El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1912-09-28


awful shadow of Mount Pelee, we get
vanilla beans. Corsica, where the great
Napoleon was born, sends US great
quantities of briar root for pipes, and
also citrons. The latter arrive in casks
of brine, and are put up in cans here.
Mayalasia, by way Of Singapore, sup
plies US with shark liver oil, which sells
in the market under the name Of pure
cod liver"
In October the sharks in that part of
the world swarm into the lagoOns to
pair, and are speared in great numbers
the males first, because the females
refuse to leave them, and so fall easy
victims. There are several species,
oil (refined in Europe) fetches s75 a
ton, crude.
We get a good deal of rattan from
that region. The finest rattan in the
world comes from the little archipela-
goes of Mas, POggy, etc, along the west
coast Of Sumatra- These are supposed
to have been the Fortunate isles of the
ancients; and well might they be so
called, inasmuch as their Inhabitants
are rich without labor, and the women
have new dress apiece every day in
the year. The dresses, fashioned SIM
ply of banana leaves, are supplemented
by helmet-shaped hats of palm leaves
or flowers With unlimited fish in the
ocean shadows. pigs running wild in
the forests, and delicious eatables Of
vegetable kinds furnished by nature,
work is unnecessary. In fact, the folks
of these islands have so few needs that
traders find it difficult 10 sell them
anything.
Rattan and COeOanuts.
Another such tiny archipelago which
sends US its rattan and cOcOanuts Is
that of the Keeling islands, southwest
OF Java. Ninety years ago Scotch
sea captain named Ross squatted
there and undertook to develop the
islands with the help of the natives,
importing additional labor from BOrneO
and Java. His great-grandson rules
there today under a sort of patriar-
chal system, and is known as the
white Sultan" a mere boy is this
young Ross (his father died about a
year ago), but his dominions, though
annexed to Singapore in 1908 have
been released to him by the British
government for 1000 years.
Gumdrops are mainly composed OF
gum senegal" of which We imported
5.5O0,000 pounds last year from the Su-
dan. 1t is obtained from an acacia tree
which grows In extensive Forests IN
that part of the world. and Whica IS
tapped by cutting the bark with a
small ak and tearing of narrow strips,
Whereupon q gUmmy substance .XudeS
and hardens in whitish crystalline
Jumps. One pound is good yield for
Of cinchona bark we imported in the
same y months $500 pounds But
so far was this quantity from being
sufficient for the fighting of malaria
that we purchased in addition from
abroad S21S5S6 ounces of sulphate Gf
Quinine. This represents one small
item of the money loss due 10
mosquitoes, though, of course, a minor
fraction OF the bark and its alkalOid
is used for medicinal purposes other
than the treatment of dchills and
fever"
Colombia is now supplying US with
large quantities of crocodile. skins.
They are enormously larger than the
biggest alligator hides, q single one
often having an area of 80 or more
square yards when spread out Croco-
dies attain size unapproached by al
ligators, and those which swarm in
the rivers of Colombia are frequently
as much as 25 feet long. They are cap
tured by spearing them, and, after be-
with a club, are beheaded with long
handled axes.
One of the most interesting OF our
imports is Ieeches, Of which We pur-
chased about $4,000 worth from abroad
last year. There are plenty of leeches
in our own country, but none OF the
ferocious and bloOdthirsty species
(suitabIe on that account for surgical
purposes) found in certain DOGGY lakes
in Switzerland and Germany. They IN
fest these lakes in swarms, and men
trap them by Wading in with bare legs.
Arriving at New York in tubs of moist
bog stuff, they are put up in cans with
perforated tops, and provided with
enough muck to make them happy. A
three inch leech viii contain one ounce
The gum chewing habit is growing at
a great rate. During the last ten years
we have imported over 1S'OOO tons OF
'chicle," which is the raw material OF
chewing gum. All of it comes from
Southern Mexico. where it is obtained
from the sapodilla plum tree, being an
oxidation thereof.
Enormous Hair Imports.
The stacks of hair women wear on
their heads nowadays could not grow
there. obviously. Accordingly, one is
not surprised to learn that during the
last year we imported from various
countries no less than 1,672,3SS pounds
of human hair, representing whole
sale value of S2,114,5S6.
pounds came from Austria-Hungary
49,017 pounds from Germany, and 1885,
907 pounds from Italy. Japan con-
tributed 317573 pounds. But the great
bulk of the imports of human hair for
the last u months were from China,
which shipped to this country 95S,O2S
pounds, or nearly 800 tons-largely
made up of discarded pigta1lS! II
American women realized what they
were actually wearing in the form of
cheap rats" and switches they would
be horror struck
TO be Obliged to relate that imports of
fireworks from that country have raj
len in the last three years from over
this quantity. 1t is the deadly work
of the safe and sane" fourth OF July
movement On the other hand, as
matter equally of interest to children,
1t should be mentioned that we i'm
ported nearly SIS, 000. 900 worth of toys
in the last u months-nine-tenths of
the total being from Germany.
Few people have any notion OF the
enormous amount of salt consumed an
nually in the United States. OF course,
we produce a great deal of this neces-
sary of life, but last year we were OBJ
liged to import POI, 339, 900 pounds of
salt.
On the other hand, OF cocoa beans, for
the making of chocolates Cmost dis
tinctly a luxury, we purchased abroad
no less than 13S, 058,000 pounds. And, in
addition, we imported 100000 pounds
of manufactured chocolate not includ-
ing confectionery.
Importation of SnaiIs.
Importations of snails, alas! have
sadly fallen off. Formerly We received
about $4,000 worth of them annually
from France. OF musk we purchased
more than $4,000 worth in the Il
months. 1t is a secretion of a gland
of the musk deer, and comes from
China and TOnkin. In the last decade
we have imported, chiefly from South