THE CITY AT THE KAMA
naturally turns to the manufacture of
flour. Hero can bo concentrated tho
wheat of a vast empire, already produc
ing thirty million bushels annually, ami
capable of producing double that amount
in a few yeara. Hero aro unlimited wa
ter power and land fre tho former for
ten years and tho latter forever. Here
is a shipping jort ho near at hnnd that
llour may Ik conveyed to it for twenty
five cents per ton. It would N difficult
to conceive of n more favorable n-t of
conditions for the milling busineM on h
large scale. An enterprise of this na
ture should embrace a transportation
scheme of its own, and should I hi of so
large a nature as to bo self-dependent.
Such a mill as this would main from
threo thousand to firo thousand barrels
of llour ier day. Tho relative saving of
expenso by manufacturing on a largo
scale is too well understood to rcquiro
argument As to other points in favor
of shipping our product in tho form of
flour, they aro well known to millers and
snipers. Thero is, in tho first place, tho
saving of five cents per bushel on grain
sacks; also a saving of one-third of tho
freight, since tho refuse of tho wheat
amounts to that much, and when ground
in England only equals tho valuo of its
own freight Thero are, Ix'sidcs, tho
multitude of associated Wnefita which
flow from tho conversion of raw rnateri
als into manufactured products, such as
increaso in population and wealth, tho
creation of a home market for a great
diversity of products, and not only tho
retention at homo of tho money other,
wise sent abroad, but tho bringing hero
of that necessary to purchase tho pro
ducts of our own labor. This is by far
tho Ix-at location for a largo paper mill
on tho Pacific coast Htraw can m Lad
in abundance; wood pulp is easily and
cheaply obtained; tho conditions of va
nomical manufacture are uueualed, and
the shipping facilities are all that are to
bo desired. Reprcsentativea of tho larg.
est two mills in California have examined
tho situation, and express themselves as
strongly impressed with tho ad vantage
offered. It is needles to enumerate tho
various industries which might find lodg
ment here. It is sufficient to say that
frw ground upon which to build, free
K)wer for ten years, facilities for receipt
and shipment of freight unsurpassed,
all combine to makf Oregon City the
mt udvuntageous point for uianufnc
turing on the coast With but few ex
ceptions, whatever can manufactured
profitably in the West can U produced
at Oregou City to letter advantage than
at any other Nint
Oregon City is, in its true sense, tho
oldest town in Oregon. To lo sure, settle
ments wero made at other joints at au
earlier date, such as that of tho Pacific
Eur Co., at Astoria, and tho Methodist
mission, near Halem, but hero was made
tho first genuino effort to found a city;
and it was natural that the pioneers, as
their eyes rested upon these falls, whoso
!eauty and jiower apjsealcd strongly to
their lovo for nature's works, ami their
inlsjni instinct to make practical use of
ever) thing, should decide that at this
jxjint would spring up a city. A towu
was laid out, which was for a numW of
years tho leading one in Oregon. It
was tho first capital of the territory, and
continued as such until the seat of gov.
eminent was moved to Kalem, as tho re
suit of a olitical quarrel U twei-n the
memUra of tho supreme court It is
unmcemry to trace the history of the
city through tho forty-tin) years of its
existence, except to say that it has Urn
one of slow, but constant, progre. In
terest now centers on iU present condi
tion and it pnj-ct for tho future.
What a bright pathway is owning up
Ix foro it has already ieti lii' out
The large increase in population, trade
and the value of property, nhich U a