Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1888-07-05


During the same year S2,7S4ooo.-
90 were expended in building
improvements. Here, then, is
city transacting tremendous
business, and growing in size and
commercial Importance at an
astonishing rate even in this age of
rapid progress. In such a city as
this, already rich and populous,
and the financial and commercial
center OF a rapidly developing
region as large as an empire, it
would seem as if manufactures
could be established with every
prospect Of the highest success.
1t will be Of interest to call atten-
ton to the advantages Of location
the city possesses, as viewed from
a manufacturers standpoint.
Portland is the head of deep
water navigation on the Columbia
and Willamette rivers, and its
harbor is constantly filled with
ocean-going vessels, both steam
and sale. Fifteen miles up the
Willamette river are the celebrated
falls. having a height of footy-one
feet, and developing power at
low water exceeding those at
Minneapolis by forty per cent,
and by one hundred per cent. at
high water. The falls have been
carefully surveyed and plated at
an expense of 100000, and are
the property of the Willamette
transportation Co., which also
owns nearly all the land suitable
for manufacturing purposes. This
company offers to manufacturers
the land upon which to erect
factories and the water power by
which to run them. The land
will be a free gift; with title in fee
simple, and the water power will
be free for a period of ten years, a
reasonable charge to be made for
power thereafter, at a contract
price to be designated at the time
of making the original agreement.
The development of the power, SO
far as its practical application to
to his own uses is concerned, must
be made by the parties using it.
Two lines of railway and the river
offer ample and cheap communiCa-
ton between the factories and deep
water at Portland. In fact so far
as the receipt and shipment of
freight are concerned, Portland
and Oregon City are practically
one. This situation seems to
mark Portland as one Of the future
great manufacturing cities of
America. No other seaport city
in the United States is blessed with
such a magnitude Of available
water power at its very gates; nor
are any of the great falls OF
America so favorably situated,
both as to nearress to the seat OF
production of raw materials and
to a seaport from which may be
reached all the great markets OF
the world. A few moments OF
thought will convince any practi-
cal man that in the falls of the
Willamette Portland enjoys a
valuable gift of nature, not vouch-
safed to any other seaport on the
Pacific coast, and that the falls
themselves, in their accessibility
from tide water, possess advantages
of location superior to any others
in the world. The falls that have
made Minneapolis SO great a
manufacturing city are more than
a thousand miles inland, while
these are but fifteen miles from a
seaport already enjoying a large
foreign commerce, where vessels
may be loaded for any port in the
world. There are other water
powers in Oregon, both east and
west of the Cascade mountains,
favorably situated on lines OF
railway, which offer splendid
opportunities for manufacturing.
| These facts strike the newcomer
to Oregon SO forcibly that he
marvels that greater advantage is
not taken of them. The true
reason for this has been given, and
these opportunities now stand
invitingly open to those who have
the presence to see and grasp
them.
In my next lettee I will tell you
all | can about the dairy besiness,
which seems to be the most sadly
neglected of all the avenues OF
industry now open for immediate
occupation. L. S.
! Cleveland's Election Means the Death