The morning Astorian. [volume] (Astoria, Oregon) 1899-1930, 1901-10-01
SOME FACTS AND FIGURES

! Cnou0s,iopahly. Il As,orjans apPrc-
cla,5a what truly Sood thing the
lumber business Is. ther, would be hall
DOZEN larSe mills AZ the mouth Of
thu Columbia at ne pycssn, time, The
srea: trouble with the people o. this
+ city has oeen iue 9, ignorance u the
situation, ana 1t Will be the aim " The
As;orian 20 thoroughly explain matters,
with the hope tina, the CREATES, re-
sovNes Of Cla;sop county will De 3e-
velopsd.
Astoria has wooderful advantage
over Portland As a numbering center
We, that city has several large mills.
whTe Astoria is unable to supply the
local demand for lumber 1; seems
strange that Portland. handicapped as
she is, should secure so many mills
while Astoria. with her grea, advan;-
ages. se>ured none; but the situation
is easily explained. While the people a,
the mouth OF the Columbia have been
inactive, those Of Portland have been
interesting local and OUTSIDE capital ana
have succeeded N getting mills.
Since January l Of the preseu, year
ssLoOOocO feet OF timber have ben Gu,
below Kalama. Figures compiled by
millmen-,o be exac;. by NJ. ]. Kinney
sni H. F. Prasl-show tina, the COS; Of
towing that timber TO Portland aver
aged rs cents a thousand feet. while
the cos; Of towing 20 Astoria would
have averaged only 80 cents a thousand
feet. The difference in the charge Of
towing then. was more than $4,000
To this loss must be added the cost Of
taking vessels to Portland, as well as
the loss occasioned by the delay. Per-
haps he total would aggregate a quar-
ter OF a million dollars.
Despite this great COS; to Portland /
mills over the cost that would result
to Astoria mills. the concerns In the
continue 20 do business a, a
nroft. There Is likewise a reason for
this condition OF affairs. The lumber
shipped East by the Portland mills
must be Of first quality. no matter what
the cost. The inferior lumber Is ship
ped to the Orient. The frst-cass lum-
ter must be logged below Kalama, for
the trees which grow further up the
river are inferior to the timber nearer
he rivers mouth. Thus, the Portland
nillmen are enabled to do business at
\ profit.
There can be no question that the
lawmill business Is most profitable.
Use the Por;landers. heavily handl-
,apped as they are. would certainly not
-emain in It.
The effect OF the establishment Of one
arge mill here would be wonderful so
ar as the city's growth and prosperity
ire concerned. A mill tha. would Gu.
jO.OCO feet Of lumber daily would have
. waiting market in the Orient. Would
arge ocean steamships. such as the
)ceana, which repeatedly grounded
oming DOWN the river 90 TO Port
and, at great additional expense, II
hey could load at Astoria? Could
Portland millmen, who are required TO
.av IS cents more a thousand feet for !
1mber than Astoria millmen. compete
With local mills for the Oriental trade
r that Of the Esatsrn states? c, mpeu- I
ion would be out Of the question ex-
ept in one event-that the Portland r
Hills be removed to Astoria The OPEN q
ig Of the local situation would force q
hem to the mouth Of the liver. Insur- J
lg the rapid growth Of this city. y
II Astoria IS to grow. the lumber re- a
1urces OF the county must he develop I
d. We must not longer "walt Tor J,
hammond" but, as Mr. WhIDple FONTS .
NJ. must help ourselves. p
We must build mills.
GOVERNMENT PROPOSALS. .