The Sunday Oregonian., October 05, 1913, SECTION FIVE, Page 8, Image 60

WORK OF VAST ARMY IN HARVESTING
V HOPS IN OREGON VALUED AT $6,000,000
Have You Ever Attended a Hopyard Dance? Have Ton Ever Been a Passenger on a Hopyard-Bound Train?
If Not, Yon Have Missed aa Interesting Time Which Annually Places Oregon in the Fortune Class of States.
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2SSSISSI5ZSIIS5'i i ...
BT J- S. COOPER.
HAVE you ever gone boppicklngr?
If not, it might Interest you to
know just how the vast army that
helps harvest the crop is taken care
of and entertained. I will attempt to
carry you to Indeoendence, Or., which
is tne most representative hop- center
in the Northwest. It is a small city
of 20u0 inhabitants, which, during- the
month of September, is swelled to 12,
000. It is situated on the west bank
of the Willamette River, about 65 miles
south of Portland.
' All classes of people make up this
army that goes every year to help in
the hop harvest. There are those who
KO for a vacation, and at the ' same
time wish to make part or all of their
expenses, those who come to make
enough to lay in their ..inter supplies;
the floating population that goes any
where that work may be found, and,
last but not least, are those who come
for the excitement and who do not ex
pect to do very much work. This year's
crowd was one of the most orderly that
has ever been in the city, and the "pro
fessional gambler and heavy boozer"
were conspicuous by their absence.
There seems to be a better c ass of
workers coming in each year.. It was
expected that there would be T. W. V.
agitators present, after the trouble in
California, but there was not a sign of
one made his appearance. ' There are
some people who come to the same
yard year after year, and there are
faces that will be seen for only one
year. 1
You say. "How do they come?" It
would be much easier to tell bow they
da not come. They arrive by wagons,
"prairie schooners," auto trucks, bug
gies, trains and boats. For a week be
fore the season opens the roads In all
directions will be crowded with & solid
procession of wagons and buggies, com
ing into the city to get some of their
supplies, and then to the yards where
they have engaged work. Some come a
month ahead of time to spend an out
ing before they go to work. For the
week before the picking begins trains
come in loaded to capacity. Special
trains of from 12 to 16 coaches are run
out of Portland. The trains are in
variably from two to four hours late,
and stay in the city an hour or more.
It' has been said that the- old worn
out joke of the Southern Pacific trains
being always late originated In Inde
pendence during hoppicking time. There
are also a great many who come in by
foot, not having the price of a ride.
Bop Men Meet Trains. .
Ul trains are met by representatives
of. the large yards, who- guide their
pickers to wagons, which are in wait
ing to transport them and their bag
gage to the yards. Most of the peo
ple have registered at some yard, but
some of them have not, and by coming
early, manage to get - work at some
yard; while those who come late, with
out registering-, do not get work, unless
some one Is short handed.
On arriving at the yard- if it be one
of the large yards where tents are fur
nished, they are given a tent, stretched
on a solid floor, and they then proceed
to get things arranged so . as to b
comfortable. If they have brought
tbalr own .tent, they .proceed tf
stretch the same and get everything
in shipshape order.
Each campground is a model city,
the camps being arranged on minia
ture streets. .Wood, and in small yards,
potatoes, are generally supplied, and
good water is procurable at a central
pump, or If the farm has a water sys
tem, there will be hydrants scattered
over the grounds at convenient places.
The camps are protected and patroled
by a Deputy Sheriff. Each large yard
has its - store where groceries and
meats are supplied at the same prices
as are paid at the city stores and
markets. Also there are restaurants
handy for those who do not care to do
their own -cooking. Mail is delivered
to, and distributed by the stores In the
larger yards, or. is brought out by the
owner or - manager in the small ones.
Each year the growers are striving- to
make, things . more - comfortable and
more - convenient to their pickers. A
young hoppicker was born at one of the
large yards this year and things were
inada so comfortable that; the mother
and babe came through the ordeal in
fine style. - - -'
After everything Is arranged around
the camp then the order to go to work
is eagerly awaited by all, and they do
not understand why they cannot get to
work." not realizing that they are there
ahead of time. The order comes some
evening that picking will commence
the next morning, and the excitement
runs high. Everyone Is in bed early,
and It might be stated that this record
is not kept up after, the first night
But the night before picking begins,
everyone "hits the hay" early, so that
they can be up bright and early ready
to go. to work in the morning. About
4 o'clock an alarm clock sends out its
warning, and this is answered by another-In
. some other -part., of the
grounds, and in a. minute or two alarms
are coming from all directions. Every
one" is awake and fires are started by
4:30, and,"' by .6:80 or 6:45 breakfast is
over and the dishes washed, dried and
stacked.
The pickers are numbered and rows
are allotted, with two pickers to a row.
When everyone has a row the order
is given to commence picking and then
begin frenzied calls for "wire down" or
"hop pole," according to whether the
yard is trellised on wire or is a pole
yard. Everybody goes at lightning
speed, each one anxious to be the
lucky person to get check No. 1, but
after the first call of "box full" each
settles down to a steady gait, which
will be kept up during the whole sea
son. Everyone is anxious to quit at
12 o'clock, to eat lunch, and at 1
o'clock just as anxious to get back to
work again. They work until 6 in
the evening and then quit, tired, but
still wanting to go on, having the de
sire for "riches" in their veins. In. case
there are more pickers than the dry
ing accommodations can take care of,
they will stop in the afternoon as soon
as' enough boxes have been picked to
fill up the floors of the dry kilns.
In case the yard is near town and is
not over 40 or 50 acres, the pickers are
residents of the city and are hauled
out In the morning and back In th
evening. They get to work about 7 or
7:80 and quit about 6:30. They take
their lunches to the yard and eat un
der the trees or under the hopvines.
Pickers Make $5 to 16 Sally.
Tou ask "How much does a picker
make each day?" I can only say that
It depends entirely on the picker. Some
people come with the Idea that they
can, by easy work, make $5 or S6 a
day. This is a mistake. An average
picker will pick from four to six boxes
a day, getting 60 cents a box for them.
The record this year was 23 boxes a
day, with another man getting second
with 22. These records were made
on one day when a prize was offered
for the fastest picker. The winnor
made a daily average of 18 boxes per
day, while the man getting second
had an average of 16 boxes per day. It
is an exceptional picker that will pick
over ten boxes a day and a rood one
that gets over five or six.
All of the young people look forward
to the evening- A Summer resort has a
name for the making of matches; but
when It comes to Summer fancies and
puppy love the hopyard has the beach
or mountains in the ditch and yelling
for help. The first two or three even
ings are spent in getting acquainted and
getting paired off. No one pretends to
go to bed at a respectable hour from
now on, except the old folks. Some
wander off in the twilight in pairs, not
wanting to stay around the crowd. They
think they have found their life mate,
until the next day, when another good
looking girl comes along, or some nice
fellow helps the girl pick a few hops,
then there is another match, vows are
broken and more are made, only to be
broken again. For engagements the
hopyard has a co-educational school
beat a city block. In school one en
gagement a year is generally sufficient,
but in a hopyard, if you don't become
engaged to every fellow that comes
along you are not in it at all.
Those who do not care to be alone, or
who are too young to get out of their
parents' sight, build up a big bonfire
and sit around telling stories and sing
ing until a late hour. Others go to
town to take in the movies and tl
skating rink. But the crowning feature
of all the amusements is the hopyard
dance. Thera were three large halls
near here this year, on the large
r,nrh that nave dances every Tues
day, Thursday and Saturday nights.
Bave You Ever Attended a Dancer
And say, were you ever at a hop
yard dance? If not you have missed one
of the rarest evenlnjr entertainments
that could be Imagined. There is a big
hall with a first-class floor, accommo
dating 150 to 200 couples, crowded to
capacity. And in addition to this there
is a first-class orchestra. Everyone is
good natured. Tou dance with every
one, whether you know them or not
There is very little ragging and the
dance is kept orderly by the manager,
there being a deputy sheriff present to
see that it is kept so. They dance what
they call the tag two-step, whero one
man tags another, who straightway re
leases his partner to the first one and
proceeds to tag some one else. It Is
considered a fine way for one to get
acquainted with a good dancer or a
good looking girl. Sometimes when one
man refuses to give up his partner, the
question is settled outside the dance
hall, but the combatants are generally
stopped before there Is much damage
done. Dancing Is kept up until 12 or 1
o'clock and yet they are all on the job
ready to pick in the morning.
So It goes from 10 to 20 days and
they all look forward to the last day,
wondering what treat it might have in
store for them. The last day at one of
the largest yards this year will be re
membered by the pickers as the man
agement gave a bonus of 5 per cent of
what they had earned, to all who had
stayed through the whole year. At
other yards there were watermelon or
muskmelon ' feeds, but the biggest
"stunt" pulled off this year was that
at the C. A. McLaughlin yard below
town. H. Hlrschberg, the owner of the
yard, is also president of one of the
local banks, and as a bonus for getting
the hops all In before the weather got
bad, he threw away S105 to the chil
dren. There were two classes. The3e
were 8 to 12 years and under 8. There
was a roped-off space and the children
were all placed on the outside. At the
word go the money was thrown in the
ring arid the children turned loose. It
is needless to say that there were ex
citing times for a few minutes. Fifty
dollars were thrown to each class. It
being all in small amounts. After the
children were all through It was an
nounced that there would be a scramble
for anyone under 75 years of age. When
they all lined up $5 were thrown in the
cleared space, it all being in pennies.
Seeing the joke, they all entered into
the spirit of the fun and went at it
harder than the kiddies did.
Army Vanishes Fast.
After this the army of workers van
ishes faster than it arrived. Special
trains are run to take them away.
Trains are again hours behind sched
ule and roads are crowded as before,
only the vehicles are bound in the op
posite direction. Some are going back
to their offices, ready for a good Win
ter's work, having had a good outing
and at the same time made a little
money and also improved their health.
Families are going home with enough
tn HAa them over the Winter and the
children are again ready for school. It
was the opinion this year that condi
tions were better and more money was
made Hn a shorter time than It had
been for a number of years, and very
few went away dissatisfied.
Now for a few statistics. What does
this hop crop mean for Oregon? This
was an exceptionally good year in
quantity, quality and price, so I will
give a few figures to give a rough
estimate of what it will mean in the
way of wealth to the state. It Is esti
mated that there are 140,000 bales of
hops this year. At 200 pounds to the
bale, it will mean 28,000,000 pounds of
hops. At the time of writing, the buy
ers are offering 25 to 27 cents per
pound and asking options at SO cents.
A great many of the hops were sold
for less than 20 cents per pound, so
we will take 22 cents as a general
average. This will mean $6,1GO,000. It
costs about 9 cents per pound to raise
them, or a total of $2,360,000, and
would mean a net profit of 83,800,000
to be put In circulation In this state
in the next 90 days, and all in the
Willamette Valley. Figuring 12 pounds
of dried hops to a box, it would cost
to remove the hops from the vines and
get them into baskets a small matter
of $1,666,666.
Then Is it necessary to say anything
in defense of the business, when there
Is annually from $3,000,000 to $6,000,000
brought into our state from the culture
of this one cropT
MORROW COUNTY'S SUCCESSFUL
FAIR ENDS IN BURST OF MUSIC
Officers of Association Win Praise for Way in Which They Conducted Show-School Children's Parade, Aero
plane flights and Eugenic Contest Features of Week Permanent Grounds Planned.
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TOP PRODUCTS FROM IRRIGON FACTORY FLO W ERS AND FRUITS.
EPPNEE, Or., Oct. 4. (Special.)
Morrow County irair ciosea i
midnisrht Saturday to the strains
ii,iii Tjinff Rvna" and the shouts
and laughter of a happy throng. Hepp-
ner and Morrow county ii.vB
strated that a fair here which has so
r.., kon mvsd of can be made a
financial and educational success.
Th officers deserve mucn pmnn mi
. i . in which thpv managed the
show from the opening hour until clos
ing time. A large share of the success
of the lair is aue to ma enui
Ident Leach and Secretary Smeads. who
have labored under a heavy handicap
of adverse opinion.
Judge Lowell delivered a splendid ad
dress, to the pioneers of Morrow County
and Oregon, recalling the stirring
events of early days in Eastern Oregon
history and pointing to the advantages
of bringing together the farming com
munities once each year by holding a
fair. This part of Oregon, he said, is
In need of more and better farmers, and
an annual county fair is the best way
to attract this- kind of settlers.
Silas Chrlstofferson, the birdman, got
his full share of attention by making
two flights each day without a mis
hap. He silenced the pessimists who
had predicted that this feature was
only an advertising "stunt."
Another feature of the week, one that
attracted much attention, was the
school children's parade, carried out
successfully under the direction of
County School Superintendent Notson,
assisted by the teachers of Morrow
County.
The eugenics contest attracted ap
proximately 200 entries. This army of
babies was not expected and many of
them were withdrawn before the exam
inations because the mothers did not
wish to leave their infants in the
crowded quarters.
The Seale brothers, well-known trick
riders, were in attendance and gave a
fine exhibition of horsemanship. It In
the plan of the fair board to establish
a permanent fair grounds and arrange
for larger exhibits before next year.
PATENTS MUST BE NEW
AND USEFUL, SAYS LAW
Explanation Is Given of Why One Letters Patent Issued by Government
to Inventor Is Not As Good As Another Technical Questions Involved.
BT WILLIAM R. LITZENBERO.
THE subject of patents for inven
tions and discoveries Involves
questions which are legally and
mechanically technical. For this rea
son it is difficult for the inventor and
the layman, not versed in the art, to
understand why one patent granted by
a Government for an Invention is not
just as good and valuable as a patent
nart h All letters oaieni Ul w
rTi..i ctota lnnV alike In their out
Mcl.w .
ward appearance. They all have the
same "grant," a picture of the Patent
.j .. .i .. v,i raj rpri tnereuoon.
UlllLC. ilJlU Br - " " -
The drawings thereof Illustrate one
embodiment of the invention, presum
ably the preferred form, and the de-
Jects and advantages the Inventor sets
forth for his Invention, ana yei no
learns that his patent is of no real
value. Why is It. ne asKS. aim w un
does the Government grant patents
. , . . nn oHoniiatA nrotectlon?
mat tLiLunx " " .
These questions can be answered as
follows: . ,. ,
Under the Constitution of the United
r.. . " i- a haa nHWAF TO TJIU-
O LX LCa, (.uug.coo ' . -- -
u nn.rs nf science and use-
XIIUIO WII3 f E ...... ,
ful arts, by securing ior huhlcu
J Inn.nlnrii the eXClUSiVO
Ul auuiuia ai.u - .
right to their respective wruings anu
discoveries.
Inventor's Risht Inherent-
. . i r.r . l u tin a nower ' to
1UIC liiaL vwft.- , ,
inmrnni," n Micourase and stimulate
inventions and discoveries, oy ocu,
Ing," not granting, for limited times,
to authors and inventors the exclusive
right to their productions. The right
of
With proper care, brass dies for
Drlntlnsr upon wood have been known
to make more than 2,000,000 Jmpres-r
At 6 .o'clock .everyone. la la th fl&ldjioas before wearlng.out.
lit I" f ' .
i..mntap tn hln invention. Is an
inhRrent rieht. and he may keep it a
secret If he so wishes. This, however,
in most cases, would not only deprive
him but would deprive the public, of
. i a ti H aHva.ntaes of his
me iuu uniici.i- " . L
invention or discovery, unless it be a
secret process by means of which
something is produced whicn tne puo
11c wants and will buy and which
process can be kept a secret.
Congress, therefore, under the au
thority vested In It by the Constitu
tion, passed a law as early as 1790
which, although amended at various
times, now provides as follows:
"Any person who has invented or dis
covered any new and useful art, ma
chine, manufacture, or composition of
matter, or any new and useful improve
ments thereof, not known or used by
others in this country, before his inven
tion or discovery thereof, and not pat
ented or described in any printed pub
lication in this or any foreign coun
try before his invention or discovery
thereof, or more than two years prior
to his application, and not in public
use or on sale in this country for more
than two years prior to his application,
unless the same is proved to have been
abandoned, may, upon payment of the
fees required by law, and other pro
ceedings had. obtain a patent there
for." : ' . .
Invention Must Be Useful.
Under this law, therefore, the inven
tion must be "new" and "useful," not
known or used by others before, in
order that the inventor may be en
titled to a patent' therefor.- When an
application for a patent is filed in the
United States Patent Office, therefore.
. v. -AAmTncnt thrnn ih Rneclal flX'
LUD UV ..- - - ' ' ' -
aminers in that line, undertakes to dis
cover prior patents, or omer evraeu
showing that the Idea disclosed in the
implication Is old, and mat it nas oeen
l.own and used by others before. To
' ,1.1. . l. nAAvnw,Ant nnf JMllV 4?ttAS
OQ LlllOa .UQ wv us,".-,. v
United States prior patents but he also
cites prior foreign patents, which show
the Idea disclosed in the application.
i mav nis. and does, cite articles and
illustrations from any and all prior
publications which disclose tne inven
Hon or discovery for which a patent i
asked. In short, the Government uses
every means at its disposal to discover
a prior publication or showing of the
ideas presented in the application for
a patent.
At his command for this purpose
Uncle Sam also has a most complete
reference library, including copies ot
patents of most of the countries of the
world granting patents, together with
sclentlBo and technical puoncations oi
all kinds. These are carefully indexed
anil ,-lMifled. wih cross references, so
as to make them available for the use
of the examiners. To secure a patent,
therefore, an invention must stand the
test of a thorough search of the prior
art of the world, and prove to oe new
and useful. If nothing can be found
suggestive of the same idea, the patent
may issue with broad oasic ciaima, -suming
that the application has been
carefully and skillfully prepares.
Patent May Be Limited.
If the search of the prior art reveals
that the invention of the application
Is, In the main, old and that it has
been known and used by others oetore,
and that there are only a few changes
in details of construction over what
Is shown in the prior art, the patent,
if It Issues at all, will cover only what
is new; that is, it must be limited to
the lmprovements'in details and these
may prove to be immaterial and very
easily eliminated or so changed as to
avoid the patent in tne construction
of a device very similar to the inven
tion for which the application was
filed. If the patent Is thus limited,
it Is 'of no real value and affords no
adeauate protection for the Invention
because the invention has little in it
which is new.
This is not the inventor's fault, for
the invention was no doubt original
with him, but another inventor had
conceived and presented the idea prior
to his conception of it.- The first in
ventor's patent may be so broad that
it covers the later inventor's inven
tion, Including, his slight improve
ments, and if so, this prevents the
later inventor from using his own form
of the Invention, though he may have
secured a patent covering the details
of Improvement. The owner of a pat
ent containing broad basic claims, as
suming that they are all valid, has a
perfect monopoly of the invention for
the life of his patent. wo one can
make, use or sell the invantlon covered
by the patent, not even for his own
use, without the consent and license of
the owner of the patent.
That the nature of a patent may be
better undersood, let us analyze it. An
application for a patent and the patent
when issued, comprises three parts
the drawings (if a mechanical inven
tion), the description, and the claims.
The drawings and the description fully
disclose the invention and place it
clearly and concisely within the Knowl
edge of the public, by illustrating and
describing - in detail a preferred form
or embodiment thereof.
Limits of Monopoly Defined.
The claims define the exact limits
of the monoply, or of the exclusive use.
which the public is to recognize and
respect for 17 years, in consideration
of the full, clear and concise disclosure
of the Invention by the inventor which
will enable the public to make free
4
use of it at the expiration of the patent
grant.
The patent usually issues with the
drawings and the detailed description
as originally submitted In the applica
tion, most amendments, cancellations
and changes being made in that part of
the speciiication known as the claims.
For this reason the inventor, and the
layman, if not versed in the patent art.
thinks the patent is good, for he sees
that the same drawings are included in
In it, and that the description thereof
is complete, setting forth in detail all
of the advantages which the inventor
makes for his invention. The original
claims, however, may all have been
canceled and only one limited claim al
lowed in the patent. The claims, there
fore are the most vtial part of a pat
ent, for, as stated. It is the function of
each claim to define the exact limits of
the Invention composed Of the elements
therein recited. ' .
The claims are the numbered para
graphs At tho end of the description,
and there may be one or more, and
sometimes there are as many as 100,
depending on the nature and complica
tion of the invention for which the
patent is granted. Each claim is com
plete in itself, and must set fdrth in
brief, concise language a combination
of elements constituting the Invention.
In fact, each claim may be considered
as a patent in itself, so far as the
claims are concerned.
Device Is Described.
The longer the claim, as a rule, the
more limited it is. As a good exam
ple of a broad basic claim, let us look
at a claim which might be drawn, for
an automatic car coupler:
"A car coupler comprising in combi
nation a head, a knuckle and a pin."
If this claim should be allowed, it
would mean that, so far as the Patent
Office can tind, this was the first car
coupling comprising a head, a knuckle
and a pin. The three necessary ele
ments only being recited in the claim,
in combination, without regard to their
shape, size or other unimportant de
tails. But if this claim was found trt
read, after amendment in order ti,
avoid another patent showing a similar
coupler, as follows:
"A car coupler comprising in com
bination a head, a knuckle provided
with a holding lug, and a locking pin
adapted to engage said lug," it would
contain a limitation as to the knuckle,
that is, the holding lug, and a car
coupler, built otherwise like it. but
without the holding lug, Is not an in
fringement of the claim, and a manu
facturer could not be stopped from
making a coupler without the holding
lug, providing a patent having a claim
as first given is not alive.
The first claim would prevent any
one but the holder of the patent from
making any kind of a coupler having a
head, a knuckle and a pLi, -no matter
what other elements or restrictions
were embodied in it. AuC should the
second Inventor get a patent with the
second claim, he would not bo able t
make any use of It. without fie consent
of the holder of the first iatent, until
the patent had expired by limitation,
or had been declared invaTjil. If tho
second claim set forth a real Improve
ment, it would be wise for the two in
ventors to get together in th' lise of
their Inventions, otherwise, tl necond
Inventor must wait the expiration of
the first patent. Thus, every limiting
word, or unnecessary element, put into
a claim, makes it that much e;.vt,ler to
avoid, for if a constructed machine does
not have ail of the elements as I'eciten
In a claim, it does not Infringe that
claim. It might infringe one claim of a
patent and not Infringe the others.
Inasmuch, therefore, as Uncle Sam
only undertakes to grant a patent for
that which is new and useful, ana not
known or used by others before, if the
patent claims are limited to details, or
contain unnecessary limitations, or un
necessary elements, it is not the fault
of the United States Government, nor
of the Inventor, but it Is because there
Is found to be so little In the Invention
which is really new, ,