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Show I MMOBILE INDUSTRY OF U, S. E R EATLY INCREASED DEMAND FOR PRODUCp OF ROBBER Attention Is Turned to the Far East Where Vast Rubber Plantations Abound and Life Is Extremely Fascinating IKxtensive automobile Industry in the United States has-created such a demand for rubber ihat the attention of American capit alists has been drawn toward tropical sections of country, where rubber is produced abundantly and where life is pleasing showing the amount of rubber used in autouiohilc service is astounding, and it is quite certain that this industry alone. In the course of the next decade of time, will triple the demand on the large plantations of the Far Bast. On this question the Denver Tost says: The fascination which the strange lands of the Far East have held for the average American is taking on a more tangible form, now that travel and business arc bringing Asia and the United Slates into closer contact. No article of commerce is doing more to bring this country into close touch with the mystic east than rubber. rub-ber. The rapid rise to supremacy in Ihe islands of the Indian ocean, coin-j bined with the fact that America consumes con-sumes nearly three-quarters of all the rubber grown there, has given many Americans an opportunity to peop behind be-hind the scenes and peoples of that distant quarter of the globe. i Although tlie whole equatorial belt in that section is dotted with rubber ( plantations, representing a capital in-, vestment of nearly half a billion dol- fnrse the thoughts of Americans nat- urally center on Sumatra, where one of America's greatest corporations has established a plantation so vast in area and so highly developed that it; stands out as the greatest single plantation plan-tation in the world. This is the planta- lion of the United States Rubber com pany, comprising seventy square miles j of growing trees, an enterprise marked throughout by a magnitude j and a magnitude and an efficiency worthy of the best American tradi-j tiens. The executive and technical staffs j of the plantation are made tip largely Americans who. through their assocla-, jtion with the big project, have become acquainted with Sumatra and its ways,! jtell an interesting story of their visits I to this island. I "The frst thing that strikes the American making his first visit to i Sumatra," said one of the officers of1 ! the plantation company recently, "is tho intense humidity. The temperature docs not get as high I here as it does on our hottest days here, but for several sev-eral weeks the humidity seems very oppressive. After a time we get used to that, so much so that a cool breeze makes -us uncomfortable and we worry more about tho occasional cool spots in the weather than about the heat. I Tho perspiration flows so . freely thatj ! colds must be guarded against, and after any violent exercise we wrap (ourselves In sweaters so we won't take I cold. I I "The next thing that attracts the! ! attention of the nowcomer Is the I density of the vegotation. In the I United States as we look into a forest I I we can sec open spaces among tlie 'trees. But in Sumatra the trees are covered with parasites and vines' Jforming a solid wall and the ground, lis covered with a mass of undergrowth. This super lnxurianl vegetation is one of the chief foes of the plantations,! 'making constant weeding a necessity. On the other hand, the fcOcility of the ; soil and Ihe hot. moist climate whicn .produces tho heavy vegetation, works . j wonders for the rubber trees. "Arriving in Sumatra one finds the4 coast very flat, with a great coastal, plain making out to the sea. j "The company has gone a long wayj to make the Americans and Europeans' ' ' on its plantations comfortable. There' is quite a little social life, centering' In a club house. There are balls and entertainments, and occasionally there will be a visit from a traveling theatrical theatri-cal or concert troupe, "Much of the pleasure in life in the east depends on the efficient management manage-ment of the servants in one's employ. For this reason it, is quit necessary! .to speak the Malay tongue. It is so! i easy to learn that anyone can get, along well with it after a few weeks.! 'But until it is acquired it is simpler to do some things yourself than to employ the sign language to order i (them done. When once the languago is learned, life Is worth living. A white man never carries a package or stoops to lift anything from the ground. When we play tennis there are always some boys about to pick up the balls. "We try to reproduce ns nearly as possible tho food we gel at home. The native cooks get good results considering consid-ering they don't have the American Ingredients, In-gredients, But our American women 'succeed admirably in adapting some of I the tropical food to the Yankee palate. (Wo miss the raw vegetables most, 1 think. Because of the danger of dis- eases everything must he cooked. i I "It is necessary always to sleep in a jbed protected by mosquito netting orj tin a room that is netted. The mos-; 'quitos arc countless and very trouble I some. Of course, as in all tropical j countries, the bugs of all sorts are I numerous. One thing that always at-tiacts at-tiacts the attention of newcomers is the little lizards that crawl on the walls and ceilings. They do no harm and we quickly get used to them. The I women take longer to get accustomed i I to them, tho, than do the men. I j "When a woman accompaics her I husband to tho plantation she finds It more difficult to enjoy life than does her husband. He has his business to ! attend to and that keeps his mind occupied. But with tho plentltude of servants the wife finds herself relieved re-lieved entirely of housework and of j the care of hor children, If she decires, i land she must be a person of resource! jii she is going to be happy. The woman wo-man who desires to create interest for herself can busy herself In her vegetable vege-table and flower gardens, in studying native life and in such sports as golf i and tennis. "The servants are good and there are a lot of them. Each has his own' .work to do anu does it, but he must 'not be asked to do anything out or his ' line. The cook is supposed to cook, land he feels badly treated if he is jasked to do anything else. In a well I regulated home there are usually three! jto five servants ! 1 "The country is an ideal one in j which to raise small children. They j live in the open until they are six or seven years old and miss most of the children's diseases common in the United States; The native nurses are( faithful and efficient and the little Kots live an outdoor life untouched by I trouble. When they are six or seven years old. however, most of them are : taken away to the tomperatalo zone! ' to get acquainted with their home lands and for the educational facilities ' those lands afford. "The members of our while staff In, Sumatra are in a fortunate position in one especial particular in that a few ; hours' motor ride into the interior will Itake them up on the plateau. This plaeau. deeply cut by ravines and sur-i sur-i rounded by mountains, has an leva-jtlon leva-jtlon of -1.300 feet. Some of the moun 'tains are volcanoes which arc some-Jwhat some-Jwhat active, occasionally giving off I fumes. "At Bras Tagi the company has some bungalows where we can find (recreation and rest from the humidity of the plains. Up there tho vegeta lion is quite different. Some varieties of temperate zone vegetables and flowers grow, notably potatoes. The temperature goes as low as 60 at night and no higher than S5 in the day." |
