Evening star., 1943-11-16
Third OF a Series.)

correspondent Oh the ct. LOUIS PoSt-DiS-
patch and The Washington Evening Star
FORTALEZA, Brazil-The for
tune that Henry Shaw left to found
a botanical garden and research
center in st. Louis is contributing
to the war for rubber in way that
founder of Shaw's Garden never
could have foreseen.
Many of the technicians who are
searching for new sources of rubber,
exploring the remote reaches of the
Amazonian jungle, were trained at
Shaw's Garden, taking advance de-
grees in botany from Washington
University as result of their studies
at the research center.
These men are among the real
heroes of the warfare on this COM
modify front. They take risks al
most as great as men in battle. At
least two American technicians have
been killed during the past year and
several have been knocked out by
tropical diseases.
Cutler Is Chief.
In charge of technical develop
ment here in Northeast Brazil is
Hugh Cutler, who got his Phi. D. at
Washington University after several
years Of research at Shaw's Garden.
He is directing the work of a force
of Americans and Brazilians who
are seeking to augment the produc-
ton Of the type Of rubber charac-
teristic of this region.
: This is not the Hevea brasilensis,
the big rubber tree that grows in
the Amazon basin, but the Manga
beira tree and, to lesser degree,
the Manicoba. In the past, Manga
beira rubber has been considered
inferior to Hevea rubber, partly be-
cause, as result of the way it was
coagulated, it contained a higher
proportion of waste matter. One
Of Mr. Cutters tasks is to try to
educate the native tappers to use
new method of coagulation that
will produce from the latex tapped
from the Mangabeira tree a higher
grade of rubber.
Shortly before the arrival of the
group Of newspapermen touring the
rubber areas of South America, Mr..
Cutler had returned from two
month tour of the bush that had
taken him entirely out of touch with
civilization for weeks on end. His
territory includes seven of Brazil's
northern states in which are found
large quantities of mangabeira and
manicoba trees as we'll as a small
amount of hevea.
Disease Filled Him.
Mr.. Cutler told of other Shaw's
Garden experts who are taking part
In the fight for rubber. One is Rob-
ert Schery who was recently COM
PEELED to return to his home in
Webster Groves by a severe attack
of amoebic dysentefy, one of the
most debilitating tropical diseases.
A month or six weeks in bed is called
for to cure emoebic dysentery. While
he is convalescing from the disease,
Mr.. Schery is continuing his re-
search into rubber at Shaw's Gar
den, according to Mr.. Cutler.
Russell Seibert, who has an M. A.
from Washington University, is
prospecting for rubber in Ecuador
and Peru. With him is his wife, also
botanical specialist. She is the
former Isabel Pring, daughter of the
superintendent of Shaw's Garden.
Working in the State of Minas &C.
rails, which is known more for its
mineral wealth than for its rubber
resources, is Louis Wellin, another
Washington University Phi. D. in
plant research.
These men go out into the jungle |
to live on the country for weeks on
end. In addition to small amounts
of concentrated food which they
take with them, they live on fowl
and animals which they shoot. While
they belittle the danger from hos
tile Indians, part of the country they
explore is inhabited only by wild
tribes known to be antagonistic to
white men.
Insects Are Hazard.
One of the chief hazards is from
dlScCG 1AAC. AAIlOSV tilc IdSU IlllIls /
that one of these jungle fighters will
sacrifice in the event of accident is
his hammock. Compelled to sleep
on the ground, he would Immediately
fall prey to ferocious ants and other
more deadly forms of crawling life.
Next in Importance is his machete,
which enables him to cut his way
through massive jungle growth.
Coming out of the bush, these
men have the lost lonely look of
pioneers, the pioneers of our own
American past. They have seen dis
tant places, remote reaches of emp
ty rivers. Some were rubber eX-
perts in the more civilized Far East
before they we're drafted by the
war emergency to take part in the
search for new sources of a vital
war commodity. They joke about
the hazards of life in the jungle, |
but they are nevertheless very real.
Henry Elmer, an employe OF the
Rubber Development Corp. was