4
y ! " , ' 7, ' Th OREGON STATESMAN,! Salem, Oregon, Thursday Morning. January 1. 1931 " t ' '- ' PACE THIU:i:
Bms JBM Faces. Year Q-l 'CaraM Thinking s- Worl
LOWER PRICES
EtJTICE BUYERS
Green In Nation's Business.
Be!ievs Labor Costs;
In Building High
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. WASHINGTON Business ent
ers the new year with a clearer,
understanding, of the present dit
ftcultles and to thar extent Is in.
a better position .to overcome
some :of . tho t obstacles which
stand in the way - of recovery,
says Frank Greene in- his- No
vember review in Nation's Bus
iness, published by the Chamber
of : Commerce of. v the United
States . ? --'"S
The . business community, i he
says, is convinced that improve
ment can be brought about only
through hard work. Less time,
he adds, is likely to be wasted
in the coming months on. making
predictions and waiting on mir
acle to cure the situation. ' -
"One of the anomalies of the
present world-wide efforts to
regulate prices t of commodities.
eaneciallr! raw materials," he
'i" writes, "is fiat, after, a full year
' or more of such attempted regu
lation,. the general level of prices
as indicated by index numbers is
-the lowest In at least five-years.
For the fourteenth month in suc
cession - the . general level . of
wholesale prices in this country
has fallen. And still there is a
good deal of agreement that fi
nal costs, that is retail prices,
have not come down as have the
wholesale quotations.
Food Outlet Steady
;Most progress In this direc
tion seems to have been .made
in food products. In these lines
a" leading retail purveyor's re
ports point to large increases in
.tonnage of foods sold as com
pared with small or no gains, in
- value. NoTember sales at retail
as a whole, however, fail to re
, veal decreases ' equal in percent
age to those recorded in whole
, sale lines.
"It may perhaps be asked
whether 'sell more rather than
buy more' would not be "a better
slogan, if the readjustment "eon-
' ceded to be necessary is to pe
achieved. This seems a fair
Question if prices are to be made
at. which, goods will force their
- way into consumption.' If this is
'conceded, there would sem to
be an especially wide field for
improvement in, the . building
-' trades, where capital , seems to
be abundant and materials are
cheaper but where labor costs
I have fallen but slightly from the
1 levels of the boom years.
"To get down to the practi
cabllltles ot November trade, it
mlcht" be noted first that it was
" a abort month. Further, whole
sale and retail trade sagged off
somewhat and Industry Quieted
down from' the month before.
s This was surely true of most of
the heary industries steel, iron,
copper, lumber, automobiles' and
many related lines. -The sag was
- perhaps most notable In a large
portion of the middle South and
West, which suffered from the
drouth and low-priced cotton or
grain earlier in the year and
later from the closing of many
. banks .which had all the above
coriditlons 'to cope with as well
as deflation ot security ' prices
or. in some areas, of real estate
prices. .
Production Cut Tmperattve
- "As to the notably low prices
- for cotton or grain, it might be
. noted that the Farm Board's, re
port to Congress indicated that
stabilization measures ot the
type it employed lire necessarily
temporary and while cooperative
. marketing methods may amelior
ate or improve things. he obvi
ous economic remedy lies in cur
' tallment of production. In other
. words, agriculture,, to reach a
.par with Industry, must adjust
production , to- consumption and
perfect self-controlled econftm
ic system of distribution. The
prediction was also hazarded that
the ; years Just ahead promise a
. lower trend in wheat prices.
"Failures in November in
. creased over those ot a year ago
by 30.8 per cent and liabilities
: increased . more than three-fold.
For the 11 i months, failures
were 21.4 per cent and liabilities
88 per cent, above those of 1929.
November and the year. In fact,
set up new high records for those
periods. Those increases and the
. further fact that November lia
bilities, swelled by bank sus
pensions exceeded those in Oct
' ober,-7T9i 7, should, however, be
considered in : conjunction with
the facts-that the number of ail
those in business has Increased
S3 per cent, the number of
banks has increased 28 per cent
and that the country's bank re
' sources are-thro times what they
. were 28 years ago.
Auto Oatpat Lowered
"In; industry it. might, be noted
that automobile output -In No
vember was 35.8 per cent below
that of a year ago jand, for the
v 11 months, 3 84 8 pel cent lower.
Pig-iron output was off .respect
ively 41 and 24.8 per cent, with
the smallest dally output since
, September, 1924. Steel-Ingot' pro
duction was oft 38 and '28 per
cent respectively from the like
periods of 192. ' : -.
"Among the lighter Ikies -the
' takings of silk by mills made a
'better showing than , in previous
months, gaining IS per cent over
November. 1929, while only niae
per cent lower for the 11 months.
This latter decrease has ' been
. whittled down steadily month by
'month. Bearing upon this. It
might be observed that the price
of silk is a little more than halt
of what it was a year ago, which
- demonstrates that prices have
been heavily reduced to meet
the market and the product-has
sold freely in consequence.
"Building - one of-lthe heavy
trades, lifted Its head - in New
York in November. The total val
ue of - permits in Manhattan was
821,662,230 as against, only 84,-
SALEM'S
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Unceasingly, night and day. without redaction In number of operating days, the Salem -plant of the
Oregon Palp A Paper company has continued its operation throughout 1030. ,- For th payroll of
this Commercial street plant shown above, an average SKinnal payroll of $600,000 j la required,
while 9100,000 la. spent each year in the parcbase of-wood prodnctafor the mill, this money being
- disbursed in the Salem territory. ; " i. , . -r
Investment of $1,200,000 is Made I r :
j in '30 in Gas Lines Through Valley
Story Told of Laying Miles of Mains to Bring Salem and Other Cit
ies High-Pressure Cooking, Heating Gas . I I
The Portland Gas & Coke com
pany acquired by purchase on
August 1, 1929 the gas plant and
properties of the Portland Elec
tric Power company n the city of
Salem, Oregon. The distribution
system at that time comprised 33
miles of main of varying size
8" and f under and covering ap
proximately 35 per cent ot the
town. - ' '
The business consisted of 1568
customers with a maximum daily
demand of 80,000 -cubic feet. - .
- The Portland company felt that
by improving the services and ob
taining additional business, a con
siderable reduction1 could be
made in gas rates.
Sales Start in 2 . ?
Sales solicitation 'began on Au
gust 1, 1929 with a house to
house canvass of the! buildings
and residences on the existing
low-pressure mains at that time.
For the first three weeks consid
erable difficulty wast experienced
In making sales. Modern gas
equipment wag hot kjiown or un
derstood by the average housfe
wife in Salem, as the sale of elec
tric equipment , had been pushed
In preference to gas. -Company
policies and rates' had to be ex
plained,'; articles and ads publish
ed in the leading newspapers,
cooking schools and demonstra
tions held, and in fact every
known agency was used to break
down the housewives!" resistance.
. To Insure better service, the
528.450 in October and $23.
047.385 In November. 1929. Of
the total building planned.: $9,
250.000 or 43 per cent was re
ported tor 12 apartment- struct
ures. For November, the value
of permits Issued in 194 cities
declined' 32 per cent as against
a decline for the 11 months of
44 per cent. !
."The i interest In distributive
trade lost nothing as the year's
end approached. For November
the total sales of 43 chain sys
tems dropped 10.8 per cent be;
Miid those of November 4 year
ago, whereas the decrease for
the 11 months was only 1 per
ent. A year ago November sales
gained 21 per cent over those of
the same month of .1928. while
for 11 months the gain over
1928 was 24 . per cent.
ROBERT C. PAULUS
0
o
Office of
Salem, Oregon"
LARGEST SINGLE
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Portland company after initiating
changing all meters and connec
lts program In Salem, began
tlons, from the existing customer
record-cards, to its standards;
also checking various appliances
and house-piping and giving in
struction in.- the use of both new
and old appliances. Service pipes
that . were found . too small for
satisfactory operation were
changed to Insure satisfaction and
resulted in very favorable com
ment. The original plans .called
for mains to run from Gasco, Ore
gon,' (home' plant of the
Portland Gas it Coke company)
to supply the Salem ; - territory
with the same efficient gas serv
ice which the residents of Port
land enjoy.
. 44-Mile, line Laid
This extension completed some
time ago, consists of a 10" line
of 7.7 miles from the Lake Grove
district to Tualatin. From .Tu
alatin via Wilsonvllle, an 8 mile
line was- run across Oregon Elec
tric railroad bridge and contin
ues south to the town of Aurora;
then on down the Pacific highway
to the old gas plant at Chemeke
ta and' Water street, (a distance
Of 8. miles) , making a total
combined line of 44.3 miles.
The various communities In
the path of this service were- of
course Included In the extension
and provided gas service in Tu
alatin,. Wilsonville, Aurora, Hub
bard, Gervais and Brooks.
Some idea of the magnitude of
the enterprise can be obtained by
a comparison ot the major mater
ials used in construction ' with
things of almost universal Obser
vation. More than 2,300 tons of
steel were used, enough to build
3,000 new Ford roadsters which
lined up. end to end would make
a continuous line- seven and one
half miles long. Over 31,000
lineal feet of welding- was done
on the gas pipe, sufficient to en
circle a square mile with a band
of steel and have enough left over
to surround 12 Individual city
blocks. The lumber used would
make a walk a foot wide and
three-quarters miles long of a
thickness of two inches. " In ex
cess of 26,000 cubic yards of
earth were excavated, which
would fill up a hole 300 feet long
and 100 feet wide to a depth, of
We Want A
GREATER SALEM
0 i3i3r?So
Packers of
Canned Goods
Dried Fruit
Plant Located at Hizh and Trade Sts. -
Telephone 2180
INDUSTRY
t
23 feet. . . ; - -j. .
Bridge Crossing Hard
Only one engineering problem
was encountered. This was the
installation of the eight-inch gas
main on the. Oregon Electric rail
way bridge spanning the Willam
ette river at Wllsonviile. This
bridge is 800 feet long and .75
feet above the water. A plank
walk was- constructed along the
lower cross members ot the
bridge from the east shore to the
center ot the bridge.: The eight-
inch pipe was raised from the
ground to this walk and carried
out onto the bridge and then laid
In place and welded. Consider
able care and caution was neces
sary so that no accidents would
occur. A rowboat with an oars
man was kept on- the river under
the bridge so that any worker
who might miss his footing and
fall Into the river could be res
cued quickly. Twenty one of the
45 miles of pipe line were laid on
the Pacific highway.
Oil gas, 'manufactured at the
Gasco plant, is pumped through
large transmission mains to the
gas holders situated , In different
sections of Portland. The gas for
the nigb. pressure distribution
system is transmitted to the gas
holders situated at East 11th and
Clinton streets. From these hold
ers the gas passes into the gas
compressors located in Station E.
Compressor building at the same
location. Thence ' the gas . is
pumped out Into thel high pres
sure distributing system under
30 to 85 pounds pressure to the
square inch. Gas Is carried by
means ot high pressure to the far
points of the territory that we
serve; Vancouver on the north,
Troutdale on the east, Salem on
the south and Forest Grove to the
west.
. Purging 'Process Interests,
Some facts about the process
of purging the newry constructed
line before gas 1 could be sent
through the mains for consump-.
tion will be of interest to many
readers. The purpose of the pro
cess Is to clear the .pipe line of
all air. The work is somewhat
hazardous, due to the explosive
mixture of air and gas existing
in the section of the main being
purged.
GEORGE -B. PAULUS
STOCK MARKET
SHIFTS LOWER
r -isa - - f , .,
Preliminary Rally In Early
Months' of Yt Follow- f
ed by Liquidation?
NJE W TOR K fAPlT hi
task of teaching the 1 unpleasant
lessons of practical economics to
another; large class of security
owners . went forward aimna
without recess In 1930-.
WhOWPf hd rnll(rl.l.j l
the bull market las a 'freshman
goi a rapid but' thorough educa
tion In profit and - .
?3KZ&'?5: aool-
m r experience of a pot
raduato.,; t.;'r ? ,v! : ;
uuring tbe first three months
th stoek mark.t fo .r
diet of hone. Prt;iT r,?f. "c"
most steadily fropi-early jn Jan
" w r.A 111 ian m I,
; uuiu vine jnrst .week - in
April.. 1 .' -r l : . .. . ." ..
The composite price of 90 rep-
reaemauve snares rose in:--that
Interval from 168 to 205. Many
lessionai, wouia -f have been ' sur
prised -could ther have known
rtbat the latter-figure was to be
xne years nigh, i - . ; . . ,.
v Rallies Short-lived '
The market - then turned " pessl-
miuc ana oy late Jane had lost
so much ground that it bore some
resemblance to the lean-- figure
that had startled investors in No
vember, 1929. . U ? .
On June 24 prices reached an
verage of 154, i or 12 points
above the low of; the previous
year. - j
However there! was to be no
surrenaer 'without a further
skirmish and' prices slowly re
covered. By late: July the com
posite had risen to around 173.
but progress was arrested by the
u,vu',t na me market : bad
some weak moments In August. -By
the end of that month.
reassurances thati business snrely
would pick up In the autumn
found enough listeners to pro
mote a. rally tthat carried over
Labor day and prices returned
to the July hjghsl 7--.
Those levels, however, proved
to be formidable resistance
points.- i
Bear Warned of Method
By mid-September the market
had started one of the most per
sistent declines on record. Senti
ment became frankly pessimistic.
Day after day prices . slipped off.
not on large turnovers, but wttto
a monotony that told a story of
steadv liquidations. j .
Wild rumors sprang up, all
fantastic, none true. Short selling
reached considerable proportions.
The stock exchange stepped in
to prevent willful! misrepresenta
tion. There wa fno desire; offi
cials explained!, to curtail legiti
mate bearish actlv4ty b.u It was
necessary, the- erflphasixed, that
there be no 1 malicious attacks
designated tol undermine confi
dence. -
Several prominent bear oper
ators were questioned and warn
F
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A
FRIENDLY
Thanl
t -I i , i . i in-
H Al l: ir ? t
I " j ! I. ' ir ,11 ' i
' rMessacei
ed. . Stockg auddenly . became
very hard to borrow. Profession
al selling- .virtually disappeared
and the market gQt a breathing
pelL --"i-.--;7..-.,,.,..,.:
J Loweet In Three' Years v;
The 1 decline was resumed In
November when- the- June lows
were broken for the tlrst time;
and stocks -sold at ? the lowest
quotations in three years.
And by mid-December the No
vember mlnimums . had been
punctured. i
Sharp contraction of railroad
traffic and the 4 attendant reduc
tion in earnings' -brought the car
rier; shares Into marked disf av-1
or; in 'fact; they finally receded
to the lowest levels since 1923.
BE
ADDED "IB 0I3UAY
' Salem's" big lumber mill, the
?.?au,?.InK LOfKg company, has.
tbe muis of the northweet.
Mcurtatled ita - manufacturing par-
-1 . 1 ... T . I . . . . . .
utuiailf uurifig aaq. nan 01
1930 to hold output in line with
orders.1 Lumber authorities pre
dict that 1931- will see a steady
restoration ot demand in the lum
ber market. r Residential build
ing. -v which is the great consumer
of lumber, has been at low ebb tor
over a year; and a renewal of this
type : of. construction will revive
the - call for lumber and other
building materials.
. Tbe Spauldlng- plant was elec
trified in 1929. and In 1930 only
minor changes were made la the
mill.--The changes : which were
made had for an object the reduc
tion, of operatlng.-costs. ' ,: ,
One Jorward move made by
the. Spauldlng Interests was the
purchase ot land - at - Klamath
Falls for putting In a sash and
door factory, there. Klamath Falls
has been building rapidly .and the
local operators saw a chance for
building up . an 'industry- there.
Plans are being i drawn for the
construction, Which may begin in
1931. The Klamath ..plant will
operate in connection' with the
Salem plant.
. Besides the Salem mill . the
Spauldlnga operate a mill, and
yard at Newberg, a sash and door
plant and yard at McMlnnville. a
yard at Portland and retail yards
at Woodburn and Independence.
An affiliated' Institution is the
pulp plant at .Newberg.
Varied Places .
v Available f or
I Public Meetings
If you want' to glre a concert
wnere the audience Is likely to'
be of pretty, good ' size, please
keep in mind the following seat
ing capacity: f ,
Stadium at the state fal
grounds. 6,000. Armory, with
out - much- crowding will easily
seat-1,800. The Elslnore will
seat 1,425 and the Bligh Capitol
will accommodate 1,200. ;
The Grand theater has a capa
city of 756-and the Hollywood In
excess of 500. Or If one wants
the high school auditorium. It
has a seating capacity of .900.
WISH
YouENew" ;Xeairs; -Happiness, and
fbrtKe Paf tVY-qu, Have Played
C lirs KrbusKQUt - tKe
1 ' 1
3an
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zir, 3L "y
a store. of better, ccrvicc'jp! !-;.V-..
Ta-jstbre ' bcttcri q-alitylf
J K .H ctore! better! .values v "j 1 ' x '' V,
Lvl stoh. Hfj is,. - r '
-It' I '.''! ! . Uj. v t!J fl-"-v'N ' -M
Urn J!
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RETIRING MAYOR PREDICTS
: NEW BUSINESS ERA IN 1931
Salem Ideally Situated, Livsley Believes;
Expresses Appreciation f t)r Support j
.n-WIa..?Lb,lIn.e"" J.l"??'." wer Proposed, and
state and nation during. 1931 la
tne prediction of T. A, Llvesley,
retiring mayoT of Salein, who be
lieves the depression, if 1 such it
can' be called, reached It lowest
eon in me year just closed. ,
i f ."Indications "point ; to A ; steady
gala; in all lines," , be declare,
Vwlth Salem at present most for
tunately situated to prof It . to the
utmost In - the. return of 1 normal
Conditions." .. ; '
Improvements in thla'cttir dur
ing' the past two -years have Just
about brought' tire city', devel
opment on par with Its growth
In population and Industry. Mr.
Livesley states, leaving a clean
slate upon which the 'new muni
cipal administration . 'may. plan
its 'government.'' ' j ' v
i I Trade Veto Held HeFp ' .
4 The vetolnr of the ordinance
Calling for the vacating of Trade
street, in Mr. LIvesley't opinion,
wa a move which already, has
resulted to the great advantage
of the city. ' r ,
h "I regretted the necessity oti
over-tiding the vote of the coun
cil, as well as the thousands of
petitioners. he declared. 1 "But!
I am still of the opinion that tb
act; which makes' possible ' the;
new cinder, arrester. . was . one
which .will prove a great asset."
Completion of : the 3350.000
bridge project and , the 3 5 00,000
Bwer construction are the high
points of his administration. Mr.
Livesley believes. . Only, 12
Am
1 7, 1931, Do Hereby Resolve:
l..To;keep my hair soft and curly, j ,
2. To keep my naila rosy and well-shapeif:
3. To keep my rose-petal complexion. '
In inther words. I "will remain well-srroomed and at
tractive throughout my coming year :wlth the ald 6f
Miller Beauty Shop
11 Telephone .1047 ; v .. ,
Shampoo and Finger Wave, Any Day
j Except Saturday, $1.00
s -
i 9 .
A
m if li i r-
A A : -.J i;- - ,
tf
i
tne 1350, 00 issue was budget-
eu tor iuat wora. Actually 17
bridges wfcre constructed or im
proved with the money thus ap-
r'vriMiiEu, yuiuieu qui,
. In speaking of his successor,
Mr. Livesley declared;
"Salem Is most fortunate in
obtaining as mayor, P. M. Greg
ory, whose ability and integrity
Is unquestioned. I trust that he
and his administration will hare
a most enjoyable regime."
; Mr. Livesley , expressed gri? t .
appreciation for the support 'lie
has received during: his four
years as . mayor, and termed hi'
tenure in office as "most enjoy-
aDJe.
Hop Growing is
Centered Here;
Outlook is Good
nops are grown largely ju
New York state, California and in
Oregon, but if you want to get
right into the center of the great
est hop growing district ln tbe.'
world, eom to Salem.
.It ,1s a fact that Oregon grows -more
hops than any other state
in the country and fully 80. per"
.cent of the entire Oregon crop is
grown in what Is known as the
Salem district. j
a Word of
1
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