The Birmingham age-herald., 1920-04-04
FAR EAST AWAYS
 FASCINATING FOR YOUNG AMERICAN gnm- "'"'
Rubber Doing Great Deal to Bring United States Into Close Touch
 With East

The fascination which the strange lands of the far east have held for the average American is taking on more tangible form, now that travel and business are bringing Asia and the United States into closer contact
 No article of commerce is doing more to bring this country into close touch with the mystic east than rubber. The rapid rise to supremacy in the produc- ton of crude rubber of the islands or the Indian ocean, combined with the fact that America consumes nearly three-quarters of all the rubber grown there, has given many Americans an opportunity to peep behind the scenes and become acquainted with the lands and peoples of that distant quarter of the globe.
 Although the whole equatorial belt in that section is dotted with rubber plantations, representing capital in- vestment of nearly half a billion dol lars, the thoughts of Americans nat urally center on Sumatra, where one of Americas greatest corporations has established a plantation so vast in area and so highly developed that 1t stands out as the greatest single plan tation in the world. This is the planta- tion of the United States Rubber Com pany, comprising seventy square miles of growing trees, an enterprise marked
 
 efficiency worth of the best American traditions
 TECHNICAL EXPERIENCE
 Many young Americans, alive with the spirit of adventure, have wondered what opportunities this plantation field might hold for youth in search of a chance. Inquiries of this sort are con stantly being received by the planta- tion executives of the United States Rubber Company To all such the com pany invariably replies that without technical training in rubber chemistry, soil chemistry or horticulture. there is almost no chance of getting foot hold. One of the requirements is that a man going there must be prepared to settle down with the idea of making his permanent home there.
 The executive and technical staffs of the plantation are made up largely of Americans and Europeans The Americans who, through their associa- tfon with the big project, have become acquainted with Sumatra and it's ways. tell an interesting story of their visits to this island
 HUMIDITY IS INTENSE
 The first thing that strikes the American making his first visit to Su- 1natra," said one of the officers of the plantation company recently. lis the intense humidity. The temperature ooeS HoL get as nlSn there as It does on our hottest days here, but for sev- eral weeks the humidity seems very oppressive. After a time we get used to that, so much so that cool breeze makes us uncomfortable and we worry more about the occasional cool spots in the weather than about the heat. The precipitation flows so freely that colds must be guarded against and after any violent exercise we wrap ourselves in sweaters so we won't take cold
 The next thing that attracts the attention of the newcomer is the den- sity of the vegetation. In the United States as we look into a forest we can see open spaces among the trees but In Sumatra the trees are covered Wllh parasites and vines forming a. solld wall and the ground is covered Wlth a mass of undergrowth. This super-iux uxurlant vegetation is one of .he cnlet Toes of the plantations, mak- ing constant wedding a necessity. On the other hand, the fertility of the soil and the hot, moist climate which pro- duces the heavy vegetation, works wonders for the rubber trees