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About The Sunday Oregonian. (Portland, Ore.) 1881-current | View Entire Issue (July 18, 1920)
' THE SUNDAY OREGOXIAN", PORTLAND, JTTLY 18, 1920 3 INDUSTRIAL CONDITIONS OF BELGIUM AS THEY APPEAR TODAY Raw Material Wanted From America in Order to Keep Factories in Operation. JL..' . - JViiJJ iA 4 4 i f l I I Jill II ..'.'V I- I - II ' Wtftfi L'l; ! r. vahbpm K5rff - U' s w, A iv - II I III Jill H -k- Antwerp. June 13. General Drubbel a nd Genrral Cabra ihonn on- balconr. I I II -ww-Wi " S.T "f- J"',': ' , fZ I. I , century. Kote I it " sJ m Aatl-return German demonstration. BT GEORGE M. VINTON OF PORT LAND. WHEN starting our voyage from New York we were astonished at the great demand for pass age for this country. Upon investi gation, we found that while we car ried a. passenger list of 1340 steerage or third-class, that these people were made up largely of people who were returning to thir natlv rnnntrv tn at ease me rest or xneir aays on the money they had made in America. Of course the greater portion of etetrage consisted of the laboring class the very class we need in America to do manual labor. The per centage returning to America runs about SO per cent of the number com ing to Europe. This means that about 2 per cent of each steerage passen pei list is going to Europe to stay. This information was obtained by consulting regular passenger lists if the same steamship line. Writing from a purely neutral etandpoint regarding prohibition,.! took the occasion to ask some of these people returning whether they held it against America because of their being deprived of beer and light vines. Whether the expression of a few individuals serves as a criterion or not, is a question. Here is what cno Belgian told me in broken Eng lish when asked his opinion of "dry America": "In Belgium you will see 8co reel y anyone intoxicated. We drink light wines and beer. In Amer ica we munch our dry bread with water; in Belgium, we eat bread with wine, and you will see fewer drunken people in Belgium in a month than you will see in America in a day." And. do you know, since coming to Eelgium I have almost been actually forced to believe him. Luxury Is Seen. From the very time we walked down the gangplank of the steamer Lapland and stepped on Belgian soil we have nothing but an atmosphere of prosperity. The many columns of printed matter printed during the war, picturing "poor, suffering Bel gians," goes glimmering when you see the luxury that surrounds them here. Mr. Van Roosendael, who accom panies me, has been a great source of obtaining information from his many friends here in securing some infor mation for this article. Many things are happening on the exchange eacn day that are never made public. There is no scarcity of labor here. The greatest trouble is to get people to work. Belgium has a population of about 6.000.000 people at this time of which 150,000 men are still in ser vice. If this man power were re leased into constructive work it would of course make a big difference in the output of manufacture. About two thirds of the labor here consists of women. - In this country there is a compul sory military service. All men arriv ing at the age of 20 years are forced to serve their -time, which varies ac cording to the different branches of the service they enter. For instance, 17 months of service are required of each "man serving in the artillery or cavalry. As for the infantry it re quires only 12 months. During the occupancy of Belgium by the Germans all men who had attained the age of 20 and who are now 25 or 26 are be ing called back to serve , their time in the Belgian army. Men who are married are allowed to enter the in fantry only. . In case these men have one child to support they only serve six months; those with two children only serve four months. After the classes from 15 to 19 have been called, which -will only take a year, the labor situation will be relieved, owing to a number of these men . being dis charged from military service. White Bread Inknown. . The laboring classes here do not know what saving means. Much money is being spent by them, and while white bread is not seen here, we find this class spending money for pastry and luxuries that.should be spent for staples. There are so many holidays here that the least excuse is given by the laboring class for not working. Their salaries are so high that few of them work but three days in the week and then only eight hours. The manufacturer is therefore discour aged at production and until the de mand slackens will not be able to dictate when his help shall or shall not work. As I have already stated, there is no white bread in Belgium. 1 have asked some of the better families why white bread was not to be had and have been informed that the reason for this was that "We need the white flour for pastry." Since the war some people in Europe have simply lost their heads to reason. When strolling along the wharves at Antwerp we have seen two Port land boats, Western Plains and West Tacook, unloading flour. There is a big demand for flour here, but until the rate of exchange is improved there will not be any heavy buying. Banks are doing a, good business. The head of a large bank here in forms me that before the war they had deposits of 12.000.000 francs. Since the war this same bank has deposits of 200,000,000 francs. So far as for elgn business is concerned there is little activity in buying and selling due to the exchange. Condensed Milk Too High. Thousands of cases of condensed milk are being returned to the United States at the expense, of the ship pers, because the cost in dollars was so high when it reached here that the value of the franc or mark would not make it possible to accept the ship Anti-return German parade, Antwerp, Jane IX Banner, translated, reads. "Wldoms and orphans of the war.1 ment. Even when papers are sent through the banks here with instruc tions to secure money before deliv ering the ocean bills or lading some American firms have found that the banks here have actually recommend ed to their clients that the shipments be refused, in order to save their cus tomers from financial ruin due to the extreme high price when goods were received here. Some New York concerns have al ready been ruined. Even here, there have been many failures within the last two weeks. Goods have been, pur chased at such a high price that the prices .will not be paid by the con sumers. This has forced the con cerns with large ttocks to sell for what they could or else lose the goods entirely by spoiling. A large manufacturer of a tex tile mill told me that in order to keep his plant going for 60 days, he was compelled to pay 55 cents for his wool or else close down. If he closed his help either quit or took up- other lines of employment. His finished product, even if sold at actual cost, figured 20 per cent higher than the same item could be purchased in the United States. How is business to be done for export on this basis? At the last auction sale of wool here, there were 4000 bales placed on sale, of which only 87 bales were sold. Where previous stock has been offered, the entire output has been sold. At this writing the market has dropped on both wool and cotton 30 per cent: This panic is not affecting Belgium as it is other countries and not until a more stable aspect is shown, due to the exchange, will con ditions right themselves and enable business men to conduct their sales and purchases along sane lines. Sugar Is Scarce. England has already been making her plans to dominate tha world com merce. In Belgium. England has pur chased, in some lines, the entire out put of plants for years to come. When you go to some factories to purchase goods, you are only told that their output is sold to an English concern who will quote you prices. Some of the most staple Items in Belgium are purchased by the Belgian people irom ingiana alter tne goods are first manufactured in Belgium - and shipped to England, and then pur chased and reshipped back . to Bel gian merchants. Prices for foodstuffs, when figured on the present exchange, costs just as much as they do in America. Eggs selves the feeling against the Ger mans that is now existing by glanc ing at the pictures shown. Germans Much Hated. Only yesterday, while passing a street in the busiest part of Antwerp, did I see a German's belongings be ing thrown into the street. The crowd had gathered so as to block the en trance to both sides of the street. Ten men then went into the house and threw all the house furnishings, con sisting of expensive furniture, etc.. into the street, where it was broken up beyond repair. A bill was posted on the German's door and a personal letter sent to him. stating that he must vacate within three days. It ap pears that some proof had been found that this German, had been spying during the war. The police were no tified that this actioji would be taken and it was only after the goods had been thrown into the streei that the police finally appeared. A neighbor of thi3 same ejected German, who is supposed to have been working with the first party, received a similar no tice yesterday, to also "Heraus les Boches." No German is allowed to come to Belgium and while peace has been signed between Germany and Belgium, nevertheless, hatred toward Germany will live for years so far a3 Belgium! is concerned. In the next story on Germany the tourist situation will be taken up. Be fore the next story is printed, I hope that no Americans will attempt a trip to Europe unless it is absolutely nec essary. In Belgium there is no par ticular inconvenience in traveling, aside from broken down railroad equipment. However, the traveling conditions are almost deplorable in Germany and some of the other countries. Town hall of Brussels, constructed ea rly in the seventh flower market In foreground. sugar price. even figure much more' and can scarcely be had at any There is nothing cheap here. Woolens for clothing may be made up by the tailor costing half of prices charged for suits in the States, but practically all items of wearing ap parel are just as cheap or cheaper in the States. Belgium is right now importing cotton hose from the United States. Before the war, Bel gium and Germany. were the' largest exporters of this item. The glass situation is at a stand still. While there are some shipments of window glass being exported at this time, there is practically no plate glass going out at all. At Charleroix we went-into this situa tion very thoroughly in . the hope of securing some stock for our Portland manufacturers, but were forced to give up the task after we had learned that only two or three factories were making feeble efforts to run. In in terviewing the manager of one of the largest factories in this glass section, we were told that coal was the only thing that was needed to start pro duction, and that the coal used for making plate glass came from France and Germany. Germans Return Cattle. When asked why this coal could not be .obtained he replied that the Germans during the war had damaged the mines so that it would be two years before they hoped to get the mines running to full capacity. We were also told that according to the terms of the armistice Germany was to furnish stated amounts of coal, but that these terms had never been lived up to in the delivery of the coal. What glass is being made is entirely con trolled by the Plate Glass association, which sees that none is shipped out side the provinces of Belgium and France. Most all glass, however, is being used in reconstruction and it will be at least six months yet before it will be possible to secure glass for export to America. Twenty thousand cattle have been returned to Belgium from Germany. Several thousands have yet to be re turned. The wonderful crops that now seem assured are giving Belgium, from an agricultural standpoint, a forecast of great plenty. Along the old , battle front at Ypres and other places the land will not grow a po tato for many years. Aside from de molished buildings, occasionally seen in the interior, one can hardly realize that a great war has taken place over this same ground. New plants are' being constructed as fast as possible, but the word "speed" is unknown in Europe at this time. The price of everything goes up in Belgium except rent. There is a law here compelling landlords not to ad vance rent over 30 per cent for two years and that at the end of that time this law will be renewed for another two years. Rents Remain Stationary. A large building contractor told me that he had tenants in his houses who were actually charging him five times as much money for labor, as painters. but on the other hand he could not legally raise the rent of his painter tenants one franc. - What Belgium wants from America is raw materials to keep her factories going. Foods, such as rice, flour, dried fruits, condensed milk and even good brands of cereals are in great demand. But the demand in both buying and selling cannot be met untli this great problem of exchange has been overcome. If the financiers of Amer ica could in some way grand credit to foreign countries, so as to put for eign money at a stated value, the in dustrial condition would be solved. Until the speculative aspect of Wall street has been solved by our gov ernment, America' will not be able to take her place as an exporter. Scarcity of raw materials is affect ing the reconstruction of Belgium ma terially. In one of the accompanying pictures you will note the broken panes of glass ir the grand central station at Antwerp. It will be impos sible to replace this glass for a period of two years. This glass was broken during the bombardment of Antwerp in August, 1914. Feeling against the Germans here is very strong. Two pictures shown por tray a big demonstration in Antwerp, June 13. This demonstration was made in order to prevent the return of former German subjects who had, pre vious to the war, made their homes in Belgium. These Germans are now very anxious to return to Belgium, owing to bad conditions now existing in Ger STEEL BREAKS LIKE GLASS IN YUKON'S WINTER WEATHER Many Strange Manifestations Appear When Temperature Drops to . Around Sixty Degrees Below Zero. BY EDWIN TARRISSE. OOK out, or you will drop that chiselV Before the sentence I was finished the , tool had slipped from the hand of my assistant and. striking upon some bar iron, flew Into pieces as if it had been glass Instead of steel." . This reads like a bit out of "Alice iii Wonderland." but is sober fact, as told by an American formerly en gaged in various enterprises at Daw- eon, In the lukon territory. It is Interesting to learn what hap pens at 60 degrees below zero, a tem perature not uncommon In the Yu kon. For example, the man men tioned tells of one stretch of such cold In January, a spell that endured two weeks. The temperature ranged from 44 degrees below zero Ohe warmest) down to 68 degrees below. Some of the outlying Yukon police stations reported 80 degree below. These cold waves alternate with warmer periods of 10 degrees below. Fire Roars and Crackles. At auch temperatures as these strange manifestations appear. One is the way a fire burns in the stove. It roans and crackles like a great forge, and wood in the stove seems to dissolve in the flames like a chunk of ice: the wood is gone and one wonders where the heat went. At 60 degrees below every stove pipe throws out a great white cloud of smoke and vapor, resembling a steamboat in its whiteness. - and this cloud streams away for from SO to 100 feet, mingling with the other white-gray mist or haze that remains permanently in the atmosphere of the town like a great fog when it is 40 degrees or more below zero. This many. One may easily judge for them- white-gray fog is not fog as we know it. but is frozen fog. and every man. woman, child, animal and even the fire that burns is throwing out mois ture into the air. which is immediate ly turned Into a cloud of frozen va por that floats away and remains visibly suspended in the air. Very elowly this settles to earth: and in the morning, about the. steps and any protected place, one can see a very fine film of flour-like dust deposited, which Is composed of frozen vapor. Noses Frefie Quickly . Exposed ears, hands and noses freeze at this temperature in going the distance of about one city square. The breath roars like a mild jet of steam, while a dipper of boiling water thrown -out into the air emitiS a pe culiar whistling as its drops circle through the frosty atmosphere. Prospectors, in attempting to boil a dish of rice or beans upon a camp fire unprotected from the weather, find that the side of the dish that is in the fire will boil, while the part of the dish exposed to the weather has frozen. To remedy this, the dish is eet completely into the fire. Edged tools subjected to this temperature become as hard and brittle as glass and will break readily under1 strain. All ' vegetables. potatoes. apples, fruit, eggs and the like can be al lowed to freeze until they become like bullets. To make ready for use, place them in cold water half a day be fore using, and the frost will slowly withdraw without Injury to the food. To attempt to thaw them out by more rapid process by fire or hot water spoils them for use. Some remarkable tales are told of thawing out a frozen foot, ear or hand by immersing the member in coal oil for some time often several hours. This, it appears, is an absolutely j safe remedy, and one thus escapes the I surgeon's knife, as no bad results night watchman, who found the un fortunate man in the snow (45 degrees below zero) and both hands frozen to the wrists. He was taken into the office and treated as above for about five hours, when all the frost was drawn out without so much as losing a 'finger tip. The physicians were amazed, as they thought ampu tation would have to be employed in this case. His hands were as white and hard as marble, and when placed follow. One man was saved by a In the oil they snapped and crackled as the oil began to act upon the Ice crystals. In such temperatures one must be very careful about touching things with unprotected hands. It is dan gerous to take hold of a door knob when it is 60 degrees below zero or thereabouts with the uncovered hand, unless one Is careful instantly to release his hold, for if he does show this carelessness the inner palm of his hand will be frozen in five seconds. The result is the same as though he had touched a red-hot stove. Spikes Cause Kxploslon. Great spikes, used in constructing the frames of buildings, when sub jected to this frigid temperature con tract where embedded in the wood, and when the clinging fiber of the wood can no longer control the con traction, the shrinking spikes give a great jump in the wood, this being accompanied by a loud booming sound like the firing oT a heavy gun, or that of a building struck with a sledge hammer. As there happens to be more than one spike in the struc ture there is, therefore, not one but many of these explosions, which re semble, the sounds from a target range. Coal oil begins to thicken at 40 degrees below, and at 60 and 70 de grees below becomes as thick as lard and looks very much like that substance, only a little darker. It can then be cut out of the can with a knife in the same way that one cuts lard or butter. A lighted lamp or lantern left exposed in this tempera ture will freeze up and go out in about SO minutes. BULL RUN LAKE PRESENTS AN UNUSUALLY INTERESTING STUDY Water Comes From Natural Drainage of Immense Watershed, Approximately Five Miles in Area. IN- i o "WUo - ) ..Jill.' - ". " xf" , it ti - w ILUi ...f2"- WS,'?-? Ef -t?J. V . ;? y 41 ax i A ' , 5? ? ;v' - III ill .7 vwk- a-a jfii-i.'w mill ir v-rx2. r jf ww 11 1 1 if - r Ik.' S. a ' SP ?f! '-.'m. . - ' i I 1 1 1 L I W lit - 1. - r - . - . ; -f fjr I IWMt.ll lilt f-ft-b 1 1 1 Vv -t'-jssi- -w v, a r-3?-rssNt . "ttrs.t- www 11 i i inc. llul C,'? HII I possibility for the waters from Mount reeded to be one of the prettiest bodies I I I If " - III? " -'j vs. K, vr"l ?LrtB.1 .J 2js v"0-- llll ff XV I xlooa glaciers ana melting snow io i oi water in tne r-acmc norm wcbl. i .f"V llli- - - ' '; I I I -Jii-ii.-e5 3JA.,5v.&-&VS JST- -iwiih- wh . i I II ((A I make Its way into the Bull Run lake. While its color of blue is not so pro- I JUkjJj I I I mmwTamH sir imm, .mam.fitM.m.-f III'" - ix III I The water which suDDlies the lake I nounced or as strange as is the wa- I VrV Umbmw 5ancc 7?zwj- C&ttzoJ? fTXtm Si?&'Jo&e itnf&xi? cw 2x-&zf . o 2?uS-7 BY JAMES D. OLSON. L-ik tsiusu 1" a vaiiey. protected by heavily timbered ridges tf ' - the Cascade mountains, lies Bull Run lake, the source of Port land's water supply. ' Trie lake is sit uated about 60 miles east of Portland. In the very heart of the Bull Run forest reserve. Perhaps no body of water in the elate of Oregon, with 'Crater, lake alone excepted, presents the inter esting study that accompanies Bull Run lake. Thousands of people for years past, and even In the present day, believe that the waters of the Bull Run lake and river are fur nished from glaciers, creeping down the slopes of Mount Hood. Geologists agree with engineers of the Portland water bureau that this theory cannot be correct. These men point out : that the summit of the Cascades stands between ilount Hood and the Bull Run lake. The head quarters of the Sandy- river, and one branch of the west fork of the Hood River, have their origin from glaciers on Mount Hood, which are situated side by side. The ridge lying to the east of Bull Run l.ke is 4000 feet in elevation and the valley of Hood river which is on the east slope, is 1400 feet low er. The Bull Run lake has an ele vation of 3180 feet. Hence, it i argued that it would be'a physical im possibility for the waters from Mount 1 Hood glaciers and melting snow to make Its way into the Bull Run lake. The water which supplies the lake comes from the natural drainage of the Bull Run watershed, which la approximately five miles in area. The discharge of the lake as shown by the weirs proves conclusively that snowfall and rainfall within the wa tershed supplies all water which flows out of the lake. The lake, according to Ira A. Wrill iams of the state bureau of mines, was formed by a terminal moraine, along wtih dykes of new lava in such a manner that the entire mass formed a barrier across an ancient valley, damming the valley in. such a way as to form the lake. The lake is 4000 feet wide and S000 feet long. At ,its deepest point It is 120 feet deep. Bull Run lake is con ceded to be one of the prettiest bodies of water in the Pacific northwest. Whiie its color of blue is not so pro nounced or as strange as is the wa ter of Crater lake, nevertheless it has a color which differs from those of most lakes found in the mountains. Surrounding three sided of the lake, are high slopes, covered with timber. To stand at the present Bull Run camp and look across the lake to Mount Hood which on a clear , day stands in the offing, one will see as beautiful a picture as nature ever created. Except at flood time, which comes during the run-off in spring. Bull Run lake has no visible outlet, but seeps through a mass of broken rock and disappears only to reappear about one mile below the lake in a series of springs. For years much mystery surrounded ihis subterranean voyage f - n' J. -W- c v Dxirru4 cx-oss JSTotJ Arm ofZerXr, f&z-fo &m sr&I : ?? Smpozncfy V3ter: of the waters of the lake, and it wm disputed at times that the waters of Bull Run river actually came from the lake. However, through the installation of dams. Chief Engineer Randlett and his- assistant, Ben Morrow, have measured the flow and have deter mined without doubt that it is from Bull Run water that Portland secures its water supply. The Bull Run watershed Is tim bered with fir, hemlock, cedar and larch, virgin forest which has never felt the heat of a forest fire. Unusual precautions are taken to prevent the fire from entering the watershed, for it is this timber that protects the city's water supply. v Many of the ridges of the water shed are thick with rhododendrons, and at the present time these beau tiful flower-s are a riot of color. The deer tooth lily is found in profusion within the reserve, following in the retreating footsteps of the snow. One of the strange features of a visit to Bull Run reserve is the lack of either game or bird life. City Com missioner Mann, in charge of the wa ter bureau, believes that the lack of food caused by the late snow, and the lack of people within the re serve, is responsible for this condi tion, but, at all events, one can travel for miles within the reserve without hearing the note of a bird, or catch ing a glimpse of animals of any sort.
