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Page 12 text:
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STONEHAM HIGH SCHOOL HOCKEY TEAM
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Page 13 text:
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THE STONEHAM HIGH SCHOOL AUTHENTIC each man being provided witn a ma- cheta, latex cup, 30 grams of quinine, supply of provisions to last twenty days, canteen of water and a loin cloth, all of which had to be purchased fixon the company store and were deducted later from earnings. These men were preceded by one who was known as a trail cleaix ' r. He marks all the likely looking trees with the company seal. The group, after penetrating the .tini- gle deeply, finally erect a shelter, and each man is given a certain section of the jungle to cover and immediately sets off by himself to collect latex. He usually goes to the part of terri- tory farthest from headquarters and works towards that point. This man alone in the jungle, with no firearms to protect his life from wild beasts, no es- tablished camp and absolutely no means of communication with his fel- low vrorkers, iioav sets to work to gath- er the latex for a very paltry sum. Above all these hardships is the fact that most of these expeditions set out right after the rainy season when tlie weather is unbearably hot, and the germs of malaria virtually swamp the regions. The native takes a tree mark ed by the trail clearer and makes the necessary incisions with his macheta and catches the sap in a latex cup. He allows it to drain about thirty minutes and then pours it into a large bowl. After making several of these tappings he coagulates the sap, that is, he makes it into a solid which is a crude form of rubber. To do this he dips a sharp, pointed stick about four feet long into the latex and taking it out slowly re volves it in t he smoke of a fire made of the nuts of the Attalea excelsa. This fire must be burning just enough to give off much smoke. This smoke has a peculiar effect on the latex in that it hardens it. The native keeps dipping the stick into the latex until he has formed it all into crude rubber. It may now be slipped off the stick, but the natives usually break off the stick as it adds weight to the lump. This is the cause of slitting the rubber in order to determine whether or not the worker has added sticks or used a sap which flows far more freely than does the havea but which gives a much poorer quality of rubber. Although forewarned and paid much less, they are so stupid as to repeatedly do this. This process the native repeats, working for 12 or 14 days before rt - turning to the central camp from whence they journey to the company’s inland headquarters at Manoas. Here they are paid according to the amount collected, and very poorly paid, I might add. The rubber is thence shipped to some port, as Para on the Coait, bought by companies owning large warehouses, from whence it is finally shipped tc the United States. This method is poor because of the variation of the quality, the speculation and the un- certainty of the supply. If today one was to journey to Cey- lon or Sumatra and take a trip to one of the rubber plantations he would see a palatial looking home, fronted with a long veranda upon which the superin- tendent may usually be fou!id. From this vantage point he can overlook a large plantation and watch many na- tives at work. The trees are planted in very regular and straight rows, with enough room between them to allow a small train to run. Each native col- lects his sap in a large container nark- ed with his number and which is set on the train and carried to lail e build- ings in the center of the plantation. Here the process of coagulation takes place. The latex is slowly sprinkled on a large roller which rotates over the smoke caused by the nut. This gives a uniform quality of rubber which is not obtained by the old method. And so today we find rubber practically grown to order, the producer control- ling the difference between controlling the market and having the market con- trol the producer. The former tends to stimulate production and the latter to depend upon an unknown quantity. The discovery of the plantation method may well be called an act of Providence for the value of rubber can not be estimated in dollars and cents. Its uses are manifold. From the foun- tain pen to the radio receiving set, we see some rubber used; even the streets of Boston are being paved with rubber. We walk upon rubber, we see its uses while eating, some forms are even used to enable our ease and comfort when we sleep. Eubber today has become a necessi- ty of life in the same category as salt and bread and other articles of food. We use rubber in our clothing, we are sheltered by it, we use it in locomotion and in fact today our very life circles about the uses of rubber for is not ra- dio the mystery of the future and does not radio depend upon the non-con- ductivity of rubber as the only means
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