GRESHAM OUTLOOK HOLIDAY NUMBER, TUESDAY, DECEMBER
Community’s Industries
Flourish— Continued
NILYEK FOX FA KM
IN LIMITS OF GRESHAM
By MARY E WELCH.
A sh o rt tim e ago th e w riter had the
privilege of visiting (or the first tim e
th e W alker silver (ox ran ch w hich is
located ju st inside the city lim its of
G resham on east Pow ell V alley road,
n e a r the S tan d ard Oil com pany's
ta n k s. T his proved to be in terestin g
as well as instructive. As th is indus
try , as ca rrie d on from a com m ercial
stan d p o in t, is a com paratively new
one in the United S tates, not so much
is known concerning th e h ab its and
life of th e little gracefu l c re a tu re s
w hose fu r is so extrem ely valuable
and who glide around th e ir w ire-en
closed cages w ith th e cunning of the
fox th a t they are and th e ease and
ag ility of a cat or a pup. both fam ilies
o f w hich they a re said to resem ble.
T hat day they w ere very p a rtia l to
raisin s. In fact they a re p a rtia l to
ra isin s every day. I t is a luxury they
d ea rly love, and as shy as they w ere
of th e stra n g e r w ithin the gates, by
carefu lly keeping th e ir eyes -on the
lookout for danger, they nibbled r a is
in s very contentedly from a stran g e
hand. The ra isin s a re very good for
th e fu r and th e foxes on th is ranch
som etim es consum e as m uch as 60
pounds of them in a year.
Mr. and Mrs. E. N. W alker came
o u t from P o rtlan d to G resham som e
th in g like a year ago and purchased
th e L ena Crum b ran ch of four acres.
Of this land an ac re h as been devoted
to the co n stru ctio n of fox pens, of
w hich th e re a re six. each 50 feet long,
12 feet w ide and 6 feet in height. A
heavy w ire netting encloses th e pen
on all four sides and overhead, also it
is stretch ed tig h tly across th e floor of
th e pen to prev en t any possible "jail-
b rea k ", as they are g reat little an i
m als to dig and paw th e ea rth , hence
th e e x tra p recaution of th e w ire
flooring.
Only Pedigreed Stock Raised.
In th e p rese n t fam ily a t th e W alker
ran c h are five p a irs of th e "W illow
H ill” fox, th e stra in w hich Mr. W alk
e r handles exclusively, and five pup
pies, as th e offspring is called. These
w ere bro u g h t d irect from P rin ce E d
w ard Island w here th e silver fox w as
first dom esticated and w here, in the
sp rin g of 1887, th e first fox w as ever
born in captivity and w here th e busi
ness first becam e com m ercialized. Mr.
W alker and his wife, who cam e from
C anada about tw o years ago, learned
th e business th e re under com petent
in stru ctio n .
T he foundation stock
w hich they have, cam e to them a year
ago from C anada and is properly re g
istered and pedigreed under the C ana
dian governm ent livestock records. In
th e W alker hom e is to be found a
com plete set of Canadian national
breed books w hich give a full detail
of th e pedigree of any fox registered
u n d er the C anadian governm ent rec-
I t w as th o u g h t th a t fo rm erly the
foxes did not fu r out as w ell in this
clim ate as in a colder one, but it has
been proven th a t th is is not tru e, for
th e quality of th e fu r of th e puppies
born here is equal to anything raised
in th e n o rth ern or colder clim es. The
fu r of th e silv er fox is a m arvel of
beauty. The blue-black lu stro u s guard
h a irs w hich veil th e silver and fin
ished w ith a lovely bru sh tipped with
th e purest of silver m ake up a fur
ric h enough to gratify th e w him s of
th e rich and excite th e adm iration of
th o se who ca n n o t afford them . The
stock on th e W alker ran ch is being
held for breeding purposes ra th e r
th a n th e disposal of th e pelts. The
dem and for a good breed of stock is so
g rea t at the p rese n t tim e th a t nothing
b u t cull stock is being pelted. A high
cla ss p elt is not judged by age or
size, but by th e q uality of th e fur.
Work Most Interesting.
Both Mr. W alker and his wife a re
en th u sia stic over th e line of business
they have chosen as it is both lu c ra
tiv e and in terestin g . A study of the
little sensitiv e c re a tu re s is a fascin
atin g one. They a re very hardy and
a re as easily raised as a dog. T heir
food consists of bread, m ilk and m ush,
w ith raw m eat once a day. They are
in te llig en t and can easily distinguish
a stra n g e r from th e re g u la r keeper of
th e pen. It m ight be in te restin g to
know th a t th e se harm less little ani
m als do not suffer when they are
killed to obtain the rich fu r which
m akes them so valuable. They are
painlessly put to death by a strong
hypoderm ic injection of stry ch n in e
w hich p en e trate s the h e a rt and kills
them in less th an a m inute. F orm erly
they w ere b ru tally crushed, but later
hum ane m ethods have <Usplaced the
b a rb a ric ones.
Mr. W alker has m any p lans for the
fu tu re of his en terp rise. He has con
stru cted m ovable pens w hich a re p ro
vided with w arm , w ell-ventilated ken
nels and built according to United
S tate s and C anadian governm ent spec
ifications. He h as room for 100 addi
tional pens at such tim e a* hi» busi
ness would w a rra n t th e ir co n stru c
tion. Hia ran c h is so located th a t a
n a tu ra l m eans of d rainage is provided.
T his is a very im p o rtan t facto r as the
anim als do not th riv e in mud. The
d rain ag e on th e place Is such that
good san itatio n is assu re d a t ail sea
sons.
Industry Not Overdone.
W hile the fox farm in d u stry is in its
infancy, th e A m erican people a re fast
being aw akened to th e im p o rtan ce of
the business from a com m ercial sta n d
point. T he in d u stry is in no danger
of being overdone, according to the
opiuiou of C. M. L am pson, of London,
one of th e w o rld ’s best posted fur
m erchants. He says: “F o r th e last
250 y ears th e silver fox p elt has sold
for th e h ighest price of any fflr, and
because of th e increased dem and the
pelt has averaged about 2 0 -p er cent
higher th an previous prices. I could
easily dispose of 10.000 p elts w ithin
tw o days, so it is plain to be seen th a t
th e point of sa tu ra tio n is far away.*'
T he above com ing from such a
source is au th en tic. T he W’illow Hill
people, whom the W alker fox ran c h is
rep resen tin g , are said to be th e first
com pany to ever buy a p a ir of live
breeding foxes. They a re one of the
oldest firms in existence and th e o rig i
n a to rs of th e in d u stry , say s Mr.
W alker.
POWER COMPANY LARGEST
UTILITY CORPORATION
T he P o rtlan d E lectric Pow er com
pany, organized in 1906, is th e larg est
u tility co rporation in th e sta te , and
supplies electric light and pow er s e r
vice in P o rtlan d and over 50 other
com m unities in w estern Oregon. In
addition it d istrib u tes gas service in
Salem , the cap ital of th e sta te , and
o p era tes city and in te ru rb a n railw ay
lines in P o rtlan d and ad jac en t te rr i
tory. Based on recen t reliab le esti
m ates the population of th e te rrito ry
served exceeds 390,000. T he com pany
occupies an especially advantageous
position even as com pared w ith other
u tilitie s on th e Pacific co ast, th ro u g h
th e g en eratio n by w ate r pow er of an
u n usu aly high p ercen tag e of its elec
tric output.
T he com bined electric g en eratin g
capacity of th e system ag g reg ates
160,000 horse pow er of w hich 110,000
h orse pow er is in h y d ro -electric
plan ts, and 50,000 horse pow er in r e
serv e steam p lan ts. For th e p ast 15
y ea rs the com pany h as g enerated
m ore th an 83 per cent of its to ta l o u t
put by w ater pow er. The b alan ce has
been g en erated by m odern and e f
ficient steam p la n ts in P o rtlan d , u til
izing for fuel a p len tifu l su p p ly of
wood w aste available from th e large
saw m ills in th is te rrito ry .
T he railw ay p ro p erty in clu d es 298
m iles of single track , of w hich 186
m iles com prise the railw ay system in
P ortlan d , and 112 m iles th e in te ru rb a n
lines.
In addition to Its o w n ersh ip of
pro p erty o perated in th e public s e r
vice, the com pany is a larg e holder of
real estate in P o rtlan d and th e vicin
ity, including valuable p ro p erty cen
tra lly located, riv er fro n t lan d s and
outlying tra c ts, which, it is expected,
w ill be g rad u a lly sold and th e p ro
ceeds em ployed in th e re tire m e n t of
ou tstan d in g bonds or for system b et
te rm en ts.
The com pany enjoys a rep u tatio n
for good m anagem ent and its prop
e rty is m aintained in an u n u su ally
m odern and efficient condition.
Company's Output Increases.
T he o u tp u t of the com pany’s g en
e ra tin g p la n ts has
ap p ro x im ately
doubled in th e p ast eig h t y ea rs and
p rese n t indications are th a t th is ra te
of grow th w ill continue. E le c tric se r
vice is a vital and n ecessary p a rt of
ou r m odern life and new and in
creased uses a re co n tin u ally being
found. The railw ay business has not
show n any in crease during th is period,
due p rim arily to th e in creasin g popu
larity of the autom obile, w hich has off
se t th e effect of grow th in pop u la
tion.
Traffic during th e p a st few
m onths, how ever, in d icates th a t the
sa tu ra tio n point in th e use of th e p ri
vate autom obile has been reach ed and
th e city railw ay lines a re now show ing
an in crease over th e co rresp o n d in g
period of a year ago.
Traffic congestion has becom e a
serio u s problem in P o rtlan d and p a rk
ing restric tio n s a re m ore and m ore
strin g e n t. T he co m p arativ e conven
ience and econom y of th e s tr e e t car
w ill, in a sh o rt tim e, re sto re It to
favor as a tra n sp o rta tio n agency. In
fact, th is has alread y been clearly
d em o n strated In the m ore populous
e a ste rn cities. A steady in c re ase in
the population of P o rtlan d should, in
the very n ear fu tu re, be reflected in
resto ra tio n and Increase in s tre e t car
and in te ru rb a n patronage.
On December 31, 1916, th e public
service com m ission of O regon, after
an exhaustive study by its engineers
and ap p ra isers, established a value on
the actu al physical p ro p erty of the
com pany. This value, so found, to
g eth er with actu al ex p en d itu res for
im provem ents and b etterm en ts, su b se
quen t to th a t tim e and un til S ep tem
ber 30, 1925, ag g reg ates $73,861,219.
M ortgage bonds and notes rep rese n t
less th a n 60 per cen t of th e to ta l phys
ical value of the com pany's pro p erties,
th e balance rep resen tin g th e various
classes of stock and su rp lu s. The
equity in actu al physical value back of
the first p referred stocks, is. in round
num bers. $24,000,00«, w hile th e actual
am ount of first p referred sh a re s o u t
standing on Septem ber 30. 1925, was
$6,917,300.
Filming Power.
Follow ing Is a condensed Income
statem en t for th e 12 m o n th s' period
ending Septem ber 30, 1925:
G ross e a r n in g s .......................$10,961,090
O perating expenses A tax es $ 6,470,725
G ross in c o m e .................... . .$ 4,490.365
In terest, bridge re n ta ls and
o th er fixed c h a rg e s .......... $ 2.647.458
Net income ...................’. . .
$ 1,942,907
D ividends on 7% p rio r p re
ferred sto c k .........................$• 416.180
B a la n c e .................... : . . . . $ 1.526,727
T he above balance is av ailab le for
dividends on all rem ain in g stocks, of
w hich th is issue of 7.20% first p re
ferred and th e 6% first p referred have
joint preference, and for depreciation.
Dividends paid on th ese tw o classes
of first p referred stock ag g reg ated
$403,996 d u rin g th e above period.
D uring th e p ast four y ears th e com
pany has expended an av erag e of over
$4,000,000 per year in. extensions and
b etterm e n ts to th e system . By fa r th e
m ajo r portion of th is huge ca p ita l
outlay w as expended In extending th e
com pany's facilities for supplying ,
elec tric light and pow er service. The
com pany has alw ays follow ed a lib eral
policy in providing system capacity
considerably in excess of the dem ands
of th e te rrito ry , and in keeping pace
w ith th e rap id advancem ent in th e a rt
of g en eratin g and d istrib u tin g electric-
service. In A ugust, 1924, th e first unit
of th e Oak G rove project, ag g reg atin g
35,000 horse pow er, w as placed in op
eration. Upon u ltim ate com pletion
th e Oak G rove p lan tn w ill have a c a
pacity of 135.000 horse pow er and will
be one of th e la rg e st and m ost efficient
hydro -electric p lan ts yet u n d ertak en
on the Pacific coast, a region w here
hydro-electric developm ent reco rd s
a re co n tin u ally being broken.
D uring th is period im provem ents
and additions to the com pany's tr a n s
m ission and d istrib u tio n facilities
have kept pace w ith the in c re ase in
g en eratin g capacity.
PORTLAND GAS COMPANY
IS HOME INDUSTRY
P o rtlan d and Its su rro u n d in g com
m unities a re enjoying a very h ealthy
gro w th and we hear from all sides th a t
to keep up th is grow th it w ill be nec
essary to obtain m ore in d u strie s to
su p p o rt th e Increasing -population.
T his is probably tru e but th e grow th
of some of th e p resen t in d u strie s is
going a long way in helping to build
th e com m unity.
T he P o rtlan d Gas & Coke com pany
is one of th e oldest in d u strie s in and
ab o u t P o rtlan d , having inco rp o rated
in 1851, w hen P o rtlan d covered an
a re a of 1.7 sq u a re m iles and had a
population of 2,874. T h ere a re some
people who th in k th a t th e gas b u si
ness is g rad u ally losing ground and
th a t in a few y ears it w ill be as ex
tin c t as th e m astodon and Dodo bird.
H ow ever, th e fact th a t in 1910, 28,-
000 m e ters w ere in use and today
th e re a re m ore th an 92,000 m eter in
sta lla tio n s. would not indicate th a t the
gas business is on ihe decline. F u rth
er, In 1921, th e Gas com pany sold 404,-
000,000 cubic feet of gas for h o u se
h eating alone and in 1924, th ree y ears
later, th e sales w ere m ore th a n tw ice
th a t or over $33,000,000 cubic feet.
Some people Im agine th a t cooking
by electricity m ight some day su p e r
cede cooking by gas. But if all the
horsepow er available to the tw o elec
tric com panies in P o rtlan d w ere used
en tirely for cooking and h eatin g w a
te r It would only supply o ne-half of
th e business w hich th e Gas com pany
now has. In addition to th is If all the
h o rsepow er available to both com
panies w ere used for nothing else but
to ta k e over the h ouseheating business
of th e Gas com pany only h alf of the
dem and could be supplied. In oth er
w ords, if th e gas business w ere to
cease tom orrow and both electric
com panies w ere to use all th e ir h o rse
pow er to ta k e over the cooking, w ater
h eating and househeating business
th ey would only have o ne-fourth
enough pow er available.
If th e e n tire gas business used for
cooking alone w ere tu rn ed over to the
elec tric com panies it would ta k e an
investm ent of $120,000,000 over and
above w hat they alread y have and If
we figure 10 per cent for in te re st and
dep reciatio n it would m ean a ch arg e
of $12,000,000 for th a t alone per year
or m ore th a n $10.00 per m onth per
custom er.
T hese sta te m en ts may seem Incredi
ble because It is usually th o u g h t th a t
w ith all th e available w ater pow er
w ith w hich Oregon la blessed, th a t the
cost of electricity should be ever so
much less th an it is. H ow ever, to
m ake th is w ater pow er av ailab le to
th e consum er as electricity it is neces
sa ry to invest hund red s of th o u san d s
and in m any cases m illions of d o llars
in dam s and pow er p la n t equipm ent,
w hich m akes th e coat of elec tricity a
con sid erab le am ount. As th e dem and
for electricity Increases It Is n ecessary
to go fa rth e r and fa rth e r back Into the
m ountains to obtain th e necessary
w ater power. T his m akes th e cost of
d istrib u tin g the electricity to th e far
d istan t cities m ore and more.
A lmost everyone is in te reste d in
th ese th in g s because it affects the
home th ro u g h the use of gas for l o o k
ing, heating and lighting. Its influ
ences the autom obile in d u stry in the
use of m otor fuel and it affects bust
ness in te re sts because of th e m an u
fa c tu re of gasco briquets, w hich in
cre ase s th e su p p ly of av ailab le fuel
and th ereb y helps to keep down the
cost of fuel in general.
So it Is seen th a t th e Gas com pany
is a home Industry w hich fu rn ish es
w ork for a la rg e num ber of people
and supplies needed com m odities to
n early loo per cen t of the w hole com-
m unlty.
15, 1925
hrisiinas Gifts
òr
A store full of appropriate and useful gifts, gifts you would appreciate re
ceiving, gifts you are satisfied to give.
A Universal
H e r Choice o f Gifts
ELECTRIC
OVEN- COOKER
AN ELECTRICAL AP
PLIANCE GIFT would
surely be her choice.
Select them here.
Operates from any lamp
socket, cooks with stored heat.
W ill ro a st o r stew m e a ts o r fow ls;
bake, ste a m o r b ro il fish, b ean s,
rice o r g ree n v e g e ta b le s of all
k inds. B ake b read , cak es, m uffins
o r biscu its.
V ery econom ical.
L ig h t to han d le.
U arm ing Pads
Waffle Irons
T oasters
Percolators
Vacuum
C leaner
Irons
A Daylight
Electric
W asher Torm a
0
EACH
A Winchester
U T IL IT Y G IF T
to wult you , w ith in reason , on washer.
A big ev en t o f this w eek
Our Bargain Table
Scissors
Shears
Razor Strops
K itchen Sets
Spatulas
Butcher Steels
Just a table on which we are selling at
ridculouslv low prices, all articles we are
desirous of cleaning up before inventory.
Broken lines of Crockery, Glassware,
Hardware, etc. We put them on the table
with the price. Some one will want them
quick.
F lash ligh ts
Pocket k n iv es
Razors
Paring k n iv e s
Butcher k n iv es
Meat Eorks
A Winchester
Sporting Goods Gift
A Pyrex Oven Glass
Gift
Ititles
Shotguns
E ishing Tackle
B aseballs
Footballs
Basket Balls
Bull Gloves
Kail Bats
Roller Skates
T eapots
C asseroles
Pie Plates
Utility Pans
Cake Plates
M easure Cups
Another Big W eek
in Toyland
Our stock of Toys, Games, etc., is
complete but the early shoppers will
have the advantage of the best se
lections.
Bargains you cannot overlook.
TOY FORD CARS
A Winchester Tool Gift
Hand Drills
Bit, Braces
Augur KBs
H atchets
W renches
Pliers
Pinchers
Drill Bits
Levels
Axes
H andsaws
Hammers
Squares
Buies
Hack Saws
k itch en Saws
Screw Drivers
Chisels
Compass
Saws
BOYS’ TOOL
< BESTS
in re g u la r U ncle Sam
w artim e
am m unition
boxes. T he box alone
is w orth m ore th a n we
ask for t h e sel<
Special th is
week, th e s e t ,
$198
and tra c to rs, reg.
50c value th is
week, e a c h . .
39c
Toy T elephones
Reg. 50c value
th is week ........
QQ
All Stuffed A nim als at
barg ain prices
A Safe Edge Glassware Gift
A Coleman
Goblets
Sherberts
Table
Tum blers
Beverage
Sundaes
Til in tilers
D ifferen t p a tte rn s in each
G A S LAM P
t lia ni pagues
or
LANTERN
FRIDAY! Last day of our counting contest
All counts m ust be in the boxes Friday night, Dec. |H
S a tu rd a y at 10 a. m . the b o x es w ill be o p en ed and the prizes
a w a rd ed . Be on hand b oys an d girls.
I f * The
Store where parking it easy and shopping a pleasure"
A.W. Metzger & Co.
GIFTS FOR ALL
TH E
MERRY CHRISTMAS
TV/fiCHiST£U
sto r e
h?
I