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About Morning Oregonian. (Portland, Or.) 1861-1937 | View Entire Issue (Jan. 1, 1914)
TIIE MORNING OREGONIAN, THURSDAY, JANUARY 1, 1914. PORTLAND IS SUPREME IN PACIFIC NORTHWEST AS JOBBING CENTER By E. C. Glltner, Herrrtmry Portland Cham ber of Commerce. PORTLAND'S Jobbing territory was intended by nature to be the broadest of all Pacific seaports on the American shore. As if to meet the requirements of this condition, the wholesale houses of trie City on the Columbia are the strongest to be found in the entire Northwest, their trade is the heaviest and their future is the brightest. " It will be conced ed that- Portland has not been in' possession of her ot her matter f )n. The L own In the of distributio zone to the east has been narrowed. Kn . C. Giltner. sroachment of Mid-die ' Western - and Kastern cities has been rapid. Develop ment of local distribution centers has also been a feature of the past two decades, especially the last ten years Whereas on the Atlantic seaboard the great seaport terminal has been ac corded extraordinary rates and favor ing conditions, Portland's birthright has been attacked In late years by every aspirant for a petty jobbing trade. That was the order of the past two decades, a period when- this city has suffered much In curtailment of nor mal rights.. A new order, is at hand. It is made by the. water. It will be fully realized when the water Is fully used. . Water is Portland's supreme trade argument. Hallways -will always carry a majority of commerce entering and departing here. But water will be the KOverJng factor In making rates. In the struggle on ;a strict railway basis In the past, Portland has lost. In the use of water, she has been a laggard. Whereas Puget Sound has been quickened by an enormous water-borne trade, thus getting the - benefits of lower prices on certain commodities en tering into-, the Jobbing trade, Portland has depended upon her railways. These did not and could not protect her, until compelled - by the- water. Steamship have not come here with sufficient fre quency from the Atlantic seaboard and foreign porta. There has not been the regular service needed, the close con nection, the sharp competition, and the all-compelling influence of a heavy deep-sea tonnage. Again, on lhe inland waters, Port land has done little more than noth ing. In these inland navigable high ways, this city possesses one strength, no other community of all the West ern Pacific can boast. It is this sys tem of waterways, .- with a possible navigable length of about 1600 miles, that makes Portland stand supreme in her potential for Interior distribution. But we have done little to profit by the presence of these Hvers. We have not controlled commerce as far back from the seaboard as Puget Sound, which had to cross a high mountain to reach Portland's natural territory. In this respect the city has been In tolerably negligent. All th4s was In the old order. The IN 25 YEARS DUCK POND HAS BECOME BUSIEST RAILROAD YARD IN NORTHWEST During 12 Months 363,608 Freight Cars and 257,310 Passenger Cars Are Handled Where Portland Mea, Now Middle Aged 1 Used to Shoot Birds. SSVERAL times within the past few months the column "Twenty-five Years Ago" that is now running in The Oregonian has mentioned the pur chase of a block or a number of blocks by or for the Northern Pacific Ter minal Company. This property was all located In Couch Lake, In Couch's Addition to the city. This was a lake separated from the river by a narrow bank, where Front street is now located and ex tending from the foot of Hoyt street through to about the Intersection of Thurman and Front. Twenty-flv,e years ago the Oregon & California Railroad crossed this Jake on a pile trestle on Fourth street from Front to Hoyt. Its terminal depot was a wooden shed on the east side of Front street at the foot of Irving, and a train going down Fourth street reached the depot by running out onto Front street, and backing up to the etation. The Northern Pacific had a single line of track coming into the city from the north on Front street, terminating at a little one-story depot on the west side of the street at the Intersection cf Irving, directly oppo site the Oregon & California depot. Those were the only railroad tracks Jn this vicinity, but the O. R. & N. was aDout to break into the West Side over Its steel bridge, then in course of con struction. The Oregon & California Railroad operated a mixed passenger and freight train dally to Corvallis and an evening ! .train to McMinnville. The Northern Pacific operated two passenger trains each way between Portland and Seattle. The Oregon & California road oper ated its line to Roseburg and Ashland Xrom its East Side depot, with a ferry connection from the foot of Ulisan, while the O. R. A N. operated Its trains out of Albina with a steamer connec tion from Ash-street dock. However, It is not the purpose of this article to stray away from Couch Lake further than to say that the Oregon & Cali fornia, now the Southern Pacific Com pany, operates 24 passenger trains 'in and out of the Union depot daily, while the O.-W. R. & N. boasts of 20 . pas senger trains, and in addition to these there are eirht In and out on the North ern Pacific while at the North Bank station there are 24 regular steam pow er passenger trains, as well as innu merable electric trains running south and west over the Oregon Electric and United Railways lines. Every one of these passenger trains has Its' ter minal on the ground where 25 years ago stood a dirty pond, dozens of feet deep in mud and water and surrounded on its shores by scattered wooden shacks. Take a map of the city or fix your mind's eye on this triangular trip; start from Front and Hoyt and go west on Hoyt to Twelfth, then down Twelfth to Front and back up Front street to where you started, and you have passed around what was 25 years ago the shores of Couch Lake, where many of our gray-haired citizens used to skate in the Winter and shoot mudhens in the Summer. It was Just about 25 years ago that the first filling was begun,' by gravel trains, wagons, dredging from the river, and it is only within the past year or so that the last hole was filled up after millions of yards ot river sand, cellar excavations and other material had been dumped into it. Where Couch Lake was there are now S3 miles of railroad tracks; two pas senger terminals, where 76 passenger trains arrive and depart daily, while on the freight tracks a dozen switch engines are hammering away every hour of the day and night pushing and pulling away at what would appear to an outsider as chaos, impossible, to 1 - " sv " " J II ' 'f . - j S! r- . rtVx U r- - 7 f :i i ft M74 atfriT r; : brine to order, but every move is with a purpose. Empty cars are placed for loading, loaded cars picked up and made up into outbound train's, other loaded cars switched to warehouses to be unloaded. " Then there Is a little army of men engaged in the loading and unloading of these cars. Every car is Inspected and where repairs are necessary the car is ordered to the hospital track. Every passenger train is carefully ex amined for any defect; every oil box or Journal bearing looked into, and while this Is being done a trained gang of cleaners is polishing up the train both inside and out preparatory to its out bound Journey. In the year from November 1, 1B12, to November 1, 1913, there was handled in the Terminal Company and North Bank Yards 863,608 freight cars and 257,310 passenger cars. The average number of men employed in the yards, freight houses, the superintendents' and other offices. Is 1510, with a monthly payroll of 93,000. In addition to this there are 245 men on the payroll at Albers Milling Company, the Crown Mills, Pa cific Coal Dock, Mersey Dock and the Albers & Lewis dock, on the water WATER SUBSCRIBERS, 55,902 Number of Services in City System Has Increased 75.8 Per Cent Since 1909 Distributing Mains Extended. By Will IL Daly, City Commissioner. THE following, compiled from the records of the water bureau. In dicates that the growth of the city during the past year has been most gratifying: Mains Laid From January 1, 1913 to No- vemoer si, 11113. 4-inch , .450 miles O-lnch 6. HO miles 8-lnch 24.112 miles 10-inch . .................... .070 mile 12-lncb 8.128 miles 16-incii . 8.438 miles 24-Inch 2.420 miles 30-lnch 2.515 miles Total 47.2S Miles Total mains, four inches in diameter and over. In use November 30, 1913, ex. tended 504.08 miles. Since January 1. 190. water mains, four Inches and over in diameter, have been laid as follows: 1000 10.31 miles 1S10 SU.8S miles 1911 71.67 miles 1B12 - . . 71. 19 miles 1913 (11 months) 47.2 miles Total 2S7.33 miles From this it will be seen that there has been added to the City distribution system since January 1, 1909, a total of 257.33 miles of mains, four inches and over in diameter, out of a total of 604.08 miles showing an increase during the period named of S0.9 per cent. The services in use have also in creased from 33,142 January 1, 1909, to PORTLAND POSTAL FOR 1913 AMD 191$. RECEIPTS 1912. f 86,682.30 88.S92.12 85,787.12 94,671.05 86,584.87 83,098.54 83.222.59 85,941.27 90.840.00 117,090.16 86.791.85 118.873.09 January...! February. March.. .. 108,267.49 ! 89.137.14 94,151.13 April 100.507.59 May 97,396.05 June- 91,291.42 91.136.55 July August Septemb'r October.... November Dec'mb'r 87,878.18 96,256.62 104,184.21 90,946.32 124.816.00 Total.. .31,175,969.60 31,108,474.46 December, 1913, estimated. front facing the tracks, who are en gaged in loading and unloading cars, which bring up the Couch Lake payroll to a grand total of 1119,000 a month. All of this business is located on the grounds where 25 years ago was Couch Lake, a foul smelling mud flat that was a disgrace to the city. The figures given above embrace only the employes In offices, depots, yards and shops on the railroad property lo cated within the boundaries described and do not include the hundreds of trainmen operating trains out of these terminals. , To understand fully what the railroad payroll means to this city, it should be remembered that beginning at the Brooklyn shops, four miles south of the railroad bridge, and extending north to include the railroad shops at Albina, there are 1800 men employed with a monthly payroll -of (135,000. The monthly payroll of the general offices up town is 162,000. But all that is another story. This article was in tended to show how Couch Lake has been turned from a mosquito pond into a great railroad terminal with a monthly payroll that oelps very mate rially In the city's prosperity. a total of 68,275 November 30, 1913 an increase of 76.8 per cent. Nineteen per cent was from 6300 services of private water works in suburbs . pur chased: net increase 66.S per cent; In crease in 11 months of 1913, 7 per cent. The total number of places supplied with city water and, actually paying for November. 1913: W. Port. E.Port. Albina. Total. Dwellings ..... 8,SOo 23,239 12,722 44.7S Apartments 8.833 1,241 - 223 4,824 Hotels, longs. . 44 ez oft oou Factories ..... 2U3 2B7 72 C42 Stores ........ 1.821 770 311 2.402 Baloona 3 SO ' 43 30 403 Office buildings ana b&nit. .. 133 en 24 228 Churches 78 S3 6 218 Schools 27 63 SB 128 Miscellaneous . 1,041 473 323 1,837 Total 19,713 20,333 13,854 CS.S02 Of the above 66,902 places, 13,398, or 23,9 per cent have meters. During 1913 many large apartment buildings, hotels, office buildings, ware houses, etc. have been erected on lots and blocks formerly occupied by a much larger number of dwellings, stores, etc., and hence the apparent increase In the total number of places supplied this year has not been as rapid as heretofore. . The greatest problem the department has had to contend with the past year, was the matter. of distribution during the heated Summer period. With all of the reservoirs practically full of water. in many districts there was a shortage in supply and very light pressure, on account or the strain caused by re striction in lawn sprinkling to certain hours of the day. It will probably be necessary to install meters in all lawn sprinkling services . before the begin ning of the next Summer, with the object In view or removing the llmlta tlons as to hours when sprinkling serv ices may be used thereby distributing the strain caused by these services to tne entire 18 or 14 boura of daylight. in tne installation of meters th bureau is following the custom which is being quite generally adopted by an progressive cities. Where this plan has been adopted it has been found to give general satisfaction, for it not only provides an equitable method for the adjustment of payments for water used, but also operates to secure the year 1911 witnesses oflvent of the new and. Improved order. It will go down to local history as the time when this restriction of unnecessary waste caused by defective plumbing. The greatest amount of water taken from the two conduits in 24 hours Is about 47,000,000 - gallons, although the capacity of these conduits is 67,500,000 gallons,-and while this is ample for a city of more than twice the present population of Portland, this should be properly conserved for the city in the future, and also to postpone as long as possible the day when additional ex penditure, running into the millions, will have to be made to provide ad ditional supply. r Portland has so far been extremely fortunate in having as the source of its water supply a forest-clad, moun tainous region, entirely uninhabited, which furnishes an abundant supply of pure, soft water, excelled by no other locality the country over. Recognizing the value of this heritage to the city of the future, the water bureau has ever been alive to the necessity of protecting - the city's water supply from any possible encroachment. Portland's Milk Supply Now Known for Purity Average Score of Dairies Has In creased From 58.1 to 70, and Infant Deaths Have Decreased. By E. C. Callaway, City Milk Chemist. PORTLAND Is known the world over as the "City of Roses," the health city, where pure water, cold and fresh from the snow of a mountain peak, bubbles from fountains on the street corners. In the past few years she has al most attained fame for p h e n o m e nal progress in purify ing her milk sup ply. While condition 4 are still far from Ideal. Portland may well boast of her milk Bupply. Few cities can point to so great a progress in a short time in the evolution of the milk supply. Proba bly very few muni cipalities, indeed. E. C. Callaway. can be sure that such a large percent age of the market milk is pure to a very great degree. Many cities have a larger supply of certified milk and milk ot other special grades, but Port land's general market milk will com pare favorably with that of any large city in the United States. The time has come when no bottle-fed infant .in our city need be without pure milk if mothers will only make use of the data collected by the bureau of health. Although 10 years ago dairying around Portland was a by-product of farm ing Instead of an industry and a busi ness, the demands of the market are being met to the extent that there is more than one-half pint of milk a day for every citizen, and a very small percentage of it is adulterated or un fit for human food. Portland began the "pure milk cam paign in 1909, when through the In fluence of some of her most progres sive citizens a milk ordinance was passed by the Council. Dr. D. W. Mack was appointed dairy and milk inspector. and it is to this jovial, big-hearted, honest, persistent fellow who is still in the service, that Portland owes, in a great measure, her present pure milk supply, from Dr. Mack's report of September, 1909, we find that the average score of dairies was 36.69 out of a possible 100. Today we still have a few of the dishonest type of dairymen, but they are last giving place to the progres sive clean-cut young business man who sees In the dairy Industry a real opportunity In this Western country. The percentage of adulterated milk is reduced to 2 per cent and less. In fant deaths have decreased from 94 to 74.4 per 1000 born. Deaths from diarrhea and enteritis have decreased from 100 to 36 among children under two. years of age. The average score ui cny mine plants nas Deen raised from 66.1 to 76.3. community and the entire Columbia Basin "found" themselves. Prom. this year on, Portland's insistent clamor MORE THAN $80,000,000 IS SPENT ON . BUILDING IN PORTLAND IN FIVE YEARS Construction in This Period Has Included Over 13,155 Residences All Other Cities in Northwest Are Distanced. Year Just Opening Will Witness Continued Activity. ' By II. E. Fltunaur, City Building Inspector POK five years Portland has experi enced a period of great prosperity and activity in building construc tion, and in this short time, as a lusty infant bursting its swaddling clothes, Portland has put off the appearance of a small town and has assumed' the appearance of a great metropolitan city. During this five-year period Portland has made a wonderful record, unequaled In the Pacific Northwest, by issuing building permits to an average valuation of $1,000,000 a month, while for two years (1910-1911) the average was over $1,600,000 a month. The following table shows the value of building permits issued in Portland in a compact form: 1809 13,481,8S0 lQlO 20.8So.202 1911 19.152,370 1012 14.852.071 1918 (11 months) 12.816.850 Total five years, less one month 380,488,873 The total valuation for the five-year period is a staggering sum. The same yearly expenditure would build the Panama Canal in 22 years. No other city in the Pacific North west has equaled Portland's five-year- million-a-month record, although one city (Seattle) equaled it for four years before the break came. Portland may go on at the milllon-a-month rate for years to come, but it is hoped that the currency bill will be settled within a reasonable time, or otherwise the strin gency in the money market will affect the building operations so that the average will drop below the milllon-a-month rate. The - steady and durable quality of Portlands prosperity and activity in building operations is very pleasing to students of municipal development, and portends a great future, coupled with great stability, and an entire lack of any indication of a building boom. The year 1913 started with every in dication of being the best year for building construction in the history of tne city. Tne number ot large ana im portant buildings contemplated was un precedented so early in the year, but as the year advanced there was a de crease in activity, and the latter months of the year have been very quiet, due to the unwillingness of financial institutions to perform their usual service in connection with opera tlons of this kind. As there is every reason to think that the readjustment of business attendant on changes in tariff and currency laws will be con summated in the near future, it is probable that 1914 will be one of great activity in building operations, but with the earlier months of the year possibly quiet. An analysis of the building opera tions of the past five years shows some very interesting facts. -. One thing very noticeable is that the building develop ment has almost completed a cycle of types of buildings.- The first appear ing was apartment-houses, followed by hotels, public buildings (theaters, schools, clubhouses, churches, etc.) and office buildings. The construction of residences, has been affected recently by two causes. One is the comparative absence of the speculative builder, who operated very largely in 1910 and 1911 and caused very large totals, and the second is the Nation-wide financial stringency. The statistics of residence construction axe given in the follow ing table: Dwelling and Residence Construction. Number. Value. 1909 2327 4.992,270 1910 3141 7,215.980 1911 S224 7.91S.250 1912 2760 6.347.283 1913 (11 months) 1703 3,620,975 There has been a reaction against the speculative builder; first, because of the many cheap, shoddy, poorly-constructed houses erected, and, second, because houses were built when no de mand existed for them. A brief outline of the history of the will be for the use of these water ways, which have been providentially placed, and which mark the lines of rise and fall of the different types of buildings, as mentioned before in con nection with the cycle of development, might be of interest. ' A beginning in the construction of apartment houses was made about the time of the fair in 1905, nothing notable occurring until 1908, when the number and valuation of these buildings began to increase by leaps and bounds, reaching a climax in 1910, when 119 were constructed at a cost of $3,316,800. Before the activity in construction of apartment-houses began to wane, the attention of the building public was directed to the need of more hotels, and In 1909 activ ity in this line ensued and continued through 1910, reaching a climax in 1911, after which time a decline occurred. Soon after the commencement of ac tivity in the construction of hotel buildings, a period of activity in the construction of public buildings start ed, and this period has lasted up to the present time. Included in buildings FIGURES SHOW CITY GROWTH In Ten Years Population Has Jumped From 100,000 to 265,000; Assessed Valuation from $44,132,580 to $308,975,220. By C. A. Bigelow, City Commissioner. BACK in the days of 1903, a short ten years ago, when preparations were in full swing for the Lewis and Clark Fair, the all-prevailing ques tions were: Will the advertising of the fair be substantial and Insure Port land's future as a metropolis, or will the after effect retard the growth? Time has proven the wis dom of the fair, and we are all familiar with the tremendous growth of Portland, from an overgrown town of about 100,000, in that year, to a modern, hustling city of 265,000 or 270,000. I shall endeavor to show h6w growths of this lusty youngster in the past ten years have made necessary the continual increase in means of keeping the city clean, providing proper protection of life and property, greater protection of health, and gen eral supervision of the city's vast busi ness interests. In area, the increase has been from 27.93 square miles to 65.71 square miles. The increase in assessed valua tion has been from $44,132,580 to $308, 975,220. In connection with this latter amount, it might be well to add that the records of the building department show a grand total of $120,536,687 in new buildings constructed in this pe riod, a substantial part of the' in creased valuation. - On January 1, 1903, Portland was a city of notoriously poor streets, the total number Improved at that time being hard surface, less than 12 miles, macadam less than 48 miles and mis cellaneous 170 miles. In the ten-year period hard surface streets have in creased to 323 miles. Macadam shows a slight falling off to 45 miles, and miscellaneous streets increased to over 314 miles. This naturally called for a largely Increased force and expenditure in the City Engineer's office, which increased from 63 employes at a cost of $40,697 in 1903 to 195 employes at a cost of $220,687 in 1913. Greater area of streets caused a natural growth in the street cleaning department, which in 1903 consisted ot b9 employes, costing $48,374, and clean ing a total of 2476 street miles, which increased in 1913 to 219 employes, with a cost of $279,978, and cleaned 27,310 street miles, as well as oiled 12,551 street miles. The Fire Department of 1903, with its , 15 houses and 140 men, costing the most economical commerce that can be developed In any part of the great West. First, seeing that the Columbia bar S cut away at the river mouth, that the great vessels of the Pacific ma enter and depart without hindrance Portland will Join in opening tht initial gateway of the Columbia. Between the sea and Portland, th river problem is merely a mathematical . one of how fast the material shall b dredged. In this work Portland ha done a tremendous part in the past and will continue to share the burden. By the first months of 1815 the Celilo Canal will be finished, and the upper reaches of the Snake and Co lumbia will be improved to steamboat navigation. Then Portland will see that the river is used, that this natural, economical, water-level route is given a much lower traffic rate than is pos sible across mountains. . By this stroke the City of the Columbia will gain unaDDroachable supremacy in drawing from and supplying the Columbia Basin. Admitting the deep-sea ships or tne Pacific to the harbor at a minimum cost, and bringing on them enormous quantities of goods sent by the Eastern and European manufacturers, Portland will soon be ready to ship these goods farther inland from the western sea board than has ever been known in the history of Pacific Jobbing trade. The openeti rivers will strengthen this plan. Reduced distributive rates on tne railways, which are confidently expect ed to meet the new conditions, will make Portland a jobbing center such as is not dreamed of at the -present time. Then our dealers will go far back Into Idaho, and perhaps Utah and Montana, with certain lines of goods. This they will be able to do in com petition with the great Middle Western and Mississippi and Ohio centers, which now get marvelously favorable rates coming westward. In addition to the improved order through admittance of greater steam ships here, and opening a far greater area of the Columbia Basin by river navigation, Portland has just launched upon a determined campaign for a much broader coast market through the medium of steam schooner service. Three important markets practically closed to the city In the past are be ing opened. One is Alaska, to which a direct steamship - service will be opened soon entirely through the ef forts of the Portland. Chamber of Com merce after the first of ' the year. Portland is also determined to get into the British Columbia Coast trade, where there is a very heavy demand for the commodities produced in this territory. In addition to this, the heavy shipments made by Portland firms to the Hawaiian Islands are In due time to be handled on a direct line from this city, thus protecting the Jobber from the local rate to Seattle or San Francisco. Portland now has an enormous Job bing trade throughout Oregon, all over Southwestern Washington, in parts of Kastern Washington and in sections of Idaho. The exact figures of this trade are not published, but have been roughly estimated at $130,000,000. The strength of local houses, their strong financial condition, and the heavy stocks carried here, are the best evi dence of the magnitude of their busi ness. of 'this type are theaters, courthouse. Jail, clubhouses, churches, schools, railroad stations, libraries, auditoriums, etc. Following after hotels came office buildings, which have reached the high mark. In all probability, during 1913. The next great movement in building construction will probably be railroad terminal development, which will in volve freight and passenger stations, warehouses and loft buildings. The East Side has shown some indications of such a movement already. It is also probable that in the near future an other cycle of development will occur, and that activity In construction of apartment-houses will be followed by hotels, public buildings, etc. While the immediate future may be a matter of some uncertainty, yet there is no doubt that the opening of the Panama Canal will bring an increase of population which will be greater with each year until Portland rivals the cities of the Eastern Coast in wealth, population and power. $113,254, answered a total ot 430 alarms, while this past year the de partment increased to 33 houses, with 356 men, at a cost of $651,956, answered 1366 alarms, estimated. This amount, however, included a large amount in vested in new houses and modern equipment The Police Department, covering a 0 per cent Increase in area, and practically three times the population, has increased from 86 men at $86,502 to 293 men, with a total cost of op eration of $395,651. The records of the City Treasurer for 1903 show three employes with a total cost of $4449; money disbursed, $1,607, 468, and a total In custody during the year $2,207,020. The year 1913 shows 12 employes, total cost of office $16,664, and disbursements for 11 months of city public dock funds, of a grand total of $12,219,196. A total of over $17,000,000 has passed through this office during the year. The Auditor's office, the record keepers of all city transactions, showed, in street and sewer improve ments $595,656 outstanding, at the close of 1903, which has mounted la 1913 to a total of $15,406,450.88, or about 28 times increase in ten years. Additional parks have caused an in-' crease of operation in the Park De partment in ten years from $15,475 t $147,815. The growth and expansion of the city has caused expenditures for street lighting to climb In the same period from $54,320 to $185,115. General bonds against the city have Increased from $2,376,500 in 1903, on which $123,600 interest was paid, to $3,830,700, on which $319,000 in inter est was paid in 1913. In addition the water bonds increased in the ten-year period from $2,900,000 to $7,524,000 in 1913, interest on which is nearly entirely paid by water consumers. . While the city has grown in popu lation and valuation tremendously,, tiie tax rate has dropped from 9.3 mills in 1903 to 7.7 mills in 1913, the same rate fixed for 1914, and I confidently hope and believe that in another year we cai reduce this rate. In Btriking comparisons with the fig .ures quoted, which many of us think high, we have but to refer to our neighboring city of Seattle, which has been passing through the same grow ing period that we have; and which has increased its tax rate in the past ten years from 12.5 mills to 15.47 mills. The comparison is certainly creditable to our" city. 1