Los Angeles herald., 1907-12-08
BROOM STRAW IN GREAT DE-
MAND IN PORTLAND
LARGE AMOUNT is PRODUCED
YEARLY HERE
Mere Steamers Should Be Run Be-
tween Los Angeles and Oregon
Ports to Garry Southern
California Products
THOMAS II. MERRY.

|
tween San Pedro and the two northern
ports of Eureka and Portland; and the
| new line consisting Of the George W.. Ell
| der and Roanoke should get hold OF anoth-
| er steamer of about the same size. to
! enable its projectors to give a five-day
| schedule between San Pedro and Port
| land The difference of seasons, at least
| five weeks between Oregon and the
southern portion of California. Is In itself
| a sufficient basis for an extensive mari
time commerce that is bound to Increase
in proportion to the facilities afforded for
| its maintenance now and its expansion
| hereafter
/ People who have lived only in the inland
states can form but little idea of the
! cheapness of water transportation. Inc
writer was talking with some young men
| who have a broom factory in Portland
| about a month ago, and inquired in what
part of Oregon their broom corn was
grown.
'It is not grown in this state at ALL"
said the Portlander "There have been
small quantities Of IL grown here. but not
| enough to make it an established sue
cess The climate is too damp, and it is
| staple which wants hot nights, to develop
| strong fiber"
Where does the best come from?
asked the writer.
"Well. our experience is that the best
fiber obtainable comes from Colusa coun-
ty, which lies on the Sacramento river.
They grow very fine about Bakersfield
and Fresno, but those are railroad towns
and the freight would come too high"
Water Rates Cheapest
"Well. Colusa is only about one hun
dred miles this side of Sacramento, so
should think the railway charges would
eat your head off, although 1T is 200 miles
nearer than Fresno and nearly 400 miles
nearer than Bakersfield" said. the writer.
Railway charges? Oh, they don't
bother us any. We don't attempt to snip
broom corn by rail. The water is good
enough for us. We ship by barge from
Colusa to San Francisco-takes at least
, four days. including the delay in trans
t ferring from the barge to the ocean
, ! steamer at San Francisco; and then 1t IS
l three days from san Francisco here. at
total cost of SIS per ton freight If we
shipped by rail from Colusa to this place
, it would cost us about $50 per ton, with
, an additional charge for switching the
, car from the freight depot to the Factory.
oh, no. you never can get anything TO
beat the water when you want cheap
, transportation"
A few minutes later the writer was on
board a. river steamer. looking at the way
in which crude petroleum is fed to the
furnaces. AS all the boats on the Column
hia and Willamette rivers are high
pressure boats the oil has to be fed 10
the flames in manner wholly dlHeren1
from what it is fed on the low-pressure
ferry boats on San Francisco bay. The
engineer was an old acquaintance, and
after closing the furnace doors he sa1d
''I'm lust a prayin' that your oil wells
don't give out down there, for 1t is just
as safe as any other kind of fuel when
YOU pay proper attention to 1t. You really
do not need a fireman in every watch
, nowadays"
"IJow about the danger of explosions?"
z asked.
.Well, you know they had one on the
Teal the other day, and that's the only
one that 1 know of. On the other hand,
you know all the explosions that TOOK
place in this state since 1S50-the Gazelle.
the Senator the Resolute and them other
, boats that blew up-every last one OF 'em
burned wood. Then there's another rea-
son why steamboat men should fancy
OIL"
what is that?" I asked.
Is Clean Fuel
p.Well. now. overhaul your memory. You
have been a captain and before that you
J were a mate. What did you do every
Sunday morning when you were mate
if the boat wasn't under way?'
''I used to get the deckhands up with
} soap and scrubbing brushes to clean the
paint on the upper works." answered.
} Eyes. and it took you from three to five
hours to do 1t. The dry cinderS OF tnat
fir wood stuck to every damp spot on the
| cabin and pilot house. Now the oil BURNS
up so clean that nothing comes out or
the smokestacks and you don't nave 10
clean paint once a month. It's just as
tell you-Southern Call1ornla OIL is Gou D
blessin to Oregon"
Just at the present writing we are worth
more to Oregon in a commercial way than
she is to us, as we do not raise our own
breadstuffs nor cut our own lumber. But
the exchange of products, whlch is tno
basis of all commerce, whether by land
or sea- could be greatly amplihed IL q
little missionary work were done by the
chamber of commerce or some other mer-
, camille body like it.
q 1t is true Frank Virgins went up 10
I the Lewis and Clark fair, which adver-
{, tised Portland far beyond the most san
n guine of it's projectors, and gave them
4 good exhibit of the resources and products
(, of Southern California. He did well, TO
{, be sure, but it did not go fare enough. 1t
d wants men to visit the country stores
q throughout the state and take orders for
q what they do not now carry in stock
4 even if they have to give six or eight
months credit for the sake of getting the
q goods once fairly introduced. They want
Z old and experienced drummers, like Old
I Prunes in Curtis play of 'Saml OF
Posen," to go out into the wilderness
\ Excursions Failure
4 You might get up chamber OF COM
merce excursion, with fare and a nalI
, rates, and a train of seven or eight Pull
man cars starting out of the Arcade
depot BY the time they had got to
Shasta Springs they would want to drink
I the tank dry. When they got to Port
I land. Tom Richardson would have auto
I mobiles waiting for them, to show them
I, the growth of the city, winding up with
substatial lunch at the Commercial
{, club. and in the evening a dinner at the
I chamber of commerce, with lots of cham
4 pagne and speechmaking. Every last
a mothers son would come home with
Il head on him as big as an elephant-and
4 that's about all the good 1t would do.
y No; 1t must be done in a different way
IL. -