The Durant news. (Durant, Miss.) 1882-1985, 1950-04-27
THROUGH
HAZEL
EYES

Port Swettenham, Malaga
Delayed)

TWO tanks OF liquid latex which is
natural rubber in liquid form.
To enter Port Swettenham the
ship goes through q narrow chan
mel marked on either side by
thick tropical growth Of the
Malayan jungle. The jungle
creeps right down to the water
and makes a beautiful picture in
the bright mid-December sun
shine.
There is room for only two
ships to dock at one time at Port
Swettenham. Other ships wait
ing to take on cargo have to
achor and wait their turn. The
dock area is served by a narrow
gauge railroad and the box cars
are much smaller than ours. This
port with its central location
serves as the shipping point for
the huge rubber plantations in
both north and south Malaga.
Liquid latex and natural rubber
in bales are shipped from here to
America, Europe and all over the
world.
The liquid latex is stored in
large watts in the adjacent dock
area and is pumped into the ship
through pipes which line the
wharf. Ammonia vapors are used
to keep the rubber in its liquid
state. The Monroe took on two
large tanks which hold some
500 tons each. We also loaded
natural rubber packed into bales
weighing some $50 pounds each.
1t was amazing to see the native
dock workers who are very small
In stature and weight carrying
these bales on their backs as
though they were nothing. They
carried the rubber out Of the
warehouse along the dock or !
from the railroad cars or trucks !
to the side of the ship where it |
was placed in a rope sling and
brought up by the ships electric
winches and then lowered to the
ships hold in the same way.
Down in the ships hold the |
bales Of rubber are slowed by a
crew Of Malayan women. This is |
. vsry important part OF the /,
operation. Sometimes the layers
OF bales are stacked as many as
Is deep and constitute great
deal Of weight. Consequently they
could and do easily stick toge-
ther causing extensive damage
and expense.
To prevent this the women stow
the bale. and then sprinkle il with
tale before placing another
layer. Because of this part of
their job they have been dubbed
powder girls"
The Malayan women are small
Ter than the average five foot two
stature Of their men and have
strong, beautifully formed bod
aes. The women wear their native
sarong ad the upper portion of
their bodies is covered by a
blouse of some kind. Only in ma
tive villages far in the hinter-
land do the women wear only
the sarong.
1t should be noted here that
the sarong worn by these natives,
both men and women, is quite
different from the Dorothy La
mour- Hollywood type of thing. It
is skirt made of a circle of
cloth which you wrap around
your waist like a towel. the sur
plus falling into pleats. The gar
ment permits free movement and
Us light and cool, the only prac-
tical dress for the tropics. The
men working here at Port Sweet
tenham wear nothing else. not
even shoes. The women wear the
sarong and brief blouse. Some
of them wear turbans TO pro-
tect their heads from the hot
sun which beams down the year
round.
Here like everywhere else in
Malaya the predominant foreign /
influence is British-and quite
few are working for American
firms. All of the clubs and social
life available in these parts are
strictly British-but they are al
ways cordial to visiting Ameri-
cans and most hospitable.
The village of Port Swettenham
is one-street community hous-
ing only the native workers and |
a few small shop keepers most
ly Chinese. For the most part the |
Europeans in the area live far
ther inland near the cities Of
klang. distance Of six miles.
or Kuala Lumpur, the District of |
Columbia of Malaga.
Kuala Lumpur is a fair-sized
city with many public buildings |
Of unique architecture, some of |
which show a Moorish influence.
Here / was captivated by the
startling appearance of the Asia
tic mosques, or churches, which |
] saw for the first time. The |
stone structures were in pale pas
tel colors, some of pinkish sand
stone with white marble trim, !,
arI 1vovx, boa,,<;f,,1 The cr,o-