Arizona republican., 1922-06-25
CRUDE RUBBER s
FUNNY MATERIAL
To UN|N|TIATED

Crude rubber differs so much in ap-
pearance from manufactured rubber
that only those familiar with it would
be likely to recognize 1t as rubber.
During the war, when the allies
were taking such stringent precau-
tions to prevent rubber from reach
ing Germany, the secret service men
had to receive special instructions so
that they would know rubber when
they saw it.
Rubber Is obtained from many
plants and trees in the tropics and it
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-
facturers today in much better shape
and condition than when the indus
try was young. Then many of the
44aferior grades were Shiny, foul look :
ing messes that were anything but
pleasant to handle. Modern 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 so pounds
each. They are rich brown in color
The native worker in the Amazon
district makes these biscuits by dip
ping a wooden paddle into the latex-
the liquid form in which rubber
comes from the trees--and then hold
ing the paddle with the rubber that
adheres to it in the smoke of certain
leaves and nuts until the latex is
coagulated When the first layer is
thoroughly smoked, the paddle Is
again dipped, layer and all, and the
second layer given the smoke treat
ment So the biscuit is built up,
layer upon layer, until a ball of the
desired size is made. The methods
used are very crude and the workmen
are none too careful and it is neces-
sary before the rubber is used in
manufacture to give it a thorough
cleansing to remove impurities.
Into the production of crude rubber
on the plantations of the Far East,
on the other hand, have gone the in
genuity and resourcefulness of the
scientific minds of the white race
with the result that the rubber COM
ing from the plantations is very
largely free of impurities and care
fully packed. Each plantations has
its own views as to the best form of
preparing the rubber for market, but
it comes chiefly in three forms,
smoked sheet, thin pale crepe and
thick pale crepe. AS its name implies,
smoked sheet has received a smoke
treatment but the crepes are un-
smoked Crepe takes it's name from
its resemblance to paper crepe.
The thick pale crepe looks so much
like tripe that if some of it were
displayed in a butchers window
housewife would likely ask for "a
couple of pounds of that nice look
ing tripe in the window" 1t is made
up in sheets about one-half inch
thick and has a lemon tint. Thin
thick as heavy flannel and looks like
flannel. the lemon color being more
pronounced.
Smoked sheet might easily pass for
the black molasses candy that was
so popular with the boys and girls of
so years ago. 1t is about quarter
inch thick and has a. deep brown
color, verging on black. Its shiny
surface is usually stamped with some
simple design, such as squares or
diamonds, each plantation following
its own fancy. 1t 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 planta-
ton owners, who operate no factories,
and introduces processes into the
preparation of the crude rubber
which especially fit the rubber for
manufacture into the goods into
which it is TO be made. Experiments
have shown, for instance. that certain
methods of treatment produce a rub
her that is better suited for tires
than others. In fact, on the planta-
tion of the United States Rubber
company every step in the handling
of rubber from the moment it leaves
the tree as latex is taken with view