned out with the
herd. All the domestic sheep carefully
avoided the bright green bush which
was just making its appearance. The
imported ewes followed the example of
the domestic sheep. The English ram
was not so wise. He gorged himself on
the succulent green leaves of the sus-
pected plant. The herder saw him eat
ing the green stuff and wondered. In
six hours the ram was dead.
Rubber in Rams "Innardsv
An expert from Denver performed an
autopsy and found the stomach and in
testines Of the ram filled with minute
particles of rubber. These, he said,
had caused death.
Dunbar was greatly excited, fearing
that his entire herd might be wiped
out. He began experimenting with the
weed and found it yielded a quantity
of crude rubber with very little manip-
ulation. Others became interested in
the discovery and a company was or
ganized in Michigan to exploit it.
| and sent on, and from it rubber boots,
| rubber shoes, elastic bands, etc., were
manufactured.
Samples of the rubber were sub
mitted to firms in New York and the
exploitets were offered rs cents pound
for all they could produce. Para rub
| ber costs 81 pound in South America.
| The rubber from the Colorado plant
works up with less labor than the
| Para.
Representative Edwin DENLY Of
Michigan with Dunbar called on Sec
retary Hitchcock with samples and
asked that the land be withdrawn
from settlement until sufficient seed
could be gathered to insure a crop OF
the valuable weed. Secretary Hitch
COX was so impressed that he issued
immediate Instructions to the commits
sioner of the general land office to
withdraw 1t. Denby and Dunbar in
| tend gathering seed this year and
| planting on large scale.