THE MORNING OREGONIAN, SATURDAY, JANUARY 1, 1921
OREGON PINE IS IN DEMAND IN CHINA
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rom tight to 1 en Mutton beet of Lumber Shipped Monthly to shanghai tor sate
in Central and N orthern Empire Timber Sawed by Hand.
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WAY up In the mountain forest
or uregon grows tne Deauuiui,
fragrant pine. Every year many
' thousands of these grand old giants
fall before the woodsman's axe or
the more modern machinery that has
supplanted that primitive instrument.
As they leave their forest home they
re sent booming down the flume to
the Columbia river, where they are
chained together In great rafts and
floated down the river to Portland.
Here they are loaded on the steam
ers to be carried to different parts of
toe world.
Four million feet of this timber goes
y Canadian Pacific steamers to
China every month. In addition to
this, four or five million feet of tim
ber goes from Oregon to China on
tramp steamers.
This timber comes to Shanghai for
ale in central China and along the
Yangtsse valley and it goes to Tsing
tao and Tientsin, as well as Darien,
for distribution in north China. About
100.000.000 feet of Oregon pine is at
present coming to China each year
nd this will probably run up to 200,
000.000 feet within the next two or
three years.
This is only about one-fourth the
total amount of merchantable timber
handled and sold in China which is
Imported from foreign countries. The
balance comes from Siberia, Japan,
the Yalu river valley (Korea and
Manchuria), the Philippines, south
China (where there are large forests).
Slam. Cochin China, the Malay states.
Sumatra and Java, with occasional
shipments from Australia.
The pine from Oregon, Japan and
Siberia, as well as that from the Yalu
valley, is mostly Imported in large
sizes In the form of hewn solid blocks
and in China these are converted for
building or general construction work
ltber by hand sawing or by machine
sawing. In hand sawing the methods
employed are primitive, as is shown
v nlrlnri tnlron in th varrtft of the
able to saw lumber by hand from
these big squares as shown in the
pictures Just as cheaply as the
squares can be converted by machine
sawing. This of course is very much
slower and. owing to the heavy de
mand for lumber, it has been found
necessary by the big timber compa
nies to Install machinery along up-to-
date lines In sawmills In China.
The China Import and Export Lum
ber company operates extensive dis
tribution yards at all the principal
cities In central and north China,
selling Oregon lumber exclusively.
This company possesses the biggest
mills in China, having machinery and
drv kiln equipment capable of han
dling up to S. 000,000 feet a month at
Shanghai, also mills and dry kiln
equipment capable of handling up to
2,600,000 feet at Foochow. They are
also installing mills at Soochow and
Tientsin, which are expected to be in
operation this autumn.
The Robert Dollar company, han
dling Canadian lumber and some Pu
get sound lumber, operates yards at
Tientsin and at Hankow.
The mills of the China Import and
Export Lumber company manufacture
the logs received into suitable ma
terial for construction work in China
and also into interior finish, there
being a great deal of good clear lum
ber contained in these squares,
which can be sold In China at good
prices for flooring and door and win
dow stuff. The rough lumber, with
knots, is used for the rough parts of
the construction In buildings.
An accompanying picture la of a
cotton ginning mill, where Oregon
pine is used for the heavy beams and
cross beams, and the poles which
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It is Interesting to notice that In
this mill the work Is being performed
by hand labor and the laborers are
all women. In many mills the hand
labor is now being supplanted by ma- I
chinery. Chinese bueinesa men re-
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turning from America are Inaugurat
ing many Innovations and Improved
methods.
In the two yards of the China Im
port and Export Lumber company at
Shanghai there are 1300 Workmen.
These men are not paid on a day wage
basis, but on the basis of a certain
percentage of the output. The work
men deliver the lumber to the pur
chaser's building site. They then re
ceive 3 per cent of the selling value,
which every month is pooled among
them in proportion to their individual
standing as workmen. Consequently
the bigger the business the company
does the bigger the returns these peo
ple can receive. The labor, therefore,
is really on the socialistic plan.
Another picture shows the new
building of the Hongkong and Shang
hai bank at Hankow. It is in such
buildings as this that the Oregon pine
finds Its place In the modern life of
China. These modern buildings may
surpass the old-style architecture in
convenience and utility, but never
can they vie with them in historic
Interest and a charm that speaks of
ages long gone by.
OREGON HAS 45 CANNERIES
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Output Increases Despite High Cost of Sugar and
Cans, as Well as Scarcity of Labor
AS long as Oregon receives Its por
tion of sun and rain and as long
as there are farmers to heed the
call of the land the state will find a
never-ending source of wealth from
"the green things growing." It Is not
only to Its riches in lumber and fish
and wheatflelds but those generous
patches of black loam where the
onion and the cabbage and all of the
vegetable family abound and to those
hillside orchards that contribute their
harvest of red and gold and purple
fruit to the horn of plenty that Ore
gon owes Its payrolls and progress.
Nearly two pages In the industrial
directory published last spring by the
Associated Industries are devoted to
listing fru't, vegetable and fruit
products canneries alone, a total of
45 such plants. In several cases
these are branches of Internationally
known firms selling under brands
that are by-words In every household
and selling products that have won
many a silver and gold medal at
world expositions.
Pickles, sauerkraut, loganberry
juice, maraschino cherries, apple ci
der, catsup, raspberry jam these are
just a few examples that show the
diversity of the business. There Is
no way in which to check up on the
enormous quantities of raw products
consumed or of the value of the out
put, but there is certainly no slump
in the business when one concern can
complete two new canneries and a
central warehouse in Portland within
the year, thus adding new links to its
chain of eight plants Another firm
built Its fourth factory in North Port
land last spring, a pickle factory
covering half a block. To list the
achievements of the co-operative
growers, who are soon to put an
Oregon trademark, "MIstland," on the
map, would be a tremendous task.
Soothers Oregon Competes.
The canning industry is not con
fined by any means to the Willamette
valley. In southern Oregon It is rap
idly gaining In importance and is now
among the largest commercial activi
ties of that section. Despite the high
cost of cans and sugar and a labor
scarcity. Its output in 1920 showed
a decided increase over 1919.
Medford Is a town that has kept
busy through the harvest season, as
a survey made in October 6howed.
One canning company was then op
erating with a force of 75 and daily
turning out between 8000 and 10,000
cans of pears, prunes and tomatoes,
later devoting its attention to apples
and apple juice. Another concern,
having two branches' in the state,
centered its attention on the output
of apple juice, apple butter and cat
sup, which products have established
a widespread reputation for their
high quality throughout the country.
Last year this particular factory pro- ;
duced 15.000 gallons of catsup and
used 23,000 tons of apples for Its
other specialties.
At Talent is a company turning out
apple juice, the popularity of which
Is evidenced by the fact that annually
Increasing number of orders come
from the Pittsburg section of the
country, the home of the Heinz prod
ucts. This apple juice also finds mar
kets in Mexico, South America, Eng
land and the Atlantic seaboard.
Last year over 100,000 gallons of
apple juice were shipped out of Med
ford and it was estimated the output
for 1920 would double It.
Salem and Eugene and, in fact,'
every town of size in the Willamette
valley is a hive of industry during
harvest time and in many cases this
type of business lasts the year round,
especially where part of the output Is
In dried prunes and pickles.
Prune a New Aristocrat.
The delicious Oregon prune that, as
someone has said, was kicked about
for so many years like Champ Clark's
famous 'noun' dawg" Is now coming
Into its own as the aristocrat of the
breakfast table. Prune time In Salem
or in any orchard center is ,a sight
never to be forgotten. The black
fruit comes Into the main packing
houses in such quantities that it Is
handled much like carloads of coal
and is dumped into big bins, from
which it Is shoveled into the convey
ors. So heavy has this harvest been
In some years that it has literally
bulged the sides of the wooden ware
houses, upright foundations have
pushed up into the heavy crossbeams
and portions of the flooring have
given way under the burden of fra
grant fruit. The warehouse man I
getting more" used to this enormous
cargo and is putting In complete car
rier and processing systems to speed
his packing.
In September construction work be
gan on what is said to be the largest
prune drier in, the northwest, erected
at West Salem. The plant is 100 by
200 feet In dimensions and is capable
of handling 2000 barrels of prunes
daily. j
Only this season Marlon county
companies have experimented in put
ting new brands of dried prunes on
the market in paper packages such
as the dehydrated product has been
successfully distributed in. Another
kind that has been stewed scientific
ally and packed In cans with syrup
also has made its debut.
Oregon prunes go all over the
world. A sample order from one as
sociation was made up of half a mil
lion pounds sent to Holland.
Oregon Soil Adaptable.
The diversified adaptability of Or
egon soli Is one of its great advan
tages. Warm rains during the grow
ing season are responsible for the
I firm white cabbages and excellent
! cucumbers. A Portland establishment
in a year put up 800 tons of pickles,
mostly dills atuj sweets, and cut up
600 tons of cabbage for sauerkraut.
A representative of the company es
timates that probably five or six
times this amount of the cabbage was
consumed in the state by all of the
pickling works. This ame concern,
which has ne of the largest cider
plants In Oregon, shipped 15 carloads
of boiled cider east last year. It
likewise sold 70 tons of mincemeat
In three months, making the mince
meat principally from home-grown
Ingredients.
"We don't have to shut down at all,"
said a member of the firm. "This
state just naturally supplies us with
so much stuff at so many different
seasons that we can't help ourselves.
The company started In business over
20 years ago with one small plant in
Portland. We now have three plants
packing condiments, pickles, kraut,
vinegar, mince meat and catsup. Its
purchases of raw materials run into
hundreds of thousands o- dollars an
nually and means the tillage of great
tracts of land."
This same firm is the one which
has turned Its attention to catsup
from the Rogue river valley. Fol
lowing the advice of the United
States department of agriculture it
chose that section as the best one
producing tomatoes in the northwest.
The limited rainfall, abundance of
sunshine and warm weather, com
bined with a perfect soil condition,
produce a tomato of rich red color,
heavy body and firmness ideal for'
the making of high-grade catsup.
Tons of Frnlt Handled.
Beets, string beans, carrots and to
matoes are listed on the output- of
one of the smaller plants at Junction
city. Its cannery report for the sea
son, Including 60,000 pounds of cher
ries, 30,000' pounds of loganberries,
30,000 pounds of blackberries and 20,
000 pounds of pears, could probably
be duplicated in any place of its size
in western Oregon.
More carrcts and beets than ever
before used were canned last fall at
the plant of the Eugene association,
where orders for several thousand
eases were received in a short period
of time. .
Fruits, of course, are the old stand
by in Oregon- The Hood River apple,
knewn to the export trade of the
world, has Its rival in the Bosc pear,
recently accorded a glowing recep
tion in New York, where the Medford
product brought the highest price on
the market The canneries and jam
and jelly plants are best acquainted
with the cherry, peach, pear plum and
members of the berry family. The
humble evergreen blackberry that
roused the wrath of the farmer, who
objected to its encroachments upon
pasture or chicken yard, now brings
him a young- fortune when he appears
at the canpery with his truck loads
of the fruit. The loganberry has
somewhat satisfied the thirst of a
nation made dry and its popularity Is
evidenced by the increased plantings
the Willamette valley each year.
Even the cherry has Its unique
achievements, for the maraschino va
riety is being shipped out of The
Dalles in barrels of its sticky, sweet
syrup for distribution under another
brand that gained its fame in the
eastern states.
No wonder Portland can support a
can manufacturing factory that is to
cover nine acres of ground when it is
completed. This plant is being put
up at a cost of 81,500.000 and will
have a capacity of 100,000,000 fruit
and salmon cans annually and about
50,000,000 specially designed contain
ers for other product. '
Hotnson J
Portland's Finest Hotel
Rooms Elegantly Furnished
Three Beautiful Dining Rooms Cuisine and Service Unsurpassed
KELLER & BOYD
ijljl Owners and Operators
IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIImIIIIIIIOMW
Two Exceptional Hotels
Two of the most homelike hotels in Portland, located in the
heart of the business, shopping- and theater districts.
W.C.CULBERTSON
PROPRIETOR
The Seward Hotel The Hotel Cornelius
The House of Cheer
All Oregon Electric Trains stop
directly in front of hotel
The House of Welcome
is only two short blocks from
THE SEWARD HOTEL
Rates $1.50 and Up
We invite you to eat at the Seward Hotel, the House of Cheer,
and we believe our .
CLUB BREAKFASTS, and our
LUNCHEONS 40c and 50c, and our
' DINNERS 60c, 75c and $1j00 and our
SUNDA Y TABLE D'HOTE $1J00 Dinners are unequaled
On account of our constantly increasing business we are
enlarging our dining-room facilities to almost
double our present capacity.
iKimiimmiimimiimmtiirfimr;
Our Brown Busses Meet All Trains
W. C. CULBERTSON, Proprietor