1 g.'iriii r ii I fniV ri'nm !IIHHHUHIHINt Hi 1 14 L tiiiiiitmiiiiiitiiiiiiiiiiihiiiitim Steel PORTLAND IS BIG MOTOR CAR CENTER Most of Large Manufacturers Recognize City as Logical Distributing -Point for Pacific Northwes1-i-More As sembling Plants tr Be Established. , . Br Cnester A. Moore, BECATJSB) of Us strategic position and the adequate transportation . facilities which It enjoys, Port land long has been recognized by East ern automobile manufacturers as the logloal distributing- center for the en tire Northwest and Its location as a motor car center appears to be grow ing stronger as the years advance. Only recently announcement was made . that a large Eastern factory, which " -manufactures low-orlced cars, had paid down a substantial deposit binding -the- purchase of a half-block of land In- the northwestern section of Portland. On top of this came the an nouncement of Norman Devaux. presi dent and general manager of the Chev rolet Motor , Company, of California, that his company, within the course of the next two years, expects to erect In Portland a duplicate of their $1. 000,000 assembly plant and factory re cently completed In Oakland, Cal. Mr. Devaux said that the Chevrolet offi cials were convinced fully that Port land, over and above all other cities In Oregon and Washington, is the logical distributing point for the entire North west field and that they have decided finally to place their Northwest plant In Portland. Portland Logical Center. For several years the large assembly plant and branch of the Ford Motor Company has been located in the big brick building on East Eleventh and Division streets, where approximately 240 employes work under the direction Of Branch Manager A. W. Jones in as sembling cars to be distributed through out Oregon and .the counties of South ern Washington. It ' has always been the custom of Eastern automobile officials to grant every distributor lh the Oregon field the selling rights on at least the south ern tier of counties in Washington. This is done in almost every instance for the very good reason that the trad ing radius of Portland extends far Into the state of Washington and it is much easier to ' handle that field through Portland than through any city in Washington. In many instances branches have been placed at Portland to rule company ac tivities for the entire Northweet sec tion, including even parts of Idaho and Montana sometimes and perhaps Brit ish Columbia, in addition to the entire state of Washington. The Northwest branch of the Stude baker Corporation of America Is situ ated in a large building at Chapman and Alder streets, where both North west Manager A. H. Brown and A. E. McKenzie, assistant Northwest mana ger, have their administrative offices, from which they handle the distribu tion of Studebaker cars throughout the Northwest, including Oregon, Washing ton and Idaho. This field Is scheduled to absorb some 3000 cars next year. Maxwell Field Lirce. Perhaps the most extensive automo bile distribution in this field Is handled through the Portland offices of the Maxwell Corporation. The territory of Wlliam J. LaCasse, zone manager with headquarters at Portland, Includes all of Oregon, Washington and Utah, In addition to parts of Idaho and Mon tana, Mr. LaCasse is planning to send 6400 Maxwells into his Northwest ter ritory for the coming season. The Northwest Auto Company, a Port land concern with Portland officers and stockholders, controls virtually all of the Northwest field for the distribution of the Marmon apd Reo cars and It has Siiipbuild M the entire Northwest.' Including North ern Montana, on the Dort car. Just last month It became distributor of the Stewart truck in Washington, as well as In Oregon. F. W. Vogler, president of tho company, announced recently that specifications for the year indi cate that the "company's territory will take 800 Dort care, " 400 Reo cars and 100 Reo trucks. 100 Marmon cars, 60 Cole cars and 50 Stewart trucks. Kissel Branch Covers Northwest. Since the establishment of headquar ters in Portland a few years ago of the Pacific Kissel Kar branch, the entire Northwest field has been governed from Portland, the present manager being A. S. Robinson, who makes frequent trips to Seattle to look after the Inter ests of the company there. A total of 950 Briscoe cars and 450 Kissel Kara have been ordered for this territory for this season. In a number of Instances Eastern fac tories or concerns handling Eastern products for the entire Pacific Coast field have located branches In Portland as well as In one or more other cities of the Northwest. This applies to the Winton. White, Overland and Fierce Arrow companies, as well as the How ard Auto Company, dealers in the Buick; the Gerlinger Motor Car Com pany, which has branches in Seattle and Tacoma, and the Chevrolet Motor Com pany of California. The activities of the Oldsmoblle Com WOMEN'S CLUBS ARE ACTIVE Oregon Federation Interests Itself in Every Line That Tends to Better Conditions Legislative Problems Are Studied. By Mrs. Charles II. Canon, President Oregon Federation of Women's Class. THE Oregon Federation of Women's Clubs, organized In 189,9. has en Joyed a continued and prosperous growth both in membership and use fulness until at the 16th annual con vention, held In Seaside October 9-12, 163 clubs were reported as holding membership, comprising nearly 10,000 of the most progressive and Intelligent women of the state. The club movement of Oregon has not confined Itself to the cities alone, al though Portland has .30 federated clubs, and each of the other larger cities of the state are well represented, Eugene having five. There are few of the smaller cities and towns that do not boast of a club that has" done much for its people along educational and civic lines. Many clubs In the rural districts have been organized for civic better ment and social uplift, and do much to keep the women on the farm In touch with the great women movement of the day. West Is Recognised. Showing Its true progressive spirit. Oregon was represented by 17 delegates at the biennial meeting of the General Federation of Women's Clubs, held in New York last May. The West was recognized as an important factor in this great gathering of women, when to California fell the honor of naming Mrs. Josiah Evans Cowles, of Los An geles, as president, and Oregon re joiced that its past --president, Mrs. Sarah A. Evans, of Portland, might be named as a director. Much credit Is due the Oregon club THE 3IOKNING OREGONIAX, MONDAY, JANUARY 1, 1917. PORTLAND OREGON ers rine and Bdsssssi pany of California are ruled from the branch office in Portland, and the same Is true of the Mitchell, Lewis & Staver Company, distributor of the Mitchell cars. The Manley Auto Company is not a branch for the Hupmoblle, which It distributes, together with several other makes, but it is understood that the new Manley building on Eleventh and Burnslde streets is to be the depot for Hupmoblle parts' for the entire North west. Nearly All Makes Represented. In addition to the branches of vary ing degrees of magnitude and Import ance, virtually all of the prominent au tomobiles built in this country, are dis tributed iri Portland, either through dealers' agencies controlling the ' state of Oregon together with the southern counties of Washington, or, as In some Instances, merely the field immediate to Portland. Not to mention the cars sent from Portland to retail points In Washington, considerably more than 10,000 .automobiles were placed In the hands of owners during the past year, according to the Oregon registration figures. Also all of the big tire manufacturers of the country have branches In Port land and there are several large acces sory houses, whose territory spreads beyond the boundaries of Oregon. There are 250 public automobile ga rages and repair shops In Oregon. All of this business is done through Port land banks and other local channels. women for the interest they have takem In every line that tends to better conditions of the state and the home. In art, literature and music they are striving to raise the standards and create a demand for the best. There are few libraries in the state that have not been obtained through their efforts. To them belongs the credit for estab lishing the clean-up day. i That has long since become an annual event in every community. Their efforts along the lines of conservation have not been without results, and they have awak ened a keener appreciation of our nat ural resources. They are ever energetic good roads boosters, and this last year appointed a special committee to orfer their assistance in this movement. Last May they added their efforts to those of the sister states of Washington. Idaho, Montana and Utah In observing "Western Clubwomen's Consumers' Week," and urged every member to buy Western and Oregon-made goods, using the slogan "Buy at home and get the habit." Legislation Is Studied. Since having the privilege of the bal lot Oregon clubwomen have taken a serious, dignified Interest In all legis lative affairs, and are esneclally Inter ested In bettering conditions In the state Institutions, particularly those that deal with the women and children. Through the Public Health Commission the Oregon Federation is undertaking a movement for the treatment and care of the crippled children of the state by raising a fund to establish beds In hos pitals and later hoping to establish a children's hospital. Perhaps the most Important work undertaken by the clubwomen of the state, surely the one that is bringing the best returns. Is that of its scholar- Stationary ship loan fund, established nine years ago. The fund Is loaned to the young women of the state to assist In their education and Is to be paid back with out Interest when they become self supporting. This fund Is raised by the clubs' setting aside the last Wednes day In January, which - Is - known as "red letter day." The last annual re port showed that 111 young women had received loans from this fund to the amount of $12,345. If the clubwomen of this state did nothing else, this Investment alone would be worthy their efforts. Interstate Bridge Is Great Structure Span Across Columbia River. Includ ing; Viaducts. Is 23,000 Feet Long. Cost of Project Is S1.7SO.OOO. THE Interstate Bridge over the Co lumbia River has a tptal length of about 23,000 feet. Including all Its approaches. At the Vancouver end ap proaches are provided on Washington street and from Main street by way of First street. Each approach is about 30C feet long. The structure over the main channel of the river Is 8530 feet long, consisting of ten truss spans each 265.5 feet long, three truss spans each 275 feet long and one girder span-60 feet long. One of the 275-foot spans is a draw span of the vertical lift type, which can be raised to give 150-foot clearance above ordinary high water. To the south of this bridge Hayden Island Is crossed on an embankment 1480 feet long and the Oregon Slough by an 11-span, plate-girder bridge 1140 feet long. From the south side of Ore gon Slough there are two approaches. One about 10,800 feet long connecting to' Union avenue, Portland, and the other about 5800 feet long connecting to Derby street. These approaches are on embankments averaging about 24 feet in height; with the exception of a four-span, plate girder bridge 307 feet long over Columbia Slough In the Union-avenue approach. The bridge provides a roadway 38 feet wide from Vancouver o the south side of Oregon Slough. From this point to Portland a 30-foot roadway is pro vided on the Union-avenue approach .and an 18-foot roadway on the Derby street approach. On the steel portions there is also provided a sidewalk 46 feet wide on the truss spans and 6 feet wide on the girder spans. Provision is also made for the future addition of a sidewalk on the approaches south of Oregon Slough. Six lines of rails are provided on all the steel bridges for double track electric railways, both standard and narrow-gauge. The Vancouver approaches contain 25,000 cubic yards of sand; the embankment over Hayden Island, 105, 000 cubic yards; the Union-avenue ap proach, 820,000 cubic yards, 'and the Derby-street approach, 615.000 cubic yards, making a total of 1.466,000 cubio yards In all the embankments. The piers for all the three bridges are of the open-crib type, resting on piles. The concrete In the pier bases fills In around and over the tops of the plies, being retained during Its placing by the timber cribs. From a point well below low-water mark the concrete shafts are carried up to above high water mark for the support of the spans. The piers contain 23,000 cubic yards of concrete and approximately " 1.800,000 feet of timber, and 222.000 lineal feet of piling were used In their construction, ' " The total cost of the bridge. Includ ing all Its approaches, will be approxi mately $1,750,000. It la expected that the bridge will be opened to traffic this month. - - Boilers Loggin FRUIT CROP TO NET GROWERS $9,000,000 Oregon's Output for 1916 Worth $1,000,000 More Than in Any Previous Year Prune Production Reaches 40,000,000 Pounds Valued at $3,000,000. THE fruit crop produced in Oregon in 1916 will net the growers fully $9,000,000. This Is the valuation placed on the commercial shipping crop and does not Include the value of the fruit consumed at home. Taken altogether, the crop was worth fully $1,000,000 more than In any previous year. While weather conditions were not all that could be desired In some lines. It was on the whole a banner season,, and the producers are more than sat isfied with the returns received. Apple Production Larger. ' The apple crop proved to be better than was anticipated. The total ship ping crop Is estimated at about ,,3000 cars, which Is as large a production as the state has ever had. Hood River's output of 1600 cars Is the best on rec ord In that section, but the Rogue River country has In former years produced more apples. Apples have moved out very well from tho chief shipping points of Hood River and Medford: about two-thirds of the crop having been moved to date, but the shipments from the Willamette and Umpqua Valleys have been slow, on ANSUAL RECEIPT OR PORT LAND POSTOFFICE. 1907..$ 1908.. 1909.. 628.475.19 1912..$1,004.428.71 1913.. 1.183.535.78 1914.. 1,233,479.93 1915.. 1,167.293.03 1916 1.220.571.97 KKO R13.96 778,853.73 925.164.62 1.094,428.71 1910 1911 December total estimated in 1916 figure. mtifZ account of tho 'scarcity of cars, and those districts still have on hand most of their shipping apples. Prune Crop Takes First Rank. While apples. Including those con sumed at home, lead the list in point of value; the prune crop must take first rank for the amount of outside money brought into the state It Is now settled that the 1916 crop of Oregon Italian prunes reached the 40,000,000-pound mark, the shipping value of which was $3,000,000. The former record crop was about 36,000.000 pounds, but the value of the output then was only about $2,000,000. The growers In tho past year only had the advantage of a very high market, but they were also favored by perfect weather during the curing season, and consequently ' there were no losses whatever. There was a very fair crop, of pears, somewhat under the average. The Important Rogue River pear-growing districts had a larger crop than In the previous year, but the yield elsewhere Oregon Packing Company Can ners of FRUITS AND VEGETABLES Portland, Oregon M achinery was lighter. Prices were very good for early and late varieties. What the peach orchardlsts lost by reason of a reduced output they made up in the higher market prices that prevailed during the Beaton. Not many peaches are ever shipped out of the state and growers have to depend on the home markets, which are frequent ly overtaxed to take care of the supply, but during the past season there Was no time that peaches were cheap to the consumers. The loganberry growing Industry made a healthy growth, keeping pace with the expansion of the loganberry Juice trade. About 6000 tons of ripe I. ' Oregon Sheet Metal V orks iminmimnnninniiiimimiiiinummimnimmif Hotel, Restaurant and Boat Supplies. Smokestacks, Tanks and Ventilators. iiniiiiiiiuiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiuiiiiiuiiuiiiwiiiiitiii No. 146 Front Street, Portland, Oregon KERR, GIFFORD & COMPANY LEWIS BUILDING. PORTLAND. OREGON, Shippers of Wheat, Barley and Oats From Interior Stations of Washington, Oregon and Idaho and Exporters of Grain and Flour From Portland, Tacoma and Seattle, also from Atlantic and Gulf Porta, Established 1851 Allen & Lewis Wholesale Grocers Portland, 11 MI n i i i IF s I 4 HtttuiuwniiufiiiMmmnmntimntttmO fruit, worth $300,000 to the growers, were produced, and about 65 per cent of this was disposed of to the Juice manufacturers. The small fruit crop vis rather un der the average. Strawberries were af fected by the cold, wet weather -at . growing time, but the portion of the crop saved realized good prices. Urapea were injured by early frosts. The war, of course, affected the ex port trade In fruits, yet very good shipments of apples have hern made to Europe from Oregon, as well as from the Eastern states. Foreign orders for prunes were also a factor In stimu lating the prune market. Incorporated 1897 Oregon