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About The Sunday Oregonian. (Portland, Ore.) 1881-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 23, 1906)
13 THE SUNDAY OREGOXIAX, PORTLAND, SEPTEMBER 23. 1906. EXPORT HOP POOL Durst's Statement Regarding London Consignment. MATTER NOT YET SETTLED Many Unforeseen Obstacles In the Way ot the ' Venture Why Low Prices Were Realized on Ore gon Hops Shipped Abroad. ALAMEDA, Sept. 19. (To the Editor.) A further delay has occurred preventing the Bending of statements and account tales to the consignors In the late ship ment o hops to London. Under date of August 25 last we sent circular letters from Forest Grove, Or.. to each consignor who had hops in the shipment. This shipment is a matter of interest to almost every hopgrower in Oregon. For that reason I would like to ask you to insert the following in The' Oregonfan, so that it may be understood by your readers: When the consignment was started from Oregon I arranged to have it ship ped on vessels sailing . from Galveston direct to London. It seemed to me that this was the best route. Ordinarily, the hops, when shipped "sunset" went to New Orleans or Galveston, and were loaded Into vessels arid sent to New York, where they were again transferred into Atlantic steamers. I engaged space on vessels to sail not later than about April -20. For. reasons not explained, there was a delay of quite a month before the first lot of Oregon hops let Galveston. These hops arrived about the middle of June. The remaining 1306 bales were shipped from Galveston about two weeks later than the first shipment, but at the time we left London. July 25, they had not yet reached the docks. The vessel they came in put into the Azores. Everything possible was done to expedite delivery in London. Owing to the necessity for our being at home dur ing the coming hop harvest, we had to leave London for New York when we did. The first cargo of hops arrived in fairly good shape, and with the exception of 25 or 80 bales little complaint could be made. Mr. Hoffman and I did all we could to inform ourselves of the condition. of the growing crop in England. I was down in Kent every two weeks, and we made several trips through the hop dis tricts. We had numerous reports from Oregon, California and Washington as to pros pects of the coming crop. Every report predicted the largest crop ever grown. In addition to our reports, every dealer in London got similar ones. It was pre dieted that the United States would have 150.000 or more bales of 1906 hops to ex port. The aphis blight in England was severe while we were there, but no one predicted under 350.000 to 400.000 cwts. It was also certain that nothing definite of the growing crop could be known un til September. The conditions were, 6000 bales of hops in our hand to sell. All American authorities and all our corre spondents reported outlook for a bumper crop: the English crop suffering an aphis blight of unusual severity, but no abso lute certainty of a small crop untilt Sep tember: the English brewers loaded up with 130 and lSOo hops, and were unwill ing to buy considerable quantities, except at low prices. There were only two things we could do: Either sell for best prices we could get. or take our hops off the market and hold them until crop prospects were more settled. That meant to hold until September. That would have been a straight gamble, and we were not Justi fied in holding the hops against the re ports we had from this country. We have already advised consignors of prices realized. Our Durst hops were sold still cheaper. We tried to to dis pose of same to the other large mer chants, but they were not buying except at cheaper prices. At the time we left London we had sold (partly to arrive) all but 665 bales of tha Oregons, and most of the Durst hops. We supposed that the last cargo would be in London the day we left and that within two weeks the whole 1306 balee would be in the warehouse and the balance sold. But. unfortunately, many of these hops were damaged in transit, as I was in formed by cable. I am Just in receipt of a letter giving more particulars of the damage. I am enclosing you the original, but a copy, which is as follows: London, Auc. SI. it. H. Durst. Esq., Dear 61i We wrote you last on August 18 and have since received your letter of August 14. tbe contents of which we have noted. We have also exchanged cables with you, as per IscloMd cosies. Referring to the last shipment of Oregons per "Cayo Manz&nlllo." we have now had all these bops sampled, and have been through them. We are sorry to say that they come out even worse than we anticipated when we wrote you before. There Is no doubt that they have greatly deteriorated, owing to the long de tention in the hot climate ot Galveston, and with even the selected bales we are havmr great trouble with our brewers, because of their exceeding dryness and harshness. Some kts are so badly sweated that they have lost all appearance and flavor of lOOo hops and look even worse than 1904s. We are making out for you a list of the . perished bales we have found, and will send you a sample of each bale, with the bale number and lot on It. Some of this deterior ation must also have been due to Imperfect cur ing In the first place. We are having great trouble and expense with these hops, as we are obliged to strip every bale before we are able to deliver them. The cloths being perfectly clean on the out side ot some of the bales do not show any damage, but on stripping the cloths we And large patches of discoloration, in fact we have had some bales returned from our brewers where the damage could not be discovered by our usual examination. On the other hand, some bales show stains on the cloths, and the hops underneath have no trace of damage. We cannot understand how this could have oc curred. As regards the damage in transit, the In surance Inspector has been down and looked at the hops, but we have not yet received hie report. You will understand that we cannot make up the account sales until all these matters are settled, but we will do so as soon as possible. There Is Just now nothing doing on the mar ket, owing to the improvement In our hop plantations: prices are only nominal, but we will eell the remaining 209 bales at the first opportunity. We remain, yours faithfully. STRAUSS & CO. The above letter shows Just where we are, and we cannot expect any con clusion to this business until the dam . sges are arrived at and a settlement had with the insurance companies. The loss is sure to be considerable. Our Durst hops are In exactly the same shape. We have had no settlement and I have had no account sales or proceeds as yet. The English trade does not believe in high prices, even wjth short crops at home; they say they have plenty of stocks on hand to carry them until the 1907 crop comes in without paying high prices. Mr. Hoffman and I did the best we knew how. We could not see two weeks ahead of us any more than anyone else could. As an evidence of my views, I sold 2000 bales Durst's 1906 crop to net us 10H cents f. o. b. Wheatland aad, people. here, tjto weeks later sold 2000 bales more at 11 V to 13 cents here. Within 10 days after we could all see that prices would be - better. It was again a case of hindsight" and foresight. I regret the way this business is hanging on, but I feel that under the circumstances we could not have tftne differently. The shipment was cer tainly a success. In that it cleared up the stocks and made 20-cent prices possible. But again the shippers suf fered. Durst Bros, have suffered more than anyone else. "But I feel that we did the best we knew how. I have no excuses to make or apolo gies to offer. Nor do I want to hide anything. I have always contended that what hopgrowers wanted was publicity. They want the facts, so they can form reasonably accurate conclusions. Every phase of this ship ment is subject to Investigation. Every shipper will eventually get his account sales and full returns, whatever they are. We so fully expected very low prices for 1906 hops that I made all arrange ments In London for advancing 6c per pound harvesting expenses on 50.000 or more bales if it might be necessary in order to help growers harvest the crop. Fortunately this was not necessary. Prices went up, and those of Us who contracted heavily at low prices "missed it again." This contracting is the curse of hop growing. In all of our experience we only once made money by contracting. At all other times we have lost and lost heavily. I fancy the experience of other Erowers is the same. Why do we con tract? We can't blame the dealers. They take as many chances as we do. The real reason is that we feel that we are "Insuring ourselves" by contracting part of our hops. In reality, we are "insuring ourselves" that we are giving the purchasers all the profit there Is in the business. If there were some' way of absolutely preventing contracting it would mean "money in all of . our Dockets," It would kill short selling. It would guarantee another early market and higher prices. It would remove much of the risk from hopgrowlng. Two things we want (1) to stop con tracting: (2) to get a larger and broader market for Pacific Coast hops. The way things look now, if we would ship 30,000 bales of hops from this coast to Eng land before we sold a bale, the market would open at 26c to 30c. This is just as sure as any fact can be. But the only real solution will be when all hop growers will Join to do this in their mu tual interest. Our ' last year's shipment was too late. We "locked the door after the horse was stolen." If every grower would ship out of the country one-fifth or one-sixth of the hops he had unsold, we would see 25-30c prices, and we would make money by the proposition, even if we had to ship on a 15c advance. Even with our late experience still in mind. I believe that the rational busi ness system would be to ship our sur plus out at the beginning of the season, thus securing a better home market and demoralizing production abroad. This Coast could ' in five years' time export over 300,000 bales of hops. Short selling would be a thing of the past then, and prices would not fluctuate as they do now. Another step to be thought of is to provide some mutual association or bank to advance picking money to hopgrow ers. If this were done the temptation to contract would be largely removed. There would be no necessity for contracting. Are we hopgrowers of this Coast to give In and admit that we must "knuckle under," or are we going to keep on and work out a union or association for the purpose of systematizing the business of hop production and marketing? person. ally I am ready to suffer some more hard knocks if it will help us to bring about this much to be desired consum mation. Whatever the majority of the hopgrowers decide is best to be done we will agree to look into. We are ready to co-operate both with work and money. STOP CONTRACTING SHIP THE SUR PLUS ' OUT OF THE COUNTRY BE FORE IT CAN BE BOUGHT UP BY THE TRADE ON THIS SIDE. These two things will give us better prices and a demand for twice as many hops as we grow now, all within a, short space of three to five years. The way reports are coming in from England it looks as If there must be a good demand from there; but we will have to wait until they axe ready to buy. It looks) like 20 to 25c prices to me. What a pity we could not have seen these conditions five or six weeks ago we might have burned all of our 10c con tracts then. I am open to advice, criti cism or kicks from any of my friends. M. H. DURST. Against Hypocritical Clothes BY A. TAYLOR-CUTTER. How Van Auker Was Caught Walked the Streets Boldly Tntil Sheriff Stevens Put Detectives on Scent. A SOFT metal knife needs constant sharpening! It costs four times as much, to keen such a knife sharp as . It would have cost to put harder steel Into the blade when first manufactured. Now, that's a fair comparison with Clothes that are shaped, in the making, by the hot flat-iron, instead of being shaped In the making by costly hand needlework. ' Because a garment shaped to its finish by sincere hand-needlework will hold its shape till worn out, with very Infrequent "pressing-up." - ' But the garment that has been shaped by the hot flat-iron.. will need constant reshaping, by the same process of press ing, after each day's wear in damp weather. It is safe to say that about SO per cent of all Coats arid Overcoats are merely juggled into shape by the hot flat-iron. And these look as well the first day you wear them as the most painstaking' and skillful needlework could make them look. But there's a tremendous difference in the permanence of shape produced by the two different processes. , Moreover, the garment that is fully shaped by clever and careful hand needlework will wear much longer than If shaped by the usual quick and easy fiat Iron faking. Because the hand - needlework adds strength to the cloth at the critical places where most strain comes, namely, at the points where the cloth must be stretched or shrunken; In order to give it the proper curving lines to fit the body. That's where Sincerity tailoring counts, namely, -in durability. But, more than this a little extra needle-shaping on a Coat in the making will save its wearer many "pressings" during the life of the garment. It's the soft metal knife blade, and the hard metal knife blade story all over again. - e Now, if you want your Clothes to look smart till worn out, and if you don't want to pay half their original cost to keep them looking smart, through ever lasting "pressing-up," here are some facts worth remembering: Every "Sincerity" Suit or Overcoat, as made by Kuh, Nathan & Fischer Co., is fully finished by thorough hand-needlework before it is even touched by the hot flat-iron. Every defect in workmanship is per manently removed by the needle (instead of being, temporarily concealed by the faky flat-iron) before it receives the re sponsible label of the "Sincerity Tailors." If you want an absolute Test to reveal flat-iron faking, which test you can ap ply to any coat before purchasing, en close a 2-cent stamp to Kuh, Nathan & Fischer Co.. Chicago, for it. And don't you forget this label: THE etory just leaked out yesterday of how Sheriff Martin White, of Co lumbia County, and Lou C. Hartman. ex-city detective, tried In vain to locate C. S. Van Auker, cashier of the State Bank of Rainier, for several hours last Friday while Van Auker was not trying to conceal himself, had visited a number of friends down town and had been seen by any number of acquaintances in the city. Unable to find his man, Hartman finally appealed to Sheriff Stevens, who located the fugitive in less than 15 min utes. Hartman and White arrived in the city early in the morning and proceeded to seach for Van Auker. who had given them the slip at Rainier the night before. High and low they scoured the city, . but found no trace ' of the cashier. They had almost con cluded that the man they were looking for had left town when a telephone) call came from the Sheriff's office asking whether Hartman had a warrant for the arrest of Van Auker. The reply prompt ly went back "Yes." and almost frantic ally the former city sleuth asked whether the Sheriff knew of Van Auker's where abouts. The Sheriff calmly informed Hartman that it he would come up to his office with the warrant he would show him where Van Auker was. Hastily Jumping on a car. White and Hartman went to the Courthouse and there met Sheriff Stevens, who conducted them to the Fenton building and Van Auker. The Sheriff of Multnomah County was on the lookout for Van Auker Friday morning and located him shortly before noon. He immediately placed a man on his trail and was Informed several times where the fugitive could be found. Think ing Van Auker might try to get away on the afternoon train he telephoned to Hartman. This is the story which has been In circulation at the Courthouse since the capture of Van Auker. Sheriff Stevens refuses to confirm it, but it Is vouched for by others familiar with the facts. HAWKERS MUST OBEY LAW Police Ordered to Enforce Strictly Ordinance Against Peddlers. Acting Chief Grltzmacher yesterday re ceived a petition from 11 merchants, who have stores on Third street, between Mor rison and Yamhill, asking that hawkers be prohibited from standing In front of the stores. The following Is the petition: We the undersigned, owners of stores on Third street between Morrison and Yamhill. respectfully represent that hawkers vending fruit upon the street in front of our premises are the cause of much worry, trouble and Inconvenience to us; and they Interfere with the peaceful pursuit of our respective engagements. That its believe they are comp lying SINCERITY CLOTHES made and guaranteed by Kuh. Nathan &. Fischer Co. CHICAGO with the provisions of the law. We do not find any fault with Officer Nelson, but think he is an efficient officer. Trust ing you will take such measures as are necessary to relieve us of this annoyance. Chief Grltzmacher gave Instructions to the captains of the different reliefs to see that the law in regard to fruit-hawkers is strictly enforced throughout the city, and the order was read to the offi cers when they called at the station. Several months ago the police began a crusadeon the hawkers and numerous ar rests were made of those who did not comply with the city ordinances at the time. Since that time the hawkers were giving little trouble to the Police Department. INVADERS TO BE REPELLED Catallna Islanders Will Have Warm Reception tor "Independents." AVALON. Catallna Island, Cal.. Sept. 22. A mass meeting was held here last night, at which it .was declared unani mously that this should remain a "closed port" to all except the Banning Com pany's steamers. Preparations are being made today to prevent the landing of a large number of passengers reported to be on the way to the island from San Pedro and Long Beach, on "independent" craft. A lively time is anticipated when these boats attempt to land their passengers without paying the $2-25 per capita, de manded by the Banning Company. SAN PEDRO, Cal., Sept. 22. A fleet of eight gasoline launches started for Ava lon, Catalina Island, this morning, having on board several hundred passenrs who are going over with the avowed intention of making a landing on the island with out paying the $2.25 per head which the Banning Company, owners of the island, demand. Commodore X. H. Heller, owner of the big gasoline launch San Diego, Is in command of the expedition, and it is in the nature of a retaliatory measure as the Southern Pacific Company and the Banning Company, who control the wharves here, have refused to give the San Diego a berth. The men on the launches are armed with wire nippers to cut the barbed-wire fences which me Banning Company has 'placed along the shore at Avalon. Eisert-Rnegg Wedding. A very pretty wedding was celebrated last night at the Sellwood Presbyterian Church, The contracting parties were r The Home of the Jewel Range and Heater JEWEL POLISHED BLUE STEEL RANGE The Housewife Who wants the very best STEEL EANGE -will find her ideal in the JEWEL STEEL RANGE, which is recognized from coast to coast as one of the very finest steel ranges ever produced. Ask any housewife who has ever used a Jewel Steel Range and she will tell you that the oven heat is perfect for baking and roasting always uniform and not flaring up one moment and cold the next. She will also tell yon that they are easily kept clean, because they are made of polished steel and not japanned or painted like so many so-called steel ranges now on the market. THAT'S ALL $1.00 CASH FOR THIS CELEBRATED JEWEL POLISHED BLUE STEEL RANGE AND YOU CAN PAY THE BALANCE $1 A WEEK Every Steel Range we sell is sold with a 15-YEAR GUARANTEE www -.ric.. ' f. - - "TS' S"T'' I WOOD HEATER, made of Russia teel with cast top, bottom, front and lining-. Swing top for tea kettle and full nickel trimmed. Price $10.50 POLISHED BLUE ' STEEL HEATER, lined with sheet teel, An CZf nickel trimmings. Price.. JbeJ.O" COMBINATION COAL and WOOD HEATER, full nickel trimmed, body la made of Rusala steel with cast top, bot tom, front and firebox. Price $12.50 ,. Wood Heater This Heater is , , . - in Russia made of JETr3i2S& t TT steel with cast polished blue .v.bbm- , "J.'V t N bottom, top 6teel with '( J V. 1 . 7', and front., cast top. - :. I ..;..'."' Lined with Lined with "Yii',..'i '- 4 sheet steel sheet steel, ' J .-j?' and full nickel nickel foot rails . j trimmed. and front draft. ?. J Price Price I ' ' J - ' I jL - $10.00 $5.00 JlsT Let Powers Furnish Your Home Head quarters For Office Furniture E. R. ESsert and Miss Mildred A- Ruegg. Mr. Eisert is an electrician in the em ploy of the O. W. P., and Miss Ruegg is the principal of the Milvaukie Schol at Sellwood. She Is popular in the commu nity and a leader in church and social work. The couple leave this morning on a short honeymoon and on their return will make their home at Estacada. Cascade Locks Saloon Robbed. CASCADE LOCKS. Or.. Sept. 22. The saloon of T. W. Badder was burglarized about 12 o'clock last night. Entrance was gained through a window. The robber secured two boxes of cigars, six bottles of whisky, a supply of smoking and chew ing tobacco and $14 in cash. There is no clew to the perpetrator. BEACH RATE REDUCED. O. B. N. Makes IOw Rate to North Beach Foists. , The rate from Portland to North Beach points has been reduced to $3 for the rOUna nv&uwi a., a Li. Ull UJQ at O. R. & N. ticket office. Third and Wasnington streets. Tickets will remain on sale at this rate daily until September 30, with final limit of October 15, and are Interchangeable with and will be honored on A. & C. R. trains and V. T. Co.'a boatsM U 4 Q ft, A $t, bratfe. Mayor Lane Plays a Strenuous Game Forcea Northern Pacific Terminal Company to Donate Site for KLrj Station. BT a piece of strategy. Mayor Lane yesterday secured from the North ern Paclflo Terminal Company the promise of a deed to any of the cor poration's property the city may want for a fire engine-house. This the Ter minal Company has hitherto persist ently refused. The Mayor had 20 stal wart patrolmen, armed with sledge hammers and crowbars, ready to tear up the Terminal Company's tracks at the west entrance to the Steel bridge and on Irving street, between Fourth and Fifth. When informed that the Mayor had discovered that these tracks were un authorized and would be torn up un- less m deed, .were, forthcoming, Jdaa- ager Ed Lyons, of the company, quick ly suggested a compromise, and the policemen were withdrawn. Billings Opera-House Burned. BILLINGS, Mont, Sept. 23. The Billings opera-houee was totally de stroyed by fire about 5 o'clock this morning. The loss is about $15,000, partially covered by Insurance. The origin of the fire 16 attributed to de fective electrical wiring, although many contend It was incendiarism. The guests from the adjoining Commercial Hotel escaped in their night clothing, and that structure was saved by hard work. Counterfeit Bills at Moscow. MOSCOW, Idaho, Sept. 22. (Special.) Ten dollar counterfeit bills are numerous In Moscow. They are all new and bright, which has led the police- to the conclu sion that the city is infested with a gang of green-goods men. The bills are well engraved and printed, requiring almost expert knowledge to detect them. Sus picion points to two men. giving their names aa W. A. Remington and Frank Clark, but they have succeeded in eluding lb fiolloe, - BOY OF TWELVE MISSING Richard Bell Runs Away to Escape Going to School. Mrs. B. Bell, residing at 270 Front street, reports that her 12-year-old son, Richard, has been missing from home since Tues day morning. The boy has always been quiet and industrious, and the only reason that his mother gives for his absence is that he did not wish to go to school with out his books. He was told by his moth er that he could not get his books till Wednesday evening, and after the mother left for work Tuesday morning the boy ran off. When last seen he was with a strange woman at First and Montgomery streets. He wore a blue suit, with knickerbocker trousers, and is described as being very slender, with brown eyes, auburn hair and a ll?ht complexion. TOO LATE TO CLASSIFY. I SIX-ROOM FURNISHED HOUSE; MUST rent by Oct. 1; 452 Washington at. ; good for Btudio or ofnea. Call ilr. Asher (Pacific v