Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About The west shore. (Portland, Or.) 1875-1891 | View Entire Issue (June 1, 1884)
178 THE WEST SHOEE. on ond succeeded Now tho business is established Iluiuu guuiln iiUpply Loine Mini iliLoloLU) tlelliliilila. A few firms lmve won wenltli and fame ns pioneer woolen manufacturers. The annual raw wool product of Oregon and Washington lias increased from .r)(M),000 to 8,000,000 pounds, and over one-sixth of it is woven here into fabrics. The day of experiment is passed for this indus try. The time is near for it to require a largo part of our homo wools and many millions of foreign to feed the looms and fill the orders. The immigrants will be great consumers of theso fabrics. Tho Asiatics will require all they can buy and pay for. Our jxtsition favors a rapid increase of this business. Suposo its present pay roll for lnlxr alone to lo &)0,0(X) per month, which is a low estimate, the annual sum would be $1240,000. Yet woolen manufactures in Oregon and Washington are in their infancy. They can extend without limit, as raw materials, skilled labor, food supply, water power and growing market all invite them and assure their success. In oarly days tanneries were established Yet im ported giHxls and high wages here, with wastoful habits, broke up many of them; but a few, with wiser plans, industry and economy, held on and won position and a trado mark worth largo capital. The hides, so long ex porfod, can be tanned nnd put into use here. Forests of hemlock will afford bark. With skillod mechanics, who are ready to come, the saddlers ond leather dealers can bo supplied, and a stop can bo put to importing 2,000,000 worth of bwts and shoes per year and many thousand dollars worth of leathor. This industry has been tried and has boon competed down by commission merchants. It is destined to succeed. It is impossible for aOO.OOO people to pay 2,000,000 or more in gold other Stat annually for leather and its manufactured products when they possess in abundance tho raw ma terials. We have exported wheat for ton years and lost monej by it Every Iwrrel of flour made in Oregon and sent abroad leaves a half dollar profit to tho mills in offals, which adds an much more to the dairy farm. Eight thousand barrels cr day for 2(H) days is about tho pro ducing capacity of our merchant mills. It is plain that flour, not wheat, ought to lie exported if the farmer is to lm nuwt ImneAkHl by the harvest and the State nlso en riclusl thereby. The exjnnt of 4,000,000 bushels of wheat at 1 pr bushel would lx equal to 800,000 barrels t.f flour at W icr barrel. The bran and shorts on this lot would bo worth to tho miller or farmer here or in England a half dollar net icr barrel. We have hereto fore Riven to tho latter that half dollar on every five bushels of wheat sold Bat wo should keep it and save also part of the oot of freight in future. Such a saving would equal 1 100,000 to our own jeoplo. Bui the quMion urines nlnmt a flour market Run. pose India supplies Knt..nl with wheat t tho exclusion floWr ,mve W8 n,,y hl f uotlw market? W hat wo need is a great population able to buy flour. Japan and China have the people-450,000 000, The latter have begun to use flour instead o! rice. Cap tain Noyes, who has been in the China trade many years, lebllutts that the Chinese eiulgrauU Ube nlae Backs of rice to one of flour, but on their return home they eat nine of flour to one of rice. Scores of thousands of Chinese have become habitual users of this food, spend ing their money for it freely as they do for other food. That vast empire can become our market, not only for lumber, but for flour, and no doubt for manufactured woolen and cotton goods, and also machinery. The new machine for the paper manufactory at La Camas will be capable of producing 16,000 pounds per day. Tho present machine's capacity is 4,000 pounds. This is for white paper. It will make 6,000 pounds of straw paper per day. These two machines will Bupply this Northwest country for the present The value of one day's product of both machines in either white or manilla paper would be $1,300. The saving on freight would be 1J to 1J cents per pound over imported paper, or $200 saved on one day's product of 16,000 pounds. One-half of the value of the daily product, or $650, is paid for labor alone. The cash net value of this single industry teAlie community, counting 200 days' work per annum, will be $170,000. These five industries are worth to our local communities for labor alone $900,000, and for circulation ten times that amount G. H. Atkinson. THE WASTE OF FOOD. WE are a wasteful people. If any one needs confirma tion of this let him station himself at the rear door of some of our hotelB, or even dwelling houses, and it will be seen that great quantities of what was good food goes to feed the pigs. We have known families where this waste was enormous. The French are noted for making a little go a great way, and yet they are noted as well for presenting to their guests toothsome dishes. They, above all others, seem to have the faculty of making the most of everything. It is surprising what a good housekeeper may do, if she will, in this direction. For example, meat bones Bhould never be thrown away, but cracked and made into soup. Cold vegetables left over from the previous day'? dinner can be fried or other wise warmed up for the next morning's breakfast Bits of Iwiled ham that would hardly be presentable in any other form might be minced and mixed with raw eggs, and wormed up and served on toast Remnants of meat of any kind should be saved, minced and served hot for breakfast It is needless to multiply illustrations, for where one is disposed there are many ways that will constantly come to mind to save. It is wrong, sinful, to waste what has been given to us, even if wo can afford to do so. Not only should every housekeeper seek to pre vent waste ond loss of food, but it should be the aim to prepare tho same for tho table in the most attractive and palatable foiiu consistent with economy. Two FACT8.-It is a fact that women's brains are smaller than men's. It is also a fact that an elephant is larger than a mouse, yet he can't catch one.