The Washington times., 1922-06-24
MODERN Ways !.
'bR|NG|MP PR0VED
RUBBER T0U.S.
Company Introduces New
Methods Into Great PIanta-
tion In Sumatra.

Crude rubber differs % much In
appearance from manufactured rub
Der that only those familiar with II
would be likely to recognize II a.
rubber. .sa.-
During the war. when the allies
were taking such precautions to
prevent rubber from reaching Ger
many, the secret service men had
to receive special instructions %
that they would know rubber when
they saw Il. .t..'
Rubber IL obtained from many
plants and trees in the tropics. and
IL reaches the markets In many
widely varying forms. But the fine
grades Of crude rubber are the
smoked sheets and pale crepe from
The great rubber plantations Of the
Far East and Para, the rubber
obtained from trees that grow wild
in the jungles Of the Amazon.
Crude rubber comes to the manu-
facturerss today in much better
shape and condition than when the
industry was young. Then many
Of the inferior grades were slimy,
toul-looking messes that were any
thing but pleasant to handle. Mod
ern methods have produced many
changes and the rubber comes In
today, especially In the finer grades.
looking almost good enough to eat
Para rubber makes its way to the
markets in the form OF biscuits,
large balls weighing about sixty
pounds each. They are q rich brown
In color. The native worker In the
Amazon district makes these biscuits
by dipping q wooden paddle into
the latex-the liquid form in which
rubber comes from the trees--and
then hotting the paddle with the rub
Der that adhers to II in the smoke
OF certain leaves and nuts until the
latex IA coagulated. When the first
layer is thoroughly smoked. the pad
die Is again dipped, layer and all.
and the second layer given the smoke
treatment. So the biscuit is built
up, layer upon layer, until a ball Of
the desired size II made. The meth
DDS used are very crude and the
workmen are none too careful and
II Is necessary before the rubber IN
used is manufacture to give It. a
thorough cleansing to remove I'M
purities.
Into the production of crude rub
Der on the plantations Of the Far
East, on the other hand, have gone
the scientific minds Of the white race
with the result that the rubber com
ing from the plantations 10 very
largely free Of impurities and care
fully packed. Each plantation has
its own views as to the best form
of preparing the rubber for market,
but II comes chiefly in three forms,
smoked sheet. thin, pale crepe and
thick pale crepe. As Its name i'm
plies, smoke sheet has received a
smoke treatment but the crepes are
unsinoleed. Crepe takes its name
from It's resemblance TO paper crepe.
The thick pale crepe looks 20 much
like tripe that II some Of II were dis
played In a butchers window a
housewife would likely ask for a
couple of pounds Of that nice looking
tripe In the window" II 10 made up
In sheets about one-half inch thick
and has lemon tint. Thin crepe
heavy flannel and looks like flannel,
the lemon color being more pro-
nounced. G-."
Smoked sheet might easily pass
for the black molasses candy that
was so popular with the boys and
girls of fifty years ago. II Ia about
a uuarter.inch inch thick and has q
deep brown color, verging on black.
It's shiny surface is usually stamped
with some simple design, such as
squares or diamonds, each plantation
following its own fancy. II smells
decidedly like bacon.
The United States Rubber Com
pany, which owns In Sumatra the
largest single plantation In the world,
has gone a step beyond other plan
tation owners, who operate no
factories. and Introduces processes
into the preparation OF It's crude rub
Der which especially fit the rubber
for manufacture into the goods Into
which II is to be made. Experiments
have shown, for instance. that
certain methods OF treatment produces
rubber that is better suited for
tires than others. In fact, on the
plantation OF the United States Rub
Der Company. every step In the
handling Of rubber from the moment
Il leaves the tree a. latex 10 taken
with viewNto the particular kind
Of goods into which the rubber is
Ito Be manufactured.