Evening star., 1923-08-25
BUSINESS REVIVAL
BEGUN IN MEXICO
Rubber Interests Branching
Out in Anticipation of Early
, Recognition by U. S.
BY j. c. ROYLE.


~ NEW YORK. August 25.-Businesh
men on both sides of the Rio Grande
are making preparations for an active
increase in commerce in anticipation
OF formal recognition Of the Obregon
government by the United states.
This is not confined to private individ-
uals or firms alone. The state OF
Zacatecas has just signed a contract
with Z. J. Parkinson, representing the
Continental Rubber Company. provid-
ing for the erection of a number of
large rubber factories in that state.
The Continental Company also is ex-
pected to build new plants through
out the states, producing the guayaule
or rubber shrub
TorreOn Plant ReOpened.
The company now is operating its
guayaule plant at Torreon built be-
fore the Madero revolution and large
shipments of the shrub are being re-
ceived. Rubber producers say that
the increased cost of plantation rub
Der resulting from the British re-
Striction of production in Malaga will
result in a strong demand for quay
aule rubber in the United States and
Europe and that there will be large
Investments OF foreign capital in this
industry after recognition. In 1910,
Mexico produced 21.000.000 pounds of
rubber and it is believed even with
the present inadequate equipment
regular production of 100000
pounds can be maintained.
Romance in Rubber.
The development of the guayaule
rubber industry is one of the ro-
mances of the business world. and the
real story OF the discovery or It's
commercial possibilities is known to
not a dozen Americans. In the late
nineties a British engineer connected
with an oil company, who had once
had experience in the rubber planta-
tions of Borneo, started the two
week journey on mule back across the
passes of the Sierra Madre in Duran
go TO the Pacific coast. He stopped
at n village far from the beaten path
and was surprised to see the boys of
the community playing the favorite
game of pelota. or hand ball, with
rubber ball. He knew that they sell
dom, if ever. had the opportunity to
finger single centavo of real money
and could have had no opportunity
to buy a rubber ball If they had ac-
cumulated the cash. He asked them.
therefore, where they had oLssSed
the ball, and was told that they had
made 1t from toe guayaule plant
We sit down in a ring" the boys
told him, 'and each of US chews
twig of guayaule. Pretty soon each
has little piece of gonna or gum.
Then we stick those together and
bound" The engineer took samples
OF the shrub with him, and within a
year factories We're turning out fair
quality of rubber from this shrub,
which grows wild over hundreds of
thousands of acres Of arid land in
North Mexico. The method of ex-
tracing the rubber has differed little
from that originated by the Mexican
boys except that machinery and
tanks take the place of teeth and
saliva.
Methods Greatly Improved.
Now, however, methods have been
invented which give a product inn
proved both in quality and quantity.
For time no effort was made to
cultivate the shrub which grew wild
over the arid plateaus II will not
grow IN an altitude less than 1000
feet. but it made millionaires out of
hundreds of Mexican land owners
who were tax poor until this unsus-
cd. The continental Mexican Rubber
Company has established expert
mental farms in the producing dis
trict which includes over 100000
acres in the hope OF increasing yield
by cultivation. 1t requires about four
years for the plant to mature.
Railroad Traffic Increasing.
II find present transportation con-
ditionS the most satisfactory in my
experience" Clyde NJ. Reed. chairman
of the Kansas Public Utilities Com
mission, declared today. The rail-
roads are moving the largest volume
Of traffic in their history with less
congestion than ever before. The
reason seems to be that cars are
being returned promptly from the
east to points of origin and that with
the receipt of new equipment i'm
proved efficiency has been effected.
In April of last year freight was
moved on the average of 21.6 miles a
day. In April this year it was NOV
ing 27.3 miles. This increase indicates
at the present time the equivalent
nf 100000 additional freight cars"