The Monmouth inquirer. [volume] (Freehold, N.J.) 1865-1933, 1926-04-29

taries. Once in jail the citizens
chance of getting out would be small
indeed.
Evils Wiped Out.
British Intervention in Kelantan has
wiped away most evils of this medic
val system, which was far worse in
practice than anything Europe ever
knew in the blacklist centuries of the
dark ages. Even the native ruler, who
is still nominal head of the state,
reigns in greater luxury, because he
actually gets the taxes he levies, al
though the British adviser has slashed
the amount he may levy.
Kelantan has railroad service with
Bangkok and Singapore now. A
branch line came in from the north
as far as the capital, Kota Bharu.
Another finger line stretched toward
1t from the south The fingers have
Joined and Kelantan's prosperity is
assured, for where the railroad goes
in Malay peninsula rubber goes.
The rubber grown in Kelantan, as
well as that Of the orchards of the
other Malay states, Java and Ceylon,
is of the famous Para type. It Is
named from the city in Brazil, for
merly the worlds greatest market for
wild" rubber. 1t was from the jun
giles inland from Para that seeds and
plants were taken secretly to build
up the cultivated rubber industry Of
the East.
There are other useful rubbers be-
sides Para, and, with one exception,
the East does not control these. While
Para rubber is an orchard crop, the
other commercial rubbers, gutta per-
cha, balatta and chicle, have not been
tanned to straight rows. AS Para
rubber was sought twenty years ago,
SO these others must be wrested from
the wild jungle today. Indians do the
work in Central and South America
and native Malay tribes do 1t in the
Far East.
Find New Usefulness.
Singapore, Britain's key port Of the
East Indies, is the world market for
gutta percha, one Of the most impor-
tant other rubbers. just as 1t is for
Para rubber. Big "percha" trees
which natives slash for "gutta" (gum)
are found in the jungle forests of
Indo- China, Siam, Malay States and
in adjacent islands, although planta-
ton cultivation is coming in. Gutta
percha still commands the commercial
field it first invaded, submarine cable
insulation. OF recent years 1t has
found a new usefulness closer home
Golf balls combine gutta percha and
another rubber: the interior is wound
with Para rubber thread; the whole
is bound in gutta percha sheath.
Still another rubber is balata,
found in the jungles of Brazil. Balata
is heavy, stiff rubber. 1t is obtained
from the bully tree in the same man
ner the worlds entire supply Of fine
"hevea' Tor Para) rubber was once
harvested in the Amazon valley. The
demand for balata to make rubber
betting has in part compensated for
the blight brought on the Amazon
trade by the East Indies capture of
the Para rubber business.
Strangely enough, chicle, the basis
Of chewing gum. is sort of rubber.
and close relative Of balata. Over
ten million pounds Of chicle came
from Yucatan and British Honduras
last year. Indirectly the American
peoples demand for chewing gum has
boosted the cause OF archaeology, since
many of the Maya ruins have been
discovered by chicle hunters. The
standing reward for discovery of for
gotten, jungle-swallowed cities which
one scientist offered to chicle gath
erers brought many finds.
These are the main commercial rub
bers. Each has a different quality.
There are many others which give
more or less good rubber more or less
generously. Latex plants are typical
of many plant families In their distri-
button. Quite differently from the hu-
man race, the most ambitious mem
bers Of the rubber family inhabit the
tropics