Evening star., 1920-11-21

ColHCluenCeS SO nicely tlneO Cnal
they are regarded by many as a dis
tinct act of Providence, there We're
set in motion in the early seventies
two separate activities which were
| to coalesce more than a generation
later and make possible the great
automobile industry of Ameriae and
the attendant tremendous expansion
of the rubber and petroleum indus
tries.
One of these activities was the ef-
/ fort OF Selden to produce an automo-
bile engine. Here was the inception
of what has been termed the most
gigantic mechanical enterprise of the
| ages. 1t took many years for the
| flower to bloom, but from the day of
those first experiments the advent
\ of the automobile was constantly i'm
| AS if the unseen forces that guide
/, human affairs were fully cognizant
i that within brief period this effort
J, of Seldeh's was to blossom fully in
the great automobile industry Of to-
day. another man in another quarter
of the globe. and with no thought
Of the automobile in mind, took at
about the same time the steps which
t,ave made it possible to furnish
for that industry the large supplies
OE TuDUeI Oh WHlCH dulOI1icDiiNS al Z
so vitality dependent.
Hard to .1sskine.
I, What the automobile would be
without rubber tires would be hard
TO imagine. Without rubber some
automobiles would undoubtedly be
manufactured. but they would GER
tainly be rattIebang affairs of slow
speed ana much vibration. 1t is quite
true that. following the invention or
Si1rNnaEfHl engine 3utOn )1le de-
velopment has been conditioned very
largely upon the development of tires
This fact is amply demonstrated
today, through the revolutionary
changes taking place in motor truck
construction. due to the adaptation OF
the pneumatic tire to use on motor
trucks Germany had chance to
find out what automobile operation
ithout rubber tires was like during
Ne war. and she did not relish the
!! ) :perience.
| 1t is the purpose of this article to
! show how it happened that when the
/ automobile industry burst upon the
world. with need for rubber winch
the recognized sources of supply
could not have begun to meet. there
was found ready in a new quarter
a supply SO adequate that the prog
ress Of the industry has not been
halted for second by any shortage
of rubber. In other words, this is
tne STORY Oh the TuuUeE pidutdtiOHS
in the far east
Until ten years ago rubber meant
rubber from Brazil. There were some
other sources Of supply Of inferior
grades. but practically all the prime
rubber came from. Brazil. Today
than 4 decade the far east has jumped
to the front, and is now producing
nine-tenths of the rubber Of the
world.
Touch sf Hsmance.
The history of the passing of the
glory of Brazil in this particular mas
a touch of romance in it. In the six
ties an Englishman named =. a;
Wickham spent much time in Brazil
IN the rubber field. He conceived the
idea that the rubber trees. which grow
wild in Brasil, could be cultivated ana
grown on plantations. But he was
ahead Of his time, and found little
encouragement.
Wickham finally enlisted the inter-
est of Sir Joseph Hooker of Kew
Gardens, London, who had been con-
sidering the possibility of Introducing
the trees to India. Hooker, in turn.
interested the government Of 1naia in
the project, with the result that Wick
ham was given commission BY the
Indian government for the introduc-
ton OF the Brazilian tree into India.
How to fulfill the commission was
the problem. Hooker had already
tried to effect it, but without result in
ham was in Brazil when the solution
of the problem suddenly presented
itself. A large British steamer which
had sailed up the Amazon on her hfst
trip with q cargo OF goods to be sold
it being the intention to load her
from the proceeds with rubber for her
return trip-found herself without
funds and without a cargo when the
supercargoes, after disposing of the
goods she had brought, decamped with
the money. Wickhafi1 promptly char
tered her in the name anne Of & the Indian ian
at a port third of the way up the
river several thousands of the seeds
of the Hevea Braziliensis, the rubber
tree, carefully packed.
Bound to Call At PaFa.
"Fer my part" says Wiekham in his
memoirs. ''as the fine ship sped on her
way with my precious hevea, so far
their crates in the roomy, empty fore
held, 1 became more and more exer-
eised ana concerned with a new
anxiety.
city Of Para as the port Of entry, in
the ship before we could go to sea.
II was perfectly certain in my mind
that X the authorities guessed the
purpose Of what / had on board we
should be detained on plea for in
struetiohs from the central govern
esthef. 1 had heard Of the difficulties
Encountered in the Clements Mark
ham introduction OF quifiine trees into
India in getting them out from the
Montana OF Peru: ANY such delay
freight quite valueless and useless.
"Hut again fortune favored. 1 had
a friend at court in the person of
consul Green. He quite entered into
the spirit Of the thing. went himself
f1eiai, ana backed me up as presented
to his excellency my difficulty and
anxiety being In charge of, and hav-
ing on board ship anchored out
in the stream. exceedingly delicate
botanical specimens, especially desig-
majesty's own royal garden Of Kew.
Even while doing myself the honor
of thus calling on his excellency, 1
had given orders to the captain OF the
ship to keep up steam, having ven-
tured to trust his excellency would
see his way clear to furnishing me
with imm Mediate dispatch An inter-
view most polite full Of mutual COM
plIments in the best Portuguese man
i1er, enabled US to get under way as
Ao0n as the captain had got the Q1n-
Ecy hauled aboard. a.
Went Ashore ut Havre.
II got the captain to put me ashore
at Havre, and then posted over to
Kew and saw Sir Joseph Hooker. SO
az to dispatch a night goods train to
meet the ship on arrival at the Liver
pool docks"
Sir william Thiselton- Dyer speaks
Interestingly OF the next step:
con aaanro v0y that on that 18th
day Of June. 1876. when Mr.. Wickham
arrived at Kew In a hanson cab with