The Washington herald., 1912-10-13

eh~,- es ot tneoe men. Never
tneiess: they would not be called vss,,h,
| were they living here instead Of In Rr..
| nL Though they often own larr. ...
! taies' the risks and complexItiea Of fhs
| I.uooef business are SO great and conSus,
ing that Il is hardly possible to nut 4
Saue on their lands or to estimate fheir
p's po,d .. recently se large plantation was
! The second class 10 composed of IN.
I usents and superintendents representins
he owners Now and then one Of them
s partner In the business. They n
nuhoreds OF miles up the Amazon and its
tributaries and live In rough, little aettIe-
ments ouilt on stilts along the low banks
OF the river. There are docks, stores.
.hu warehouses; at such places. These
men receive the crude rubber from the
serinsueiros. or workers, and suppIv the
'a'er with food and clothing.
! The Para River Fleet.
Steamboat men constitute the third
eiass. There are about $50 river boats
IN the Para fleet. most of which are of
100 tons register The ships must he
small In order to negotiate the SHALLOW
water and sharp turns IN the channel
An occasional planter owns his trans
portation outf,t. but for most part the
ooats are separate interest In the rub
| Der business.
Ships begin to go up the river about
octooer ID. The first come back to Para
early In January. They carry sunniie.
70 the settlements and plantations and
take rubber In payment. or on commits
sion- The captains are also given large
sums OF money with which to make down
payments for rubber or to buy it out
right. There Is a great deal OF hazard
IN this branch Of the industry The
steamboat men usually know the approx
lions. but they can easily slip up In their
| calculations. as was the case three years
ago. They are out Of touch with Para
ana the markets beyond for from three
TO hve months and at best must act
with great caution. The price of rubber
Is really fixed in London. Three Or four
immense companies. one Of them located
IN TINS country. practically control the
rubber market OF the world and persons
IN fara sometimes say that the sup
posediy immutable Law Of supply and de-
mand does not always establish the quo
tation. either In Brazil or on the Island
of Ceylon.
Slowly steaming up the river and into
Its crooked and narrow afFiuents, the cap
tains bargain at the settiements the best
they can. 1t happens that they are
compelled frequently to accept rubber on
consignment They agree to hold 1t sub
)ect TO the orders Of the planters who
may be a thousand miles from Para and
unreachable by mail or telegraph
The Danger OF the Ama.on.
Though he violates one OF the laws OF
Brazil the steamboat owner back in
Para with his eyes on the market, some
times breaks his agreement and sells the
rubber at what he believes will be the
highest quotation Of the year The plant
er may approve or disapprove the act
q
or so later. Furthermore, while he was
up the Amazon. the captain found mer-
chants and superintendents who could
not pay cash for their supplies and he
had to leave some Of his mercha ndise
with promises Of payment when he re-
turned the following year. Such are .
few of the complications of the rubber
business Only native OF experience
can comprehend them. There il risk at
every angle Of the industry.
But the captain also has navigation
troubles. Water suddenly runs out Of
the twisting channel and the boat stops,
with Its keel in the mud. Then the cap
tain waits for a strange thing to hap
pen. Watching closely. ne will see. after
several hours have passed, a slight agi-
tation on the surface Of the river In a
little while, as he well knows. the waves
Will grow larger and a great volume of
water. released from the mountains. will
come pouring down. floating his boat and
spreading far and near over the nat jun
gle Of weeds and bushes.
The captain shouts his orders, fuel Is
put into the furnace and away goes the
boat at full speed against the fast run
ming current. The flood may last for
three or four hours when mysteriously
as II came. the water vanishes once more.
Meanwhile the captain must be careful
to keep strictly within the lines Of the
channel. otherwise when the stream dies
away again he may find his boat strand
ed SO far inland as to be a total loss.
So he ascends the tributaries OF the great
river and is ever in danger. In a single
journey from Para westward. twenty
seven boats were seen that had been left
high and dry during one OF the mon
strous heart-beats Of the mighty and
mystical Amazon.
The Work In the Forests.
Then the laborers who gather the
rubber and prepare 1t for market form
a class by themselves. and the most in
teresting class, ! would say, Of ALL Avi-
a6ores are the men who operate the
steamers. The seringueiros are the men
who tap the trees and cure the rubber
in the smoke OF palm nuts. They come
mostly from the State Of Ceara, some
600 miles east of Para-from a region that
is hot and dry. and where the soil is
sandy and lean and the people are very
poor. We spoke awhile ago about the
uncertain value Of rubber lands might
say that one estimates a forest. not by
the trees and acres 1t contains, but by
the number OF men whom the planter
has brought In as workers. The trans
portation cost of getting a laborer from
Ceara tc a plantation on the upper Am
azon must be at least $500. He leaves
Fara in October when the fleet goes
after rubber. and must be fed through
the winter, SO as to be ready for the
own estimate shows that every workman
- the woods represents a total outlay
Of about 500 to his employer.
We have followed the seringueiro from
hiu home amid the sandy wastes Of
Ceara tC the Brazilian forests Of the in
terror. He speaks the Portuguese Ian
guage, and. while poverty-stricken. IL q
man of some independence Of spirit. II
he Is prudent with his money. he may
get away from the woods and return to
Ceara. As he only works about five
months in the year. spending the other
seven months at the nearest settlement,
where he lives in idleness and drinks
more or less spirits, made from the Juice
Ct sugar-cane, the probabilities are that
his debts will keep him in the forest. It
is said that Is per cent of the new and
unacclimated seringueiros die the FIRST
season from the low fever that il prev
alent along the Amason.
Among wild Beasts and Snakes.
For the better working Of his estate.
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