American Falls press. [volume] (American Falls, Idaho) 1907-1937, 1915-08-05

We stood in the back Of the great white factory.
Before us the room was crossed with work bench
after work bench, toe many to count. On either
side of each bench, were the uninterrupted rows Of
country girls, each girl with arms barred to the
elbows, deity sorting berries from little wooden
cups and placing them in cans. In the distance,
beyond the rows of filled cans, that topped the
benches, there was a dim glimpse of what looked
like machinery and a pronounced sound of what
certainly seemed to be machinery.
With everybody working and trucks bringing
in berries, other trucks carrying cans and peo-
pie moving here. there and everywhere in the har-
mony Of a definite plan, it was a scene of indus
try a picture of big business in the process of
operating, rendered doubly interesting because
right up against the out doors and made appe-
tizing by the rich odor of cooking fruit, mostly
raspberry.
/ stood and watched the scene, caught and held
by it's enthusiastic activity. Then turned and
looked at my guide. Farmer Paulhamus of Puy-
allup. When / saw he had forgotten me and was
absorbed in the pleasurable thrill of a picture that
he had seen day after day from the time it began
to gather and take form on the canvas, l under
stood the answer to a question l have heard asked
hundreds Of times during the last few months. l
have heard it asked by fruitgrowers in every dis
trict, by the heads of marketing organizations
and / have even seen it creep into print Always
the same doubling question:
What does Paulhamus want?"
have had a pretty good idea of what Paul
hamus did want but l never thoroughly under
stood the man until that Thursday afternoon,
when together we went over the field of his daily
work in the Puyallup valley, and then, just before
closing time, paused at one end of the main build
ing that houses the Sumner canning plant.
There in a corner of his field work, but a cor
ner that offers the best viewpoint OF all, l caught
some of the enthusiasm that is the motive back OF
the man. His fun in life is found in his work.
The best time that he ever has comes from the sat-
isfaction of doing a good job successfully. The
best enjoyment that he will ever have will be to
stand back and see a great piece CT constructive
work, like the canning plant at Sumner running
smoothly, and be able to say to himself. Il do
this thing. i am the man that made this possible"
That's what Paulhamus wants and it is all
he does want, whether the game that he plays be
in the Puyallup valley or in the larger field of the
fruit marketing of the northwest He wants the
Joy Of achievement, the personal satisfaction OF
feeling that he is doing things. a. y
Paulhamus is Ambitious.
Yes, but not for empty honor. or for monumen-
tai salary. The type Of ambition that he has is the
same ambition that makes that type Of man a Jewel
without price no matter where he may be found.
1t is the ambition to do things and to feel the thrill
of doing them.
If the "rhubarb king had made his industrial
, growth In the great centers of the east his force
and the desire to do things would have been
seized upon by some corporation. He would have
forged straight ahead, not because he intrigued for
salary or power. but by the very strength of the
man. Today he would have been a captain Of in
a...-x .-a onIAoI Y1l,ntariIy MOULD baya pnada
him a rich man.
Some chance landed him a farmer In the Puyal-
lup valley and that little district. two miles wide,
and eight long, is getting the benefit. Those peo-
pie are becoming rich out of ability that in indus
trial markets would command a salary high In
the five figures, and for this service they pay
$500 a year and Paulhamus Is glad to do the
work that he does and never has anything to say
about the pay. In fact, l don't think he ever gives
attention to the pay. except to see at the end OF
the year hat he has money enough to meet his
bills and save a little.
That Thursday afternoon and evening not only
gave me a new understanding of P~aulhamus, or
rather fully confirmed my previous understanding
Of him, but 1t also gave me a lot to think about
on the general subject of the future Of the fruit
business in the Pacific Northwest.
Long Lines Of Farmers.
We began our VISIT OF inspection at the fuyaliup
cannery, where the spring wagons and the Fords
were commencing to deliver the berry pick Of the
day, long lines of waiting farmers bringing their
fragile fruit to the shipping platform. Some Of the
fruit in fresh new crates was bundled into the
waiting refrigerated express cars. Most of the
berries, that day, were in brown picking crates
on their way to the cannery. 1t had been raining
and the berries were soft from their long trip to
the market.
The Puyallup cannery is not as big as that at
Sumner and the main room is not as spectacular,
but the whir of industry is Just as fast The same
long rows of girls were at their benches sorting
berries into cans which men came and racked and
hauled away. E. A4ah1
p Two other men took the cans and toited them
down a little 30 that the fruit would be solid and
the operation was as good as over. The cans
started in orderly rows on a belt. They went into
-LL 4 - M -Gal