San Antonio light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1911-1993, 1924-04-08
Mexican Revolt Threatened
to Cut Off Supply Of
Sisal Fiber.
TWO-MONTH'S SUPPLY
Arnunt on Hand VIII Last
Manufacturers Only
Short Time.
RY i. &. ROyLF-

Copyright by The San Antonio Light.
New York, April S.--The revolu.
tionary outbreak in Mexico which. has
been in progress for sometime, prom
Used for time TO have close and i'm
portant bearing on the American
farmer, it became known today. The
temporary success of the De la Huerta
faction in Yucatan threatened, until
the difficulty was overcome. to cut off
necessary supplies of sisal fiber essen
tial in the manufacture of binding
Irvine in this country. Conditions have
not yet returned to normal in that
section of Mexico but there is at pres
ent enough raw sisal on hand here to
take care of the immediate require
ments of this agricultural district.
This supply was secured through
efforts of the International Harvester
company, one of the largest manufac-
turers of binder Irvine. When the De
la Huerta faction took possession of
Progreso the shipping port of the
Yucatan sisal supply, the Interna-
tional company through special rep
resentative secured the forwarding of
a large amount Of fiber. Other mills
were out of raw materials and faced
the necessity Of a shutdown. The
international company, however,
agreed to divide its importations
among its competitors and supplied
their mills at cost. One large ship
ment was sent to the Kansas peniten-
tiary mill at the request of Governor
j. NJ. Davis of that state.
Charge Loan" Made.
Charges were made by representa-
tives in this country of some of the
Iucatan sisal producers that the pur-
cbases of the International company
in effect constituted loan" of sew
eral millions of dollars to the De la
Huerta faction which was in control
of the Progreso customs house at that
time. A flat denial of this was made
today by Alexander Legge, president
of the Harvester company.
Fullest details of the negotiations
necessary to get the fiber from the
plantations to this country, he said,
had been in possession of the State
department at all times and it was
only after all features of the transac-
ton, including the necessities of the
American farmer. had been placed be-
fore officials at Washington, that ex
pUrtatiOn from Progreso was under
taken. Mr.. Legge added a denial that
his concern had loaned money in any
sum to Mexican factions in Yucatan
or other states.
Situation Was Serious.
at has not been easy to get sisal
out of lucatan and into the United
States he said today, but the situa-
ton few weeks ago was serious and
something had to be done. There is
sufficient here now to take care of i'm
mediate needs and those of the next
month or two. BY that time it is
hoped conditions will have become
stabilized.
"We are not making any money on
the proposition under existing circum-
stances. Indeed. we lost money on one
shipment. We let a competing mill
have supply at cost plus nominal
charges made by shipping concerns.
Later when we were billed for these
charges we found extra lighterage and
demurrage. costs had been tackled on.
We took that loss"
Mr.. Legge pointed out there was no
chance of differences arising with the
Obregon government as result of the
transactions in Yucatan. since any
CidiilS dTlSlDg over allcSeO losses OF
customs duties would be handled be-
tween Mexico and the United States
government.
Export Trade Heavy.
According TO Robert Cabrera OF
San Francisco, who is acting as I'M
official trade representative there of
several Latin-American countries in
Guiding Mexico, export trade from the
Pacific coast to the west coast of Mex
leo exceeded all records last month.
During the first two months of the
year this trade had fallen consider
ably because of the revolutionary trou-
bles. March trade, he said approx
mated S750.O00 in value. The recov-
cry he attributed to indications that
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