The Greeley tribune., 1909-10-07
PAGE THREE
Rubl,er Company Men Hers


Santiago" Robinson isn't q Mex
ican. neither is he OF Spanish descent
as the Christian name might indi-
cate, but In America he is just plain
James Robinson. n good bluH Amer
lean business man and manager of
the Monte CristO Rubber Plantation
company In which many Greeley peo-
pie are greatly interested. But the
name Santiago" Is about as near as
the Mexicans can come to pr0nOunc-
Ing the name James, and as Mr..
Robinson has been the manager on
the ground in the extreme south of
Mexico for the past twelve years, the
MexicOn version of it still cliugs to
him. Mr.. Robinson arrived in Gree
ley Friday to interview the stock
holders in the big rubber plantation
and make himself better acquainted
with ths Greeley men who al @ direct.
ly interested In the big rubber pro-
ject.
A cheerful report is furnished on
the project by Mr.. Robinson. He
has been manager of the Monte Girls
to project for the past nine years and
is In position to Judge the value
OF the company's holdings and UNDER
taking. Three years ago the Monte
Cristo company took over about 5000
acres of raw land In Chaipas, one of
the richest rubber countries In the
world and up until the present time
900 acres of this have been planted
in rubber trees. These trees have
had three years growth.
I'VE have good investment
said Mr.. Robinson. "The Monte
Cristo people are fortunate in having
secured excellent rubber land. With
rubber prices going up and new uses
being found for rubber each day, it
ia certainty that there is fortune
to be made by the company.
"In five years from now under fav-
orable conditions we will be able to
tap our first trees. We have every
thing in our favor. 4 came to the
United States primarily to secure
mules for work on the big planta-
tion as the Mexican animals are good
for little but packing. l expect to
take consignment of mules from
Beaumont, Texas, and Port Arthur.
Our manual labor is the peonage
system and although some scathing
criticisms have been offered for this
class of labor, 1t is a certainty that
it is the best satisfied labor in the
WoAAN' AC PCoPiC III oul oCStlOh vi
old Mexico are contented and peace
able and while they occasionally
have drunken sprees, 1t is seldom
that any bad blood is engendered be-
tween them.
Speaking of the development Of
! rubber trees, it is only within tn
past nine years that Americans have
| taken hold of rubber plantations and
| while the results are assured, the
main thing accomplished thus far in
the Chaipas country is the cleaning
up of land and the culture of trees.
| 1.-THE world has been dependent
| for its supply of rubber upon the
wild trees of South America and
other countries and with the methods
employed by the natives in gather
ing the rubber sap, these trees are
rapidly disappearing. The natives
formerly used the machete for tap
ping, which bit into the wood of the
trees and practically killed them at
the one tapping. We are perfecting
a tapping knife that will secure the
sap without stopping the growth of
the trees and the industry promises
to be made a permanent and prOfita-
BILE one.
Americans have fifteen or eigh-
teen plantations in the Chaipas coun-
try, but none of them are more prom
ising in proportion to the length of
time the work has been under way,
than the Monte Cristo project"
Mr.. Robinson is native of Cali
fornia, but has lived among the ma
tives of Mexico until he speaks their
language tiuently. He is familiar
with the rubber country and the best
methods of tree culture and possi-
| bly, no better man could have been
selected for the management of the
company. This company is purely
a local concern and its stockholders
are all residents o. northern Colo
rado.