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About The Sunday Oregonian. (Portland, Ore.) 1881-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 15, 1922)
THE 'StTXDAT 'OREGOXIA. POKTLAT, "OCTOBER " 15; 1923 X Rapid Xispatch. Refrigerutor Ships and Careful Packing Put Prize w'J Fruit n Market Many Thousand? of es Away . frvv y1? ArT4r- ItJ .. - J j . . J a i i - v.Mf" XfSSs Zm ; i n: t? ;pi4 I?ISS4Tjffea LZI . i . ET De WITT HARRY. AN ASTOUNDING 'gain in traffic bas been the record of the Port oJ Portland during the past sev eral ye.ars. This-has caused other cities not 60 tortunate to cast envious glances this way. To say that they would like to pnll eorne of this business to their lo calities Is putting it mildly. They would do and dare anything, for the majority of coast ports are in a shipping slump, both of fmports and exports. Of course, locality has had the world and all to do with. Portland's success in this line, and the officials who have the present and future of the port in charge are not asleep at the switch. They are going after business with both hands, grabbing all they can reach and then extending the Teach.' The biggest new thing in the export ing line is fruit, apples mostly, from this section of the country. It is with bated breath that men discuss this new export development. If they are informed they know that the possibilities of apple ex-, port, and this means all other fruits that are successfully grown in this district, are only scratched. So the port, alive to the opportunity, is on the job with refriger ated storage. And that's the secret of it all refrigeration. Any commodity must be kept in condition during the time it is aboard ship. For some export cargoes, such as" lumber, this is a simple matter. But when it comes to handling perish ables, especially those so delicate as fruit, and such fruit as the northwest produces, then care is the big element. Just think o it an apple you who have ice boxes know will Absorb.. Ilavoraj Stoir the - uoxed fruit in a hold that formerly held . herring and apples will taste gloriously of kippered fish. So careful handling of this article for export is essential. Fruit a Major Industry. Ever since fruit growing has been a major art in the west the producer has faced a bristly hedge of market difficul ties, not the least of which was trans portation. Until recent years the only way .to reach a market was to send the fruit pounding over thousands of miles of railroad and threatened by extremes, of heat and cold. But with the advent of the refrigerator ship this has been changed. Last year Portland., received calls from a dozen vessels in the fruit trade, and they handled about 2 per cent . of the fruit from this territory. Apples pack an average of 756 boxes to the car load, so something can be realized of the amount of fruit carried by such ships as the Gothicstar, now loading in the har bor. This Blue Star liner has one hpld that will take care of 100,000 boxes of fruit, enough to fill 132 refrigerator cars. Last year the combined fleet to call in Portland was in a position to care for something like 1000 cars of fruit. The production of the district in . 1922 was 43,000 .carloads. To care for the 1000 cars of fruit from the northwest ports took a dozen ships, each of which loaded -all or a goodly portion of its- cargo in Portland. In addition to the fruit con signments, every one of these ships loaded other commodities from here and helped materially to stimulate traffic. It is hoped, within a few years, to handle 10 to 15 per cent of the fruit traffic by water. This will mean 100 or more ships gnsassdlm. fascial Jtrade-- ?m?op- tant? Well, anyone can see it is. And yet so many unsuspecting residents of the port district fail to take fruit into consideration when thinking of Port lnad's export line, confining their major thoughts to lumber and grain. Already the Merchants' Exchange lists begin to show the refrigerator ships on their way or with their dates booked. The 1923 crop will be lighter than the 1922 one about 3000 boxes less this year's figures being set in advance at 40,000 boxes. With . the indications pointing to a larger tonnage of vessels in the trade, a greater proportion is cer tain to be taken to market by water. The dock commission is getting ready for the rush of fruit from the interior to tide water here. At municipal terminal No. 4 they are building protected sheds to care for the shipments. Last year the fruit had to be handled by hand from the reg ular open docks. This season there will be a special shed for its reception and power conveyors are being constructed to 'handle the boxed apples, pears, etc., doing away with the slow and laborious system of trucking. The northwest is beginning 'to cater to world markets, is widening the scope of her activities. Trade emissaries "have re cently visited the principal distributing centers of the, world in the interest of the local grower, and representatives of great foreign brokerage industries, inter ested in the fruit trade, have returned the calls. They are beginning to visit each other and study out the possibilities for themselves. It has finally occurred to both the purchaser and the producer that they might well know what condi tions were at each end of the line, and they are- -faarUIiajizinsenis-withr . the business from start to finish. The indications are that the grower of this . section is getting away from his cramped viewpoint and facilities of the past many years. Grower Had to Take All Bisks. For years the fruit grower has labored under a severe industrial handicap. This is no less than the absence of an accepted bill-of-lading marketing system. In other lines it has been possible .for the pro ducer to receive his money the moment his goods were delivered at the ship and stowed. Banks advanced the sums due and commercial paper went through the usual trade routes in matters of exchange, with due bills recognized as negotiable when 'the shipments were inspected and accepted on ship. But, while this applied to the lumber, grain, fish and-other ship pers, it did not affect the fruit shipper. He sold on consignment; receiyed but an advance payment of a small portion of the value of his shipments and then had to take a chance on getting the remainder when the produce arrived at the market in good condition. The. result was that many thousands of dollars were tied up and held back and frequently the fruit rejected for some reason, or enough dam ages charge set against it to skim the cream off the profits. Here the water shipment has again scored over the all rail and trans-ship system, for the fruit usually arrives in better, condition and commands a higher price, with less pro portionate loss. This has been proved and is certain to" bring a resulting in crease in this way of shipping and has warranted the dock commission getting in readiness for its future development. The first shipments of apples eince the wereatJrom.-Ms'.jKjrtaioajd.tie Holland -American liners Kindeldyk and Moerdyk. Of this same line the Kin deldyk is due here October 26 with a refrigerated capacity for 45,000 boxes. These vessels have one of their six holds refrigerated by the dry-air method, espe cially for the carrying of fresh fruits. This kind of cargo is one of their notable successes, their trips nearly always re sulting in capacity consignments of this nature, assuring a nice profit. The first shipments after the cessation of hostili ties on these ships were an unqualified success and made a fine profit for both the ship and the prodncer. The result has been to attract many more vessels into the trade. This year the Holland American and Royal Mail Steam Packet lines will dispatch many additional bot toms from Portland, the majority of the vessels being especially designed for this service. The shipping board has also assigned what possible cargo capacity of this nature may be available to this part of the country, and. the Nebraska, able to handle 175,000 boxes, wfll be in port.ths day after "the Kindeldyk arrives. Fruit Care Delicate Matter. The Norton-Lilly interests, with their Blue Star liners, have some good equip ment. Their coming here is made possi ble through the slump in the meat trade. Fresh-meat traffic has engaged a fleet of 17 ships between Great Britain ..and European ports and Australia and Argen tine for years, but the demand has fallen off. While the majority of these ships are fitted for low-temperature refrigera tion, they can be made to care for fruits with some few changes. Fruit demands dry storage, the air being circulated by iaajoyer,thoriaAl)ipe3 oatsida the. .hold proper and the moisture kept away a much as possible. Then it is also neces sary to have plenty of fresh air to change the whole body frequently. Id the low temperature ships for the mc trade the brine, pipes are right In the hold and moist storage Is the result. Ventilation changes are essential in converting the liners for fruits, as the fresh air is essen tial to keep the full flavor in. Just a lltlte moisture and apples will spoil. Fruit must not be frozen, while meats cin be kept In a sub-zero temperature with out injury. In the big fruit game of today It's jnt a lineup of the Panama canal against the refrigerator car. In International trade the factors essential to success are tlm. rates and condition. Ships succeed In all these points where rail frequently falls. FrUits, especially, have been found to be in better condition whea laid down at eastern seaboard points via the all-watrr route. Rail rates have to be placed high enough to absorb the losses, some years amounting to (100,000.000 in damaged shipments. Heat and frost claims have injured perishable tonnage to such an ex tent that railroad claim departments have always figured on heavy adjustments This not only harmed the shipper and producer In the matter of reliability of shipments, but worked lasting Injury to the trade name of the produrt. Tasteless fruits, overheated or frost-bitten, did not stimulate any market. Speculator Enemy of Trade. With proper refrigeration, like that of fered by the specially equipped llDr now in the trade out of this port, north west fruits are laid down In London In the same condition as they leave the tree. Caaiu44 ft.) A