THE WEST SHORE.
necessary accompaniment of manufac
tures employing a large number of hands,
will be experienced here, aj elsewhere.
These are for the future, and the pres
ent condition of a flairs indicates that
this future is by no means a distant one.
It becomes, then, interesting to know
what the city is and has, aside from the
great leading, and almost overshadow
ing, feature, the enormous water power
jut described.
The city, which has now a permanent
resident population of fifteen hundred,
lies on the east bank of the river, partly
on a terrace along the stream, and part
ly on the high bluCfs farther back. The
railroad runs along the base of the
bluffs, and the one long business street
occupies the middle ground between it
and the river. This street is well built
up with business houses, occupying both
sides of it for a distance of four blocks.
Besides the woolen mill, court house,
jail and brewery, there are ten brick
buildings, nearly all of them two stories
high. Two of the business houses car
ry stocks of $50,000.00 each, and the
capital engaged in business, exclusive
of the bank, is fully $250,010.00. These
enterprises may be enumerated as fol
lows: Five general stores, five grocery
stores, three drug stores, three jewelry
stores, ono large stove store and tin shop,
one furniture store, ono agricultural im
plement warehouse, ono book store, three
confectionery stores, two meat markets,
ono livery stable, three wagon shops,
two undertaking establishments, one
feed stable, two hotels, and one restau
rant Thero are, also, a good bank, the
U. 8. land office for the Willametto val
ley, representatives of the various pro
fessions, and two good weekly papers,
the Enterprise and Courier.
The leading manufacturing interest
now established is tho woolen mill of
tho Oregon City Manufacturing Co. This
is an eleven-set mill, employing one
hundred and ninety hands, paying out
$80,000.00 in wages annually, and pro
ducing cassimeres, tweeds, flannels, blan
kets, shawls, robes, etc., to the value of
$500,000.00 annually. The next most
important is that of the Oregon City
Flouring Mill Co. This mill employs
fifteen men, and turns out five hundred
barrels of flour per day. Both of these
enterprises are owned in Portland, and
are managed from the business offices
in that city by telephone, through local
superintendents. This method of con
ducting business is entirely practicable,
since the two cities are united by one
telephone system. There is a saw mill,
owned by George Broughton, with a ca
pacity of twenty thousand feet of lum
ber per day, and a box factory connected
with it There are, also, a small custom
grist mill, another flouring mill not in
operation, a brewery, a furniture facto
ry, and a machine for making cotton
wood excelsior for mattresses and up
holstering. A view of the manufactur
ing portion of the city, as seen from the
bluffs above, is given on page 575.
The city is supplied with water taken
from the river above the falls, and dis
tributed through pipes by two pow
erful force pumps. The pressure is suf
ficient to throw a stream over the high
est house in the business portion of the
town. There is a good volunteer fire
department, consisting of two hose com
panies and a hook and ladder company.
The city government consists of a may
or, a council of seven members, a mar
shal and a night-watchman. There is
an enterprising and energetic board of
trade, which not only looks after the lo
cal affairs of the city, but participates in
all general movements throughout tho
Northwest calculated to affect tho city's
interest
From an educational or moral point
of view, this is a most desirable place of
residence Thero is a splendid graded