Omaha Daily Bee Newspaper, April 17, 1910, Page 15

THE OMAHA SUNDAY BEE: WALL STREE Through Its Transportation and Financial Kings has Decreed that Portland is to WO giant Mogul locomotives—chugging, jerking and ctrug- gling up the mountain defile—finally land twelve loaded freight cars at the summit of the pass As the tired engines rest after their mighty labor, the music of tumbling cataracts is heard amid the impressive grandeur of towering peaks. With a rumble and a roar an avalanche thunders down the mountainside, and the engine crews tremble, ever mindful of the fate of entire trains which have been buried by the devastating slifes. Only a few score miles away the scene is different. One little engine, cheerily puffing its even, rhythmic song. trun- dles go loaded freight cars through another pass of the same moun- tain range-—a level grade all the way through Beside the go-car train rolls the broad Columbia River flowing placidly threugh the heart of the lofty Cascade mountain system The din of Wall street for half a century drowned the music of the cataract, the roar of the avalanche and the dashing of the Colum- bia. But America's kings of finance see the balance sheets, which show cost of operation and cost of maintaining railroad rights of way. The economy of letting long trains roll down a water grade compared with dragging and pushing short trains over snow-capped mountain barriers finally became apparent. When Wall Street Awoke Wall street is often slow. . Some of the biggest facts in trans- continental transportation long remained unperceived. But once seen, studied, understoed and appreciated, they were acted upon. And finally Wall street awoke to what the Columbia River meant as the one water grade outlet for interior America all the way from Canada to Mexico. Awake, Wall street began to act. This was five years ago. The Hill interests built down the Columbia River, from Spokane to Portland. The Harriman interests replaced the pioneer ramshackle streak of rust along the other bank of the Columbia with a modern roadbed equal to that built by the Hill millions. . Five years have confirmed the tardy judgment of Wall street, as was inevitable. The Columbia River gorge through the Cascade- Sierra mountain barrier was found to be the one economical high- way for the nation’s comimerce to the Pacific. Cost of operation and maintaining the roadbed are seen to be from 40 to 70 per cent less than by any other route. As James J. Hill said: “The easiest way over the mountains is down the Columbia River.” And it was just the other day, this month, that one freight train Cascade of 130 cars, probably the longest that ever was hauled into any city, | was brought down the Columbia River on Mr. Hill’s ] railroad, drawn by only one engine. Where Two Grooves Intersect So much-for east and-west traffic from interior America. Then there is the vast’commerce north and south on the Pacific Slope. Over 3,000,000 people live now in the Pacific States. Popu- lation is increasing every year—pouring in from the East like a tidal wave, but so vast are the resources and so varied the opportunities that the cry for more people will be sounded for generations. This population has just one natural land route for north-and-south travel —the continuous valley beginning in the Gulf of California and run- ning 2,000 miles straight north without interruption through Puget Sound. Already this valley is veined with railroads—the only through north-and-south railroads west of the Rocky Mountains. The interior canyon-seamed plateau between the Rocky and Cascade- Sierra ranges has no continuous valley system north and-south. The coast has no other continuous north-and-south valley. Nature cut one great groove and only one. And where does the one line of north-and-south travel cross the one east-and-west route—the Columbia River outlet. It crosses at Portland, Oregon. And it so happens that besides being at this one junction point, Portland is the head of ocean navigation and is by itself the one com- 'mercial, social and financial center of an agricultural and timber ter- ritory as large as the German Empire. All these factors for city-building concentrate at this one point ~—Portland, Oregon. And Wall street finally found it out. orth Bank Having found it out, it is pouring its eager millions into Portland and the Oregon Country | for development. Cold, conservative, the ruler of Empire, Portland had prospered unaided by outside capital. the entire Pacific Northwest, disdaining to notice what Eastern cap- ital was doing for other cities to reach which it had to cross mountain tops. And Portland continued to prosper. Its prosperity, through panic as well as through good times, gradually became a by-word, | East as well as Far West, but Eastern capital continued to seek an outlet elsewhere, until within the last few years. Now it is pouring into Portland, unsolicited, and engaging in the development of Ore- gon and the up-building of what inevitably will be the metropolis of the entire Pacific Coast. Wonderful F ac;are These Progress and Prosperity inciic and Southern Pacific west of 1 Portland— | Omaha and morth of San Prancisco {The Great Northern, Northern Pacific the Rose City |and Burlington are making Portland {their traffic center in the Pacific | Northwest. Unwise railroad manipulation wade every effort up fo the beginning of 1908 to force the trade of the Coast over unnatural lines, but 2!l now unite in the opinion that God made the only highway through the Cascade and Coast mountain ranges. The Colum- bia River is the only natdral route from the interior to the sea between Portland is growing faster than any Pacific Coast city ever grew before. Its advancement during the next three years will be more rapid and substan- tial than that of any other city in the United States. This_progress is not of the boem :c;rl.‘1 The ‘ill{ is I.uild;n. on a iodlig oundation., Back of all this splendi : o lambe growth, Portland remains Ihf most | Mexico and British Columbia conservative city in the West Al Oregon and the Columbia River Portland's position is its great ad-|Valley has a downgrade route to vantage over other Pacific Coast|Portland, making it possible to haul cities. Located at the junction of the Columbia and Willamette Rivers, the greatest streams commercially west of the Mississippi. it has at its back a vast empire of surpassing richness. For this whole territory, Portland is the market town. Bailrosds Vie for Supremacy. ‘The Hill and Harriman systems are vieing with each other to see which can _aid most in the development of Portland and the Northwest. This is the headquarters for the Union Pa- in the United States. From Montana Portland, b.ulL(eelin. the tug of a locomotive. The altitude of railway tracks on the Portland routes to the interior at the crest of the Cascade Mountains is less than 250 feet above sea level Wive of Ballroad Building. From the most conservative sonrces of information, it is estimated that 22 per cent of all railway building in the It had grown opulent, powerful and in- | different. ' Its wealthy pioneer city-builders held the purse-strings for | the longest trains entering any rily! to Utab, heavy freight trains roll to| pouring its Millions in- to Oregon for Devel- ‘opment | United States either under construc- {tion or already agreéd upon for 1910 | will be in the territory commanded by Portland as the chief trading cen- ter and distributing point In addition to this great railroad development, the dominant figures in the financial world are pouring their | money into Portland, the chief city of the Golden Northwest. Rockefeller's | millions are being invested in and {around Portland. Mofgan is inter- | |ested here. The Swifts are erecting | big livestock packing plants. Weyer- | haeuser holds timber worth untold | imillwns that will be sawed and mar- | keted here. | Meat Packing Cemters Here. | Great stockyards just completed are | more modern than any other in the| copntry. Around them as a center is | being built a great packing industry. Portland is now-the biggest livest: market west of the Rocky Mountains, What packing houses have done for Chicago, Omaha and Kansas City is | generally known. History will repeat | itself here in a vaster amphitheatre. | Almost the whole Pacific Northwest | |is tributary to Portland. This city is "lhr trade center of parts of three great | states besides all Oregon, a territory |covering more than 250,000 square | miles. From British Columbia to Cal- lifornia, Portland is supreme. The | products of the Northwest come the | | easiest way, over railroad tracks that Yollow closely the great water courses \m tidewater at Portland. | This vast producing territory at| | Portland's back becomes a greater | |source of wealth with every addi- ‘noml settler and every added acre of land put under cultivation. Thou- | sands of homeseckers settle here | | evesy year and the immigration this ]sprmg has never been equalled. Vast Wholesale Business. { to predict the extent ®) NS ber manufacturing industries that are | requirements are met for profitable Because of Portland’s position, it |population, so directly is the city's | growing with the increasing demand | operation is the great jobbing city of this part |of the United States. Its future in growth related to the tributaty coun- try. Certainly the figure will be very { this line of business was recognized | large, for there is a greater fterritory in ea Pacific days. No other city in the behind Portland than is tributary to orthwest has anything like | any American city of less than 1,000,- the diversity of stocks kept here. Be- | 000 population. sides the wealth of natural resources | about Portland, the great agricultural Portland has stored-up wealth equal to Pittsburg’s coal in its numerous |and horticuitural country is depend- | water powers near the city that will {ent upon this city for merchandise. | Portland stands supreme on the Coast and fourth in the United States as a distributing point for agricultural im- plements One entire portion of the city, with class A, is given up to the wholesale trade. This district lies-along the railroad and water terminals, with | splendid facilities for handling goods in any quantity. The constant inter- change of crops and merchandise be- |tweén Portland and the interior is a source of great wealth to this city. Mo Skyscraper Craze Mere. Portland has not lost its head and |gone crazy on skyscrapers, for while there are dozens of these, with many |being added constantly, factories wholesale houses, big stores, ware- | houses and all other lines of building |are keeping pace evenly. The city {remains conservative despite its re- markable growth. Its tributary ter- ]rnm')‘ is growing far more rapidly, making Portland’s future far more se- cure than if the city was setting the pace. The majority of all the great build- ings going up here are being erected by local capital, without mortgaging the- future. Tand for the Landless. The cry of the world is for land It is being satisfied here. Interior Oregon and the Coast counties are being opened up by railroad building, |only now making accessible for set. |tlement a territory as large as the state of Illincis and possessing far greater resources. Yesterday this great empire was a wilderness, with no transportation {means save the most primitive. To. {day the locomotive's whistle is wak- |ing: the echoes over ionely plains and widely scattered ranches. omorrow ’the interior Oregon prairies will be a { vast field of waving grain, dotted with orchards and gardens. « When Oregon shall have 2 popula- {acres of new buildings, many of them | | continue ' forever inexhaustible.’ Hun- | dreds of thousands of horsepower are yet available that will be harnessed | |as the development of the country | demands it Is the Leading Port. Like other great ports of the world, | Portland is an inland city, with the only fresh water harbor on the Pa- | cific Coast. Ships taken from salt wa- ter into fresh lose their accumulation of barnacles and other sea growths, so such a port is a great attraction to ship masters. The channel down the Columbia River to the sea is of ample depth to accommodate vessels of deep draft. Big liners ply regularly be- | tween here and the Orient and to Pa- cific Coast ports and great tramp steamers and ships come for wheat, flour and lumber, which is carried to every part of the globe Despite some false impressions, mainly due to Portland’s indifference to exploiting its own record, Portland is the foremost port of the Pacific Northwest. Of the ten largest lum- ber cargoes loaded in Portland in 1909, the average cargo was 3,474,000 feet. The average load of the ten largest lumber carriers loading at Ta- coma, Seattle and other Puget Sound ports was 2883510 feet. he ten largest carriers seat away from Port- land since the present season opened, July 1, 1909, carried 2,213,426 bushels of wheat. The ten largest carriers from Tacoma and Seattle for the same period carried 1,791,635 bushels. Cuts More Logs Into Lumber. Portland is the first lumber ship- ping port in phe world Her mills cut 2,000,000 feet every working day. Oregon has more standing timber than any other state. The govern- ment estimate is 300,000,000,000 feet, one-sixth of the standing timber of the United States. Late cruises ex- ceed this figure. portation standpoint 160 acres of wheat land. Tm’:oiomolmny rea- tion for its vacant land: i - ers covering the - i'n“mvmu now without pecple, it would be bard sons why the transcontinental foads are building into Oregon. Portland is the center of great Jum- { for Oregon lumber as Eastern forests| The manufacture of wool is car- | are denuded. Oregon timber is at-|ried on here under the most favorable | tracting much capital from Michigan |conditions. This industry is likely to | and Wisconsin and millions are pour- |become very important. Experts have | ing in from the South. {reported that Oregon offers unusual |, Oregon fir is used for interior fin-|inducements to wool manufacturers. |ishing material and is gaining favor | Great quantities of wood pulp and pa- because of the beauty of its grain.|per are made, and it is predicted that J. J. Hill says ome | acre of timber equals from a trams- | Masts and. spars of the world and 100-foot bridge timbers come from Oregon Mart for Export Wheat. Portland is the second wheat ex- | porting city of the United States, be- |ing exceeded only by New York. It |seems certain to take first place when | the idle lands of the interior are made |into wheat farms. | Portland is one of the wealthiest of |cities. In the pioneer era Portland | was the banking town for the whole Northwest and this relation has been maintained since. Portland capital cafries on many great enterprises be- ‘ycmd the state lines in the surround- |ing territory. Among these are irri- gation enterprises, banks, stores, cat- tle and fruit ranches. Oregon’s dairy herds are big wealth |producers. The dairyman does not {feel satisfied unless his cow produces |$100 a year here. Soil and climate |are ideal in Western Oregon for the |best results, and the value of dairy |products of the state has increased from $5,000,000 six years ago to $17,- | 500,000 last year. Many milk condensing plants, with national markets, are in operation throughout the state. They pick up the farmer’s milk cans daily at his door and pay him by check every month for his milk. The system is one that makes farmers rich at a min- imum of labor and trouble. Portland is the center of this as well as every other big business of the Northwest. Supply houses are here and cream is shipped here from all over Oregon and nearby states for manufacture into butter and ice cream Oregon cheese has a wide reputation for excellence. The aver- age price paid to dairymen for butter fat in the Portland market during the past year was 32.5 cents. Maw Material Cheap. An army of men is employed in manufacturing in Portland. With raw materials available, power cheap, an unlimited supply of pure water and with competitive transportation, both rail and ocean, manufacturers find all {with the imminent exhaustion of ma- terials in the East, paper production | will be centralized here. Columbia River fisheries add to the wealth of this city. Toll taken from heavy. Deep sea fisheries off the Coast offer great future wealth. Port- land capital also finds rich returns in Alaska fisheries. Extensive logging operations are carried on throughout this territory Besides using great gquantities of en- gines and machinery of Portland manufacture, the loggers are ex- tensive patrons of Portland jobbers Boomy Residence Districts. Portland suburbs are extending from the city to a remarkable extent Residence districts cover so much ter- ritory that overcrowding and the for- mation of tenement districts are un- known. Outlying suburbs are built up in a surprisingly short time, show- ing the constant gains in the city's populatian. The city limits include about half the territory covered by other Pacific Coast cities. Many thou- sand people could be brought in by including towns just outside the mu- nicipality, but the conservatism of the city is shown by the people refusing to take in added area just to show a gain in the census Portland has an abundant supply of pure mountain water, being brought from a river fed by the melting snows of Mount Hood. This summer a sec- ond aqueduct will be laid, providing for a city of twice the present sige of Portland. The water is brought by a gravity system 30" miles to the city. More water is available from the same source as the city requires it, the stream in salmon each year is| ectricity is manufactured near the |city cheaply by big plants run by | water power. This gives ample power for the city traction company, which | maintains an excellent service. Gas, made from crude petroleum, is avail- able throughout the city for light, heat and cooking. Is “The City Besutiful” Portland is improving its streets at a rate never before attempted. Pro- vision has been made for hard sur- face improvement of over 100 miles of additional streets during the pres- ent year. Electric wires have been placed in underground conduits throughout the business district. | Burnham & Bennett, Chicago archi- tects, have been engaged to draw |plans for the future growth of Port- fand along harmonious lines and are now at work | And Is “The Rose City.” | _Portldnd is famous for its roses. | Known as the “Rose City,"” the floral |display is unsurpassed anywhere. Rose hedges border the sidewalks in |the residence districts and thousands {of rose bushes bloom almost all the year in the parks and in private grounds. Portland’s annual Rose Fes- tival, a carnival of flowers, will be held this year June 6-11 and will at- tract many thousand people. Re- duced rates are offered on railroads from the East as well as the surround- ing country. Essentially a city of homes, Port- land makes a peculiar appeal to those who love trees and flowers. Every home has its lawn and roses. Resi- dence streets are shaded by beautiful trees. Parks are numerous and beau- tiful. The Willamette River offers facilities for boating and sailing prac- | tically all the year and swimming in |the summer. Some of the grandest scenery on the continent is within a few hours’ ride of Portland, notably the gorge of the Columbia River. Snow-capped mountains of matchiess beauty are in sight from every part of the city. Matchless Boents Panorama. | _ Just back of the city stands Council | Crest, reached by. a short trolley ride, fare 5 cents, where one stands 1200 |feet above the business district and has a wide, unobstructed view over the city and far into the neighboring country. One can see for miles in every direction, looking far over into Washington and in the distance are hundreds of miles of mountain ranges, capped by the five snowy peaks and | cut through by the Columbia river in the center of the panorama. There is |no view of a similar nature in Amer- ica to equal this, The Forestry building, a massive log structure, erected on the Lewis and Clark Fair grounds, contains with the bark intact, tons. Experienced trav- elers have said the sight of this build- ing was well worth the trip across the continent There are many attractions here for the visitor. People should plan their summer trip so that it will include Portland | | | Portland Commercial Club Pwtal-nd. Oregon