Stoneham High School - Wildlife Yearbook (Stoneham, MA)

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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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STONEHAM HIGH SCHOOL HOCKEY TEAM

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THE STONEHAM HIGH SCHOOL AUTHENTIC of harnessing electricity and electrical impulses? And so let us think of rub- ber not only as an inanimate product to be grown and speculated upon, not something tangible, but something that unknowingly helps conquer those in- visible forces. Eubber is a silent friend of civilization. Kenneth Eice, ’24. Tired of looking from the window of a western-bound express train, I thot of the tradition which had been handed down for several generations in our family, about a lost mine. The story ian that one of our ancestors, who had been among the explorers of western America about 1800, had found a mine of fabulous riches, but he had died be- fore exploring it further. A record had been left which stated that if one stood at midday on the right place at the edge of the desert, there would be visible, on an isolated peak shaped like a sombrero, four bright spots forming a perfect square. When these were located, by following his di- rections, the mine could be easily found. As a boy I had pored over these rec- ords, and suddenly I realized that to- day’s date was the same as that of my ancestor’s discovery, April first. Here I was, riding through the country where it was reported to be. Might I not find it? However, I soon put these thoughts from my mind, as I refiected that many of our family had failed to find any traces of ic, although they had searched long. Suddenly I was awakened from my day-dream by the screaming of the brakes as the train came to a stand- still. As it did not immediately re- sume its journey, I got out to find the reason for this abrupt stop on the edge of the desert. A brakeman said there was trouble that would delay them an hour. Wishing to view the surrounding country, I climbed the nearest hill. The sun was shinging directly over- head, and as I turned • to enjoy the beauty of the scenery, I saw that which made me lose my breath and gasp with astonishment. There, at a comparatively short dis- tance was an isolated mountain shaped like a sombrero, purple against the cloudless blue of the sky. On its peak four bright spots forming a square sparkled and gleamed. Was it a mi- rage or w’as it real? As I stood in this dazed condition, I was startled by hearing the rumble of my train as it started. I sprang down the hillside and ran after it shouting and waving frantically but to no avail. The hot sun quickly tired me, and I stood helplessly and watched as the train disappeared. I was alone in the desert. Determined to make the best of a bad situation, I again climbed the hill where I had first seen what I now be- lieved to be a mirage, but to my sur- prise those four spots Avere still fisible. Even as thoughts flashed through my mind of the riches of the lost mine, I beheld a lone horseman coming toAvard me. Was help at hand? Fearing lest, as the sun mov’ed, the exact spot from which I had seen the mountain at midday might be lost, I marked it with some stones which I found near the railroad track. As I Avas on the edge of the desert, I soon found a large rock and sat doAvn in its shade to wait for the arriA’al of the horseman and to try to remember the further directions to that mine. I thought back to those records — what Avere they? Something about so many paces north, then Avest and then north- west. After puzzling myself for quite a while, I decided that the directions had been one hundred paces north, fifty west, and tAvo hundred northwest from the point where the four bright spots might be seen. I returned now to my landmark and as I looked for the horseman I real- ized he had turned and was passing about a mile to my right. Quickly tear- ing off my coat, I waved it wildly and shouted, hoping to attract his atten- tion, but to no avail. Again I was alone in the desert! Now I must find the mine and de- pend upon the flagging of some passen- ger train to take me from this desolate place. Judging the directions by the sun, for I had no compass, I quickly set out to pace the required amount — one hundred north, fifty west, and two 10