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Show IP LONDON MARKET i BOOSTSPRIGE I , British Speculation in Rubber I Makes Price of Crude Gum I 1 Over Three Dollars. I ' SHOULD SELL FOR TWENTY-I TWENTY-I FIVE CENTS PER POUND I ' Seiberling Tours Soutli America I , and Finds That Supply Is I Inexhaustible. R ' Special to The Tribune. I AKRON; O., May 7. Tho world is I standing aghast watching tho high I ilight of cnido rubber prices and won- I tiering -whether the limit has been' I xeached. Since 'the day when Charles I Goodyear first discovered the art of vulcanization, the rubber milk of the tropical- forest lias played a part of in-, in-, creasing importage in supplying articles ar-ticles of, necessity to ihe comfort of mankind. ' For fifty years tho price of crude rubb6r' has averaged considerably less , than' $1 per pound, two years ago it , Etood at 65 -cents per pound, and to day it is above $3 a level that takes it out of many a field it has heretofore J occupied. Are the causes artificial or natural j that have prpduced the present situa tion, and is the world to be deprived , of the great boon of choap rubber? These," are the questions that the people are' asking themselves, and that led ' A. Seiberling, president of the Good- t year T;rc and Rubber eompanj' of Akron, Ak-ron, 0.. on a tour of investigation ' I through South America thai took two , ! months! time and more than 2000 miles of travel in the fever-laden district of the Amazon river. Air., Seiberling, bo-1 bo-1 in- so far as known, the first American j rubber manufacturer to make this perilous peri-lous trip, his views, which follow, are 1 of great interest: Cause of Price. 0 " The high prices prevailing for crude J rubber are fairly attributable to two i primary causes: First, the abnormal draft upon the world's supply in pro-viding pro-viding tires for automobiles'; second, i tho wild speculation in rubber and rub-i rub-i ber shares in England, which has taken on the aspect of a 'South Sea Bubble' in a mad scramble of people of all classes to 'get rich quick' on rubber. 1 London is the financial conter of the A world's rubber market, aud the craze now running its course there is having a tremendous sentimental influence toward to-ward lifting prices.. This will correct itself in the collapse which, in due time, is certain to come, and will carry with it its trail of disaster and ruin to the rubber gamblers in the manner niwavs attending tho bursting of financial fin-ancial bubbles, j "Stories arc being circulated to the effect that tho rubber supply is being rapidly exhausted nnd that tho world is facing a famine, but a careful view ot' the situation justifies an opposite opinion, k Plenty of Rubber. "Tho pnst year more than 70,000 tons of orudo rubbor, having a valuo approximating $300,000,000, wore pro-duood, pro-duood, of which 40,000 tons caro from tho Amazon river. This was wholly wild rubber, gathered almost ontirely from a belt oxtonding along tho Amazon Ama-zon and its tributaries, and running leas than throo miles into tho interior. Tho vast forest beyond thoso borders IB substantially untouched, but with the" building of the railroad around 'the falls of the Madeira, which will be completed in -1911, and with tho building build-ing oi roads through tho forost connecting con-necting up -rivers, the introduction of the automobile and the gasoline boat, vast districts heretofore Inaccessible will bo brought within roach of tho rubbor gatherer, and while tho gain n production each year has boon ap-proximately ap-proximately but 10 per cent over tho previous year there is no quostion that this percentage will incrflaso- largely from this tiuio forward. "But a very important factor toward relieving tho existing situation is found in tho plantation rubber in the East Indies, which is now coming into tho market in lnrgo quantities, each yoar's production being substantially double that of the preceding year. Whereas we had loss tliau 4000 tons in 1000, wo shall receive approximtelv S000 tons in 10.10, aud. well up to 16,000 tons in 1911, and within fivo years a quantity larger than is now furnished by tho Amazon which is a remarkablo result considering the fact that three years ago the production of tho entiro East Indian district represented but a few hundred tons. Planting Gum Troos. "That product of nature which exists in abundance, and which tho world needs, it will find a way to obtain. Wild rubbor trees in almost limitless quantities oxist in Brazil, awaiting the touch of human energy to yield up their latex, and the world will undoubtedly find means to obtain its required supply. "Tho ruling classes in Brazil are an intelligent people, and though thoy have been slow to realize the advantage advan-tage of planting rubber, thoy are now following the lead of tho East Indians, and within a few years the Amazon valley will be furnishing plantation rubber rub-ber far in excess of tho wild rubber now coming down the rivor. "As an indication of ihe immensity of its opportunities, one island iu the mouth of tho Amazon rivor Isle Marajo. which is larger than tho state of Mnino is capable of furnishing plantation rubber in quantity more than the entire world is now consuming. The government is enacting legislation to stimulate the planting of trees, and while we shall temporarily be sub.ieciod to high prices on crude' rubber, since it is known that plantation rubber can be produced for 25 cents per pound, as certain as night follows the dav we will, within a few years, have a large oversupply thnt wall bring the cost lower than it has ever been heretofore. hereto-fore. "Users of rubbor tires, on account of tho present, high prices, will have thought toward prolonging their life and increasing their mileage, which can readily bo done bv carrying proper pressure of air, and particularly with clincher tires, whioh, semi-deflated, will run out and speedily disintegrate. Watching the adjustment of brakes will largely extend the life of the treads. Tread cuts that reach tho fabric should bo qujckl3' ropaircd, to prevent moisture reaching the cotton thread." |