Evening star., 1917-09-30

tCopyrisht, 1917, by Frank C. Carpenter-)
AKRON, Ohio.
-Tts now almost twenty years since
received my first assignment to
write a letter on the rubber in
* dustry. I then had to travel moro
than three thousand miles to get the
stuff. My first port of destination was
Para at the mouth Of the Amazon, and
1 rode for several weeks on that
mighty stream through what were then
the chief rubber lands of the globe. To-
day the Industrial demands or the war
have given me a second rubber assign
ment, and I have come to TINS httie
city of Akron, in the heart OF the
North American continent / am no"
on the roof of the interior state of
Ohio 500 miles from any seaport.
thousands of miles from the eQua1oriai
forests of Brazil. and more than nan
way round the world from Maia ysla'
where are situated the rubber planta-
eions from which the chief part OF the
worlds product now comes.
since I wrote that first letter the
rubber industry has bounced to the top
of the worlds great necessities; the
center of production of the raw mate
rial has travelled from the wilds Oh
South America to the cultivated estates'
of tropical Asia. and Akron has become
the chief rubber manufacturing city OF
the world. 1t is now producing more
than one-third of all the rubber goods
made by mankind, and Its output tnls
year will be SO great that 1t could give
$40 worth of such goods to every lam
ifly In the United States and have some
to spare.
Tho motor traffic of today is cushion
ed on Akron. The tires turned OUT
there last year exceeded eleven mil
lions in number, and that product VIII
he doubled within a few months to
come. The output at present Is about
forty thousand tires every day or
enough to equip ten thousand vehicles
while the sun rises and sets. There are
now more than three thousand acres or
floor space here which are devoted 10
making rubber tires only, and there are
companies which make vast quantities
of tires and at the same time other
rubber goods of every description
7 visited one plant which sends out
rubber bands by the carload, making
enough every week to bury from s1ght
a team of horses and a dozen men
standing around them. 1t makes ruo-
ber belts and conveyors which are
miles in extent. and for hospital use
rubber sheets which would cover acres.
Akron has factories that make rubber
goods for every possible want. from tne
nipple that feeds milk to the oapy 70
the hot water bottle that warns the
chilled feet of the aged on the cage OIL
the grave. 1t makes rubber boots ior
the trenches and diving suits Tor gong
under the sea. 1t makes dlTiglble pai-
looms for piercing the ciouds anu al, ~
plane tires to soften the descent or the
great flying machines as they iano
from the skies. 1t makes. In snort, SO
many things of rubber that the names
%zlr
have for this letter. Many of its prod
ucts are of vital necessity to us in our
war with the Germans. and the most
of the factories are now worklng on
war orders. There are thirty estabilsn-
ments all told. They cover thousands
of acres. and some of the larger OF
them have as many as 10000 men and
women laboring away under one roof.
But before I describe these great
Akron factories I want to tell you OF
the mighty changes that are going on
in the rubber industry. During my
stay here I have talked with rubber
experts from other parts of the world,
and. through the chief officials of the
plants am able to give you some idea
tell you what rubber is. 1t does not
como from one tree only. 1t is milky
duid which is found In the bark or
more than 300 trees and vines which
grow near the equator. 1t also exists
IN a shrub OF the Mexican deserts. and
10 found in certain African roots. There
are soEle trees. however, that produce
far more rubber than others: and there
are four varieties of crude rubber
which are OF especial Importance. The
species known Hevea is the best of
all rubber. and it comes either from the
Amazon valley or is a descendant OF
trees that grow there.
Twenty years ago the wild trees of
equatorial Brazil were the chief source
of the rubber of the world. and they
are still producing large part of the
product. From the mouth of the ANA
kon. al the way up it's winding
course to its source in the Andes
q distance almost as far as from
New York to San Francisco, there