The Alvin Sun (Alvin, Tex.), Vol. 38, No. 26, Ed. 1 Friday, January 27, 1928 Page: 2 of 8
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I
THE ALVIN SUN, Oldest Paper Pub!,shed in Brazoria County
AM' ICAN DEMAND FOR ROBBER OPENS AFRICAN EMPIRE
F ni' t hodlM
2y R
K»a3
ti« hi-
the black areas.
R lat<
li C
<«.* •
U -• <-'S^aX3Dl
,SJ»
II
red
&
\
I
Ai tbs
,th ;
:o to facilitatt
grt
" P V'llH
I
it
that
.re? and
'ting* and the first
he*i
F
Th»t
been no need of tires.
RnW-f
Thon
HI
n-
window pane
tion
situation
fox • U*
ctxnoiiehed much in a short time. The system
commuiuUi.
fcp
■ nr.,i I beginning was not madt v ithout omi-
with
So
Mature rubber trees on Fires:
in Liberia.
past gives v
The staff
t It «
er Company, sat down in
:! . at Akr Ohio, and
•w he should undertake
American automo
since 1??2
wondered
* the job
Mr Fir
rubber Then the Firestone p
would he a whole month i
' New York than the Middle
is proved by the
stirnd by the touch
<-s are a jruarantee of
it well established
•tii I -ia has a seat
juntry have
ties and natural friend-
rt in Iberian develop-
ken
•onsidered e?
4
i! • nvid ul f»‘«'all that
< r tv ; li e- i the equator, almost
At Africa. It In- h; t'>rv is as clear
i In t that Liberia was the
they will handle alm< • y article
five and tea-
wherevM
large
. *5
ex.
' of the negro re-
. I>v -me of our
h<» scene of the black
« rqmen1
Then
British re
industrial
western Africa,
n tich more than tti.it--the conversion
as the work hni I
Every article used in j
up to this time has been |
thousands of mile°
oi l could be bought in
Each nail a”d screw had
to he brought from homo In the work
<-f hv • ■ are n '•
plied and Intm ;fi. t Ev.-ryui"
"ntltaed, a dar
T
that can be bought in
cent store at hom<.
-ands of necessary art i
hardware dealer, the dr
grocer. In effect, they
tnent stores transplanted. <■:. a smailtr
scale.
An effort to introdu < a’i
medicine also will come ?.-r Mr.
Firestone’s attention
dertaking has beer, aft- !•
sickness among the white
precautions will lw> taken •
this record It is also h
prove the surrounding
workers and to gradun'l
them in benefits of ■
they are a peonle qu-<
hone seems well found 'd
cal staff looks to the h
hands at all
I C’oosldered
R, - 33W- • W
. j».
■ - 1 i
XU
'Hfs nW e1'^
. / /.■•••
' -.T
time.
laid so
M • I
Vv :‘r<i« <1 the Tropica1
if Medicine to study the Li
Instruction in hy
i a
: M
> I
Progress of Plan to Create Our Own Source
of Supply in Liberia Foreshadows
Freedom from Foreign Control
With both of the new plantations
river?, but considerably removed
'■m one another, it became neces-
,ry to join their activities by water
i -p ■■ aticn The first of the Fire-
tn- i is the DuvaTla, a hun<
thers will follow as needed and the „ JW„,
iv seems not far distant when a 1 ♦*.« -n 1 ■try Or. *f the?.1'
days radio communication will he
opened between Liberian plantations
and the Akron factory. Then the
head of the business may well say to
his operator, “Just get Mr. .Jones for
me if he is in his ofL e down on the
! Du.” If Mr J- res himself cannot be
transport. ) hy anv sort of magic w
I know, yet his words, his thoughts,
j hi* personality can be whisked across
those thousands of miles by the magic
nf the sneaking wave
' It is inter*iting to note that the
: Liberian government has embarked
' ,pwii u eik-i of inipravetnents, along
knows that tr al intrics have r< with thot> of private enterprise. Tl.'
’arge qu- ' i of ’ a«e^ I hcria I pioneers hnving laid miles of good
more fortunate than many, though be ( roads and planning many more, are
set hy <■ -nin • ailments A F •• stor <■ ! encouraged to find the government
endowment fund granted tn Narva- : > working upon a system of its own
IVorrn
The word “V
In
’ion, at Cape Palma", twenty-
diver. Although the average
leared and the organization en-
gaged is somewhat smaller this
oparation practically duplicates
the other Additional plant"
n will he established and each |
there must be stores, power
ants, hospitals and all the other es-
■ ’ als of ilfe—created in the wild-
the stores now being
This later enterprise present
problems to keep any man
takes a nice judgment t<
sorts of hairpins should b<
This latter da) pioneering goes for- | for the Liberian trade.
the way of a big business , ‘housand and one ar --
It is just another depart- bX natives and Ame.-i
from
roads In the I the Liberian develor ir -t
•veil launched and th»- i
Hnn on a broad seal*- *•
The stens taken,
far toward* the
remains to Intensifv e*t>”
every acre under enltlvatlor
field force is able ♦<>
force will be Increased
year as rapidly as the a-b-u
■
tiw workers. The *“
ready planted should hr |
increased before another laouarv 1
During Mr Firestone’s -Hr
seas he will be accompanied b’ • 1
moving picture operator |
»ake a nature record of th-- I
♦ure In emnlre building F '"*• ”
show a range of T.Iberia” "*■ I
I
character of the country nnd
pies, its towns and homes
Above—6U0 natives who heard about the Firestone
development ami walked from the interior for 10 days
..i. » . u->rr on a i restone Plantation. They have
jur.t been examined and vaccinated by doctors and are
r idy to go to work.
of the pin
I per re in tire manu' --: ture. He prob
ahlv knows a« much about the sub
lect as aro "ther inan And he rea-
’ aoned that the increasing need for
krubber meant complete surrender to
i foreign grower* unless a now source
’ could be found But how to find It ’
The an'wer involved a world search
» of more than two venra, which ended
in Liberia Climate, soil, govern-
ment. people everything invited to
»the biggest industrial enterprise
• known to western Africa. It really Is
Left—Liberia’s place in Africa and (in the smaller
d the Firetaune concessions, which are indicated by
T
) 11<
D. A
School
berian problem
giene, fever control, adequate hospi
tala are in prospect.
For some rime American mission-
aries have contributed largely to edu-
cation. as their funds and worker*
made it possible. But a comprehen
slve plan was needed, beginning with
the youngest youngster and advanc-
ing to the adult. Representative edu-
cators and organizations are co-
operating to that end Meanwhile the
Firestone interests have sent an ex-
nerienced vocational instructor to Li-
beria for the purpose of establishing t
«uch education The present year Hght. of the new day to a far land
should see the first of the trade
schools founded
All observers agree that the Liber
'.in native is r<1 able in character an '
mdrlt to lnnn> the vhit man's wav- ■
’•’he nos«'hnirii«
live popula:i< n ar
t tonally favorable
own special burden on the pioneers
Text books have been prepared for
elementary instruction, covering the
principles of phvslology, arithmetic,
geology and a suggestion of history
This instruction must he fitted to the
native mind Sunnose we should tell
a native child that Jack Frost came in
the night and blew his breath on the ■
window pane That would he a mean- j
ingiess bit of pleasantry as the Li
berian youngster never heard of Ta-l< ;;
Frost or saw his breath frosted «o the ' '
glass or even a window pane Itself
One by one these difficulties are be-
ing overcome. Hardly anv other en-
7
• M' s •*:>' seems not far distant when
i
Progn a° Las arrived in Liberia: th*'
e r . v pa’t U’ ' • rapidly to the presen’ i
IiuW OI l-a-.X.
The staT of Americans enrr';' g o”
this empire building has direction of
l^non natir. - a numlter certain to be i
largely increased as .he work ha* j
hardly begun,
development i.
transported
Scarcely a t<
the enuntrv
In this wav the empire builders
turned eastward. in*toad of westward
as the course of empire has been aaid
»tn travel. They were -I force nf viMiny
' men. carrvitn- survevors’ chains; of
young doctor-1 bearing their instru
marts of expert* in soils, digging
everywhere. . of trained “rubber
met ” and every trade reeded to hew
the empire from its pristine fastness
ffcrc'y American huaineaa never
knew s richer romance Not aince the
winning of the west have we engaged
V st.ch an enterprise. Where the
test was won by many men, a genera
♦ •n of men engaged in a national ef-
If't. the new empire ia to be the crea
I n of a single organization.
I Cince convinced Liberia met Amen-
enn needs Mr. Firestone launched the
j so far with such good
fortune. We may in-
-t intlv recall the firs'
failure at the Panama
Canal, followed by the
i struggle of later years
i later years to complete
“the big ditch ” Or we
| may think of the first
I tunnel under the Alps.
We have yet fresh in
I ndnd our difficulties in”
the Philippines, in Porto Rico. Never
before has an American industry un-
dertaken foreign pioneering on any-
thing like this scale. It is empire
building in the first person singular.
dred-1
I enterprise
'■t -
B
■ ■
-v, -.wlf: . ^g,-
I J
afid xuppiied w
s I
-
I« '.rfd! .i ’•■■ ■ cod America’'
.•uive-'tmg one corner of that primitive world
'.,ur < « Before long the far land of Liberia
motor roado, chain stores and other
til' Already our mov:c afford the natives
; , aei icultural speriaH ts. medical men
aft uiakr . this army of empire huilderfi. All of this ifl
i .' fnr tie lint time in the march of the centuries, organized
■■ • to a I.!’ I •• ’ mdures alm^t as it u-us in the hoyinnino
r-.mp of I/Dpi ; trangelv upon the
ii > ing yvnihl «»f oiiis But the man with a
- r
American staff has a recreation field
i and comfortable quarters, ilving in
'he counterpart of American bunga-
lows transplanted to Africa A hos-
pital servea American a’d native
corkers; hygiene goes hand in hand
with industry Here it is that the
American staff cornea in tn* evening
read last month's paper* a.id talk
about home But their new home is
| not so very different from those lef’
‘>ehii: I in America It ia not h
u men for this town by the D
ready a ayatem of chain stores
•ited in connection with ’he
• ........ to a rar isno
I r>'iri„r th. week tlarv.v « Fir.- (,own,
••an* tr ”,hn has personal direction: planting in Its many ■’■ares
• f ,l o Liberian development, sailed . o'her Interesting' <nh'”c‘
f'-.r M .nrovia on a tour nf Insnerfion. j of the country's wi’4 Hf* ”
Mr Firestone expects to return In! upon th* screen Th””* a”*
! ”inr"b* reqrtv to carry on , to he fllm-d brnpla river*
i -'rnnr* drnlsons. the
in Liberia Mr Firestone | that have hard'v more thi
travel hv the >~-nar.rS own! white man Fere ?* »
v^ • n« the several n1mtn*i-»n« ! n-nrfhv of the camera
•s enns’demd fncornhl* nf ours ha« but a **
It is hewed to improve where w~ ran enemmter
.j .* unknown Snch a laud be**J*^
B nlreodv set I Inf? Indeed w*ker RX C.
oneration are I nloneer Is rlnwinw only R st*'
nroirress th* movie operator
enenura-’OR the belief that pro- . When it i* remembered tW
I
The ' are almost unknown to jcl*’'1’* _ , 1
wa* about 2O.nOfi 1 value of such a fi'm hero""-* f
ent Heretofore the Aon,’’rT,b^2 1
n«en examined to «"v ■ |
are to j h-raost of remote situation I
• - — - • i*s fastne*"*-' |
' i- : n a - •: it t h* ne-v da' *->
'nntimerahle to Liberie Reforr
its name should be familiar
■ th* automobile goes. b*ca,,c* *t
-----
CHAPTL
ii >■ rubber p.oneere went into Afric-
They took over 2.000 acres of tret "-
nlanted some years before, a plantii
tion that has yielded well This small
acreage merely proved the posslbili
ties of the Liberian concession, grant
mg 1.000.000 acreR anywhere in the
republic’s boundaries. The real task
wa - to locate suitable plantations and
get them started toward cultivation
The statement conveys no hint of
the difficulties. We must think of a
country without railroads, highways
or river craft big enough to serve anv
worth while purpose. A few miles
from the coast lies the jungle; the
jungle that was in the beginning of
time, s place of mystery, vast depths.
ui>kiv>wn thing* It even encroaches
down to th* coast, awaiting the white
man. ready to mock him.
Into this jungle went the “rubber
men ” They ventured two years ngn
but the span of their effort is hardly
longer than a year And .. monumen-
tal year it has been, filled
achievement, golden in promise,
far they have established two plants
tinns. One of them includes 50,000
acres about forty miles fmm the L!
b*rlan capital of Monrovia, i
named for our own President. James
Monroe.
River has
t<iwn as its center.
The visifnr mijjbr ♦hlplr himself
any typical western camp of the j will be required to lant 1,000,000
•boom” days. But It is rather better I is a matter that nohodv guesses
than a "boom” camp. A central pow- I
er plant supplies light and current and
undertaking with a vigor that has ac-joperates a refrigeration and pumping
- TLr tation is the second big ticid of opera- ,t rpri.-e <f :i. • , _.
nt home pronounced the climate "im
I'": -1’>!e.” the labor supply undepend
■ 'Io, the plan visionary. Yet th<
fact* were plain enough. Climati
I'rnmcnf, people, wore friend
considered excen- i " bile
Each step lays Pa , \ .
sb
I '■nd
for nlnnting T
unon the record of 1027 In th*
to com* Rubber tr
out in th* first stage
ronorted s< making r«nM
«’hirh enenurac-ey the belief that pm-
dnctlon *rnrn the trees will es«Pv ha.
vin within the R-v*ar norInd
area oIcat-pH in ino- about ZO.nwi
Rcro. and »he fi nnn tores vet to he:
11 ■..-.r.n .T.rUtr tmdrr cnirivs- .
Other extensive areas ......___
XT.',! . urine the rnnong season ! ,l ffi.-ultv of nenetrati"c
”:ihed forward with ail. bur the new dav ’• hrintr^'‘*
' no«*»h’e *no*d.
Mr Firestone will nut only inspect its
snd nrennire the field fo-ce. but ex-' tn- auinmonue «>>*•'■•......
peote i.- (••■»> . . .n ittontion to the' number of th* American pcotug
. -. .X through be rid.ng upon Libs
ef' t” flit along African
way that we see it on our own. Thi«
public nnd private co-operation ex-
tends to e/ucation and public works
of many kinds. 1 he leaven is at
work. Liberia Is on the move.
Here, then, behold the miracle th.et
rubber wrought. If it bad not been
for the automobile there would have
Without tires
t ere could have been no vast store
of wealth in Eastern rubber
we should have had n
striction act and no occasion to npe”
’he latest empire But since each of
these things hnd to be in the course
Of progress it ha« brought much good
•no may have in a far lan.'. Thing
ike American snap, tooth paste
matches that really strike with hnn
dreds of other incidentals necessarv
<> the art of living, can he bought
over the counter on the Du as easily
■is on Main Street In the past I
beria's cost of living has been some-
what high. English and Dutch trail
ers have set the prices just about a*
they pleased and always with a lib-
eral profit to themselves. The new
stores will soon make it possible to
buy almost any ordinary article a’
American prices. This intervention
ha* been of wide benefit to the Li-
berian population.
Laying out s rubber plantation In-
volves more human effort than any
simple description could convex First
the land must be cleared of its great
old trees and undergrowth.
I'nniM the burning and the •
jxiat as a farmer clean new ground
Next the ground must be levelled and
..ri-pared for planting After over-
coming these varied difficulties the
American force* have planted 15,000
acres within the year, a record for
any orgamr.Vtion in any country.
tnv i : . Five year* frvin this writing the
a city i rubber seeding^ will be sizable trees.
, —-------------- James 'an the rubber fluid (latex! will soon
This plantation on the Du : be converted into tires for the Ameri-
Hourhblnr Amrrimn !«" •utonu.HU.t. rich' from hi, own
I farm, so to »peak. Nex’ year it i«
| hoped to .-mIm the record several
I noiches higher But now manv year*
of the will be required to
r better acres is a matter that
about. The point of importance was
planting the first IfiOOO -a long step
toward the greater goal
About 150 miles from the Du plan-
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Beck, John P. The Alvin Sun (Alvin, Tex.), Vol. 38, No. 26, Ed. 1 Friday, January 27, 1928, newspaper, January 27, 1928; Alvin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1249674/m1/2/: accessed July 4, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Alvin Community College.