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T H E J O U R N A L OF I N D L J S T R I - 4 L A4XD ESGIAYEERI.YG CHE.IIISTRI’.
Feb.,1 9 1 2
CONSULAR AND TRADE NOTES GERMAN POTASH INTERESTS. Consul George Nicolas Ifft, Nuremberg, reports that the announcement of the discovery of potash in the United States always attracts much attention in Germany, and a recent announcement of this sort brought forth a statemcnt from the German Potash Syndicate that it had a t once caused inquiry to be made by a n expert official and found that the efforts of both the United States Geological Survey and the Department of Agriculture have thus far failed to locate any valuable potash beds. The newspaper report was declared to have been based on the well-known b u t unimportant potash beds in Death Valley. The Potash Syndicate puts little faith in the production of potash from the kelp of the Pacific coast, declaring t h a t its production, except as a by-product of iodine, would not pay. The general press was not so skeptical, however, and referred t o the news as at least a warning that Germany’s natural monopoly in the potash field is not so certain for the future as has been supposed, and that i t must so organize itself as to be ever ready to meet new competition,
NORWEGIAN GUANO SHIPMENTS TO UNITED STATES. Consul P. Emerson Taylor, Stavanger, reports that the largest shipment of fish guano and whale meal ever made from this district to the United States went from this city t o Charleston, S. C., on November 2 5 , 1911. The shipment aggregated 20,179 bags of IOO kilos each, or a total of 4,439,380 pounds, invoiced a t $95,769. The shipment consisted of 12,981 bags (2,8jj,820 pounds) of herring guano, priced a t $65,802, 6,682 bags (1,470,040 pounds) of whale guano, priced a t $27,197, and 516 bags of whale-meat meal (113,520 pounds), priced a t $2,769. A tramp steamer was chartered by the seller and manufacturer of the guano and whale meal and the shipment was made direct from this port to Charleston, the product being sold to a New York firm. The total export of fish guano and whale meal from this district to the United States in November, 1911, aggregated $105,407.
GLASS PAVING BLOCKS I N FRANCE. Consul Carl Bailey Hurst, Lyon, has investigated the supposed use of glass bricks or blocks manufactured for pavements, with the following result: Seven or eight years ago a plant was estab!ished at La Demi Lune, a suburb about 4 miles from Lyon, for making glass paving material under the name of “pierre de verre Garchey.” After many experiments carried out at the factory the manufacturer applied to the Lyon municipality for the right to make a trial on one of the chief thoroughfares. The necessary authorization was granted, provided that the inventor would bear the entire expense of the undertaking. The place chosen for laying the glass pavement was a section of the Place de la Republique, where traffic of cabs, automobiles, and wagons of all F n d s is very heavy. The glass bricks remained in place for less than two years, and were then taken out, as they were in very poor condition; the edges were all broken, and in many cases the blocks were split through and through. The opinion of officials here a t t h a t time was to the effect that this glass pavement could be used under favorable circumstances for sidewalks, but not for the middle of streets. The manufacturer after the failure of his experiment closed or dismantled his small factory, left Lyon, and his address is
not ascertainable. At present only stone and wood are employed for pavements in this city.
PALM-OIL INDUSTRY O F WEST AFRICA. Consul \Villiam J. Yerby, Sierra Leone, gives a n interesting report on the palm-oil industry of %’est *4frica. The amount of palm oil annually exported from British West Africa now amounts to ~j,rjo,oooimperial gallons, valued a t not less than $5,750,000, while the yearly export of palm kernels is 226,000 long tons, valued a t over ~16,000,000.These figures do not include the exports of palm oil or kernels from French Mrest Africa, German \Vest hfrica, nor the Kongo. The palm tree from which the oil and kern 1s are obtained is indigenous and grows in great quantities in all West Africa. I t is most prolific from the Cameroons t o and including a part of French Guinea, the area embracing Northern and Southern Nigeria, the Gold Coast, the Ivory Coast, Dahomey, Togoland, the Kongo, Liberia, and Sierra Leone. The trees are 30-40 feet high, and bear as many as 7 or 8 cones of fruit each about the size of a man’s head. These cones are studded with the kernels, which consist of the fibrous outer coating or pericarp, which contains the palm oil and thc oil and the palm nut, enclosed in a thin shell. The pericarp and the kernel yield about 60 and 50 per cent., respectively, of their weight in oil. The oil obtained from the pericarp is a deep yellowish blood-red, while that from the kernel is white. Both the palm oil and the palm-nut oil are used locally instead of lard. The natives and some Europeans claim that it has a fine flavor. There is no cultivation of the fruit other than gathering i t when matured. The kernels are prepared by beating the fruit in a mortar until the pericarp is separated from the enshelled kernel. The emulsified pericarp is then boiled in water in a large pot, t h a t part of the oil that has not already been freed collecting at the top. The kernels are cracked one a t a time with a hammer or stone by the women and children. There are now on the market several machines for removing the pericarp and cracking the kernels, but they have not as yet proved a success. The only drawback to the wide-spread development of the palm-oil industry in West Africa is the lack of transportation, and this will not be overcome unti! the country is well opened up. Steady progress is being made in this direction, however. There are large palm-bearing districts not far from the coast and on the verge of wide navigable rivers, where the question of transportation involves no great difficulty or expense, and i t is in these districts that the industry will first be undertaken on a large scale. As plam oil will bring S150 per ton in Europe a t the present time, and as, handled on a large scale, i t could be delivered in Liverpool for $75 per ton, including all charges with the cost of production, i t can be easily seen that future developments will be rapid and have an important bearing on the general prospects of West Africa. The amount of trade here is doubling every I O years, and promises in the near future to rival that of South Africa.
INCREASED CUSTOMS DUTIES I N BOLIVIA. Just prior to the adjournment of the Congress of Bolivia, in November, 1911, the duties on all foreign products were increased 1 5 per cent. and a duty of z per cent. was imposed on all foreign products hitherto free of duty under the tariff. These new tariff rates take effect January I , I 9 I 2 .
