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About The west shore. (Portland, Or.) 1875-1891 | View Entire Issue (Jan. 1, 1886)
18 has opened to Portland again the Southern Idaho field, whose trade was lost in 18G8, and the business of that region can now be competed for by this city. The North em Pacific has also opened Montana to some extent, and the policy of the companies being a liberal one, the fiold is gradually being widened by a reduction of rates on special articles. When Portland enters largely into the business of reducing the ores of Southern and Eastern Oregon, Eastern Washington, Southern and Northern Idaho and Western Montana, as there seems now every prospect of doing, the stimulating 'effect on the wholesale trade of the city will be marked With the exception of the Portland Roller Mills Company at. Albina, there are as yet no extensive manu facturing enterprises located in Portland, yet a largo number of factories of moderate size give employment to many hands and turn out large quantities of various pro ducts. In 1883 employment was thus given to 5,481 men, the pioduct of whose labor aggregated 111,423,000 in value. This was an excess of 1,303 hands and $3,089,000 in products over the totals of the previous year. Although in 1884 many forms of industry which had bnon st mu tated beyond their normal limit by the excessive demand during railroad construction returned to their natural condition, the value of manufactures was nearly equal to that of ,1883. The product was $11,282,000, and 5,209 hands were employed. The reason for this was the founding here of a number of new industries, consider ably diversifying our products. The loading industries are as follows: Furniture, 410 hands; lumber and wood working, G20; foundry and iron work, 520; printing and publishing, 375; ship and boat building, 255; clothing, 350; brick making, 120; carpentering, 300; lxxts and shoes, 150; carriage and wagon making, 130. Tho pro i duct for 1885 will probably show an increase over the figures of the year before. Salmon canning is one of the leading industries of Oregon, and many of our business men are interested in it The scene of operations is near the mouth of the Columbia, and Astoria is the head quarters, where are located a majority of the factories. This industry gives employment to 1,500 boats, 3,000 fishermen and 1,000 factory hands, and produces annu ally 600,000 cases of salmon, valued at 13,000,000. The industry is of great benefit to Portland in many ways. The same may be said of the manufacture of flour and I woolen goods, which is carried on in outlying towns. A j dozen large mills in the Willamette Valley are producing I about 4,000 barrels of flour daily, of which 1,100 are the product of the steam mill at Albino. Those mills are all supplied with the new roller machinery, and manufacture the finest grades for the general market and shipment to foreign countries. Three woolen mills located in West ern Oregon also reach market chiefly through this city. The question of manufacturing is a live one, and to the founding here or in adjacent towns of various enter prises employing a large number of men the city looks for much of its future growth. Oregon has an abundance of water power running to waste and situated in localities easily reached from this city by rail. At Oregon City, only twelve miles above Portland, (iro tho celebrated Willamette Falls, whoso power is greater than that of tho Falls of St Anthony nt Minneapolis. Tho establishment of factories thore and at other points within a radius of a hundred miles of this city would rodound to tho city's benefit almost as much as though looatod within its limits. This is shown by tho building of a paper mill a yoar ago at La Camas, on the Columbia, by Portland capital. The establishment in or near tho city of exten sive reduction works for tho treatment of ores has been much discusHod, and the probabilities aro that this will soon be done. Thore are many rich mining localities within easy roach of this city by rail which would be ablo to supply such works with ore, but which have now fow facilities for working their product Coal, iron and wood are plentiful and cheap here, and this seems to bo a much better location for such works than Omahn or Denver, both of which are ongugod in reducing ores ou a large scalo. Starting out with tho simple facts that wood, iron, coul, fine sand, fire clay, all kinds of agricultural pro ducts, building timber and hard woods, wool, hides, fish, gold, silver, copper, cinnabar and numerous other crude materials are found in this region in conjunction with an abundance of wator power, it soonis reasonable to ossumo that manufacturing will increase largely in importance year by year. As a shipping port for flour and grain Portland has already become of great importance This business has grown up chiefly during the past ten years. In earlier times the Willametto Valley found a market for much of its flour in tho mines of Idaho and Montana, but about fifteen years ago tho tide began to turn, and wheat and flour began coming to Portland from tho country east of the Cascades. During tho past ten years that region has developed so rapidly that it now produces twice as much wheat as tho Willamette Valley, tho greater jmrtion of the surplus lsiing sent to Portland for shipment in the form of wheat or (lour. The surplus of the crop of 1885 thus reaching market will approximate 10,000,000 bush els, which is all the present railroad facilities can handle. The O. It & N. Co. has begun tho extension of its branch lines further ink) this developing wheat region, while the Northern Pacific is also surveying branch lines. Consid erable wheat has been carried to Pill nth and Miiinoap olis the past yoar by the latter company, but not enough to have much effect on tho surplus of the crop of 1885, which doubles that of the previous year. The Cascades lirnnch of that road will be completed to Puget Hound within two years, and much of the grain of Eastern Washington will then bo shipped from Seattle and To coma. This, however, will not roduco tho quautity seek, ing a market at Portland The fact is that not one acre in twenty of that vast wheat region is now under cultiva tion, and the crop increases nt such a ratio from year to year that both the O. II. A N. Co. and N. P. will bo taxed to their utmost capacity to move it two years hence. Tho quantity of wheat produced will depend entirely upon the facilities for getting it to market, consequently tho amount shipped from Portland will lo rogulutod by the