The Washington herald., 1912-10-13

gathering rubber juice at 1 o'clock in
the morning. They have, Of course, al
ready tapped the trees. using narrow
bladed iron axes with long handles and
being very careful not to injure the
wood beneath. In Ceylon trees are d.
vided into four sections. and a sp!ral in
cision is made in one Of the sections
each year. The Brazilian method is diff
ferent A dozen small oblique notches
are cut in a single tree, the rubber Is
extracted. and then the tree is permit
ted to rest for two years. In the mean
time the wounds have healed and the
tree is as smooth and sound as before.
Sap. white in color. like milk. flows
from the tree into small cups OF tin. and
Is emptied into large buckets which the
seringueiros carry with them when they
60 to their work. BY noon. perhaps. all
the juice has been gathered. The men
then quickly return to their huts, which
are built on posts as to avoid the
dampness OF the earth and to be out OF
reach OF serpents. creeping insects. and
beasts. A fire is built on the ground
and into it are thrown palm nuts OF a
kind that are rich in oil.
How the Balls Are Made.
Then the sap is slowly poured on 4
wooden paddle. and the paddle is slowly
turned over the fire. and thus begins the
process Of coaSulation. The smoke of
the nuts turns the rubber black and gives
II the chemical element that has made
the Para product the finest and best in
the world.
Sap must be taken care OF at once.
or it will turn sour and produce an in
ferior grade OF rubber. The man at the
fire. consequently. must work rapidly.
Siis revolving paddle is supported in the
crotch of two sticks driven into tho
earth slantwise. While the smoke is
good for the rubber. II Is not good for
the health. Little by little the thicken-
ing juice on the paddle takes the shape
Of a ball. BY o'clock in the afternoon
the days work is done. So one day fol-
lows another. the ball growing steadily
until II weighs about 100 pounds. Some
balls are much larger: some are smaller.
Every day adds new layer TO the
ball. Thus is happens that the rubber
in ball is not uniform. The serin-
gueiro may become careless, or he may
not be feeling WELL and so the work OF
one day Is not SO good as the work of
the day before. There was a time. and
not a long while ago. when other things
than rubber were deftly worked into the
balls-dead snakes. for instance. stones.
and pieces OF copper. Now. however.
negroes. natives Of the country. quarter
houses of Para and extract any extrane-
Gus articles found therein. The rubber
Is not weighed until that is done. Also.
because of the irregularity of the work
Of the seringueiro. rubber of three quail
ties-fine. medium. and coarse-is COM
monty cut from the same ball. The
negroes who do this work are shrewd
and remarkably skillful men.
Earns About $3.50 n Season.
But let US return to the plantation.
far up on the Amazon. The seringueiro
tolls in the manner I have described
for five months. Possibly his family Is
with him. There are no schools for his
children. Snakes. animals and malaria
endanger his life and health. Without
doubt he Is a debtor ut the settlement
for the clothes on his back and the food
he has eaten. I have said. however, that
he Ia an independent man-independent at
heart. at least, If not in reality, because
instead Of working for wages, he is
really a subconractor. He Is paid by
quantity and not by the day and will
engage himself to his employer under no
other conditions.
Ordinarily he receives 75 cents a
pound for the rubber he delivers to the
planter or his agent. He does we'll II
his season of twenty weeks nets him
1000 pounds, although on a particularly
rich plantation he may gather as much
as four-fifths of a ton. A half ton, how
ever. is a safe basis from which to COM
pute his yearly earnings. His income
accordingly il $50. Freights on food
and clothing. coming a long distance, are
high. The dealers, too. want and de-
mand a good profit. Then there are
seven months of inactivity at the settle
ment. of eating and Of drinking and Of
new obligations that bind the serin-
gueiro to his creditors. He may 90 back
to his old home in Ceara some time, but
the chances are he will never see 1t
again.
And 30 down the rivers and over the
ocean comes the rubber Of Para"
Copyright IN. b. James B. Monow.)