The Hood River glacier. (Hood River, Or.) 1889-1933, 1915-10-28
VINEGAR OUTPUT
SHOWS INCREASE
LOCAL CONCERN SHOWS PROGRESS
Hood River Vinegar Company Manager,
c. ]. CaIkinS, Says Quality is the
Keynote of Success

Stence OF the 1000 RIVER apple Vine
par Company's factory is a story Of
steady progress From an investment
of $1,000 it has grown to that OF
500, 600. From an annual capacity Of
9 500 gallons of vinegar the output Of
last year reached 4O0. 600 gallons One
large orchard would have furnished
fruit for the factory in the early days
of its existence, while today from 35 to
40 tons of Gull apples from the local
district are crushed, their juice being
piped to enormous tanks to pass
through chemical processes and emerge
finally in bottles and jars, a clear, pure
apple cider vinegar,
No institution of the mid Columbia
and perhaps no factory of the state OF
Oregon has made greater development
than the local vinegar factory. Whlle
commercial graveyards in all parts OF
the country are filed with the remains
of such enterprises, the management OF
the local factory has detied any busl-
ness anaemia. 1t has been built on
solid foundation
MANY factories for the handling of
by-products from the orchard have been
promoted as cooperative institutions.
They have been launched with mighty
crash of band wagon enthusiasm. The
magic words of cooperation have been
an asset to the artist-salesman OF can
merry and by-products machinery manu-
factory companies. As result the
institutions began life with an overload
of equipment. Not willing to allow
| their machinery to lie idle, superin-
tendents and grower directors of such
cooperatiye factories have busted them
selves in canning or packing numerous
| iublots of fruits and vegetables. Pretty
soon with storage space filled with
products the difficult task of dsposing
of it at profit presented itself. Dis
tributors and purchasers OF such goods
are looking for standardization of pack
and quality. The mass of goods offered
by inexperienced manufacturers does
net appeal to them. The goods remain
unsold. A damper falls on the early
ardor of the days of organization. lhe
bubble is bursted, the dream of profit
gone, and the doors of the by-products
plant are eventually closed.
When it began life in little building
40x50 feet, one story, with two sheds
attached, the Hood River vinegar fac
tory might have been considered
weak baby. 1t was not taken very ser
iously by local people. But the owner,
IC. j. Calkins, who today spends each
day and a portion of each night manag-
ing a vinegar plant that covers city
block, did not care. He had plans of
the future. but he was not confiding IN
any one, he was engaged in the task OF
making his baby factory at least
healthy business institution. lie didn't
t overfeed it.
MIR. Calkins, who was formerly a
, Portland salesman and who knew the
intricaces through which goods passed
from the time of production to that OF
, final consumption, realized that his task
was not only that of producing vinegar
and cider, but that of selling 1t protlta-
bIv as we'll. The business he manages
TODAY bears mute evidence Of the sue
! cess of his plans.
} But Mr.. CalknR even today is not a
talkative man. He could tell much of
= the hows and why's OF failures in orch
. ard hy-products plants. But he does
! NOT care TO talk. For one reason he is
: too busy: and he is Of reticent ma
= ture. However, he will tell you that
: the keynote Of success of a business
4 such as his lies in the quality of the
product turned out. Quality is favor
o ite word with him. He practices what
I he breaches and few weeks ago, In
competition with Vinegats from scores
of factories in all parts of the United
States. Hood River Yellow Newtown
Apple Vinegar was awarded the highest
gold medal premium at the Panama,
: Pacific International Exposition. Not
until this award was announced dld
some of Mr.. Calkins' neighbors realize
the proportions his business has as
j. sumed.
y A little picture of this man Calkins,
is as he is seen by his nelghbOrs and those
"a who reside along the route from his
q home to his factory might be interest
ii ing. Only the very early risers bea'
If him up. In the autumn months, wher
/ his factory is working overtime anC
4 at the present season he is working day
: and night shifts of men-Mr. Caikins II
a. out of bed before the sun has begun tt
j. naint the sky above the mountain tops
n. He NAV be seen walking cross lots, thu
% shortest way, to his factory. Some
m times he drives down in his automobile
q. Verv often he carries a dinner pail 10
a he hasn't time to return home 10
lunch. That first award OF a gol
co medal at San Francisco was not, 1t /
n. evident, Just matter of luck.
rk Wien the cider and vinegar mi
he opeped for business in the fall Of l9Oe
its nav roll did not exceed S45O pc
lie month. Today, during the busy season
A. from the time early varieties of apple
are ready for the harvest till the hol
ke dav season is well toward close, tn
or factory distributes in Hood River NOR
nd than 81. 600 a month. And in additio
IN the CITY block covered with factor
three stories high and enormous woo'
en- storage tanks, where the apple J4ic
is allowed to age-good vinegar liE
good whskey must get certain quaI
IL ties from a storage in wood-a city L
VIZ on the opposite side of Railroad aVeh'
is the home of an evaporatlng plan
installed last year by the vinegar ia
no, tory. From 10 to l5 tons OF frult al
he dsiIy consumed by this plant.
q, The process through which this eva
es, Grated fruit passes is an lnterestr
ms. one. From the bins into which the a
'st- ples-a are deposited from the orchardlst
on wagon. they are lifted by an eleVat
ton chain to the second floor of the ed
RAJ factory. Here they are pared by m
J. chimes that whirl them on tables hu
has dreds in minute. Women, with DE
tn hands, watch each apple, No faul
niece of fruit is sallowed to leave /
j IN table. With knives any adhering bit
'rg- ueeI ra is removed. Stems and bIossc
ends are cut off, aud the fruit pass
m eIlOG on conveyor m belts to the bleacher
the The bleaching apparatus is 10
and, dIoSod ,n cbnte erected on a bridge tn
3 an snans the space between the cider fl
will torv and the evaporator, ABOVE
ocai street The apples feed very SLOW
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