The Oroville weekly gazette. [volume] (Oroville, Wash.) 1905-19??, 1922-08-18
RUSHING WORK
AT THE CANNERY
Large Force OF Men, Boys, Women
and Girls Turning Out the Fin.
lshed Product.

1t may be trifle sleepy on the
street but that condition is forgotten
when one drops into the local can
merry when 1t is running at full blast
and is cleered up by the scene of
oustling activity there presented The
busy little bee has nothing on the
force that is employed at this plant
when the wheels are singing in uni
son and nimble hands are preparing
the raw material for the cans and
cooking box.
The cannery starts up this year un-
der adverse conditions, conditions
that are not going to be a protra cted
handicap. Just as the tomato crop
was ripening fast and being delivered
the rains came on. Sometimes the hui
man family can have too much of Il
good thing. Rain was sorely needed
and its coming was hailed with de-
light. But the moisture insisted
upon continuing TO come, and
that played hob with the tomato crop
temporarily. The cannery started up
with the supply on hand The supply
was soon exhausted and as the yege-
table could not ripen under prevailing
conditions the plant had to close down
after short runs. That trouble will be
rectified as soon as the sun is out
again on his job, for there is hardly
any end TO the tomatoes yet to be
gathered, and with no unforeseen cli-
matte Intervention the cannery should
have long run and heavy pack
But that is all in the game. The
plant itself is running as smoothly as
a well oiled piston. at least so we nave
the word OF Manager Watson for it.
A visit to the plant is an inspiration
imism. There are some So employees
at work, and every mothers son, and
sister OF them are on the keen jump.
Forty Of these employees are women
and girls strung along the peeling
bench, and they scalp those tomatoes
with the dexterity displayed in the
early days by the Indians lifting hair.
Others are delivering tne raw mater
ial and feeding it through the steam
boilers, others slipping the cans into
the new machine that puts on the
covers, and that machine works like a
charm, and others stacking the finish
ed product in cases, while Superin-
tendent Watson was dodging around
here, there and everywhere seeing
that every part of the plant was prop
erly functioning. There was an air Of
doing things, of producing an article
that enters into commerce and by so
doing providing an income for the
grower and liquidating heavy pay
roll.
The public generally may not re-
alize what an asset the cannery Is to
the town and country, and as an asset
it is only at the beginning of its bene-
ficial usefulness. 1t is a first class
plant to start with so far as it goes,
and II, as has been said, no accident
intervenes, the output this year will
be very large. The management is
confining the output largely to tOma-
toes, but large quantity of apples
are to be put up, the number of cases
depending upon what the market will
consume. This is but starter in the
possibilities of the plant 1t is the in
tention to add machinery to handle
other fruits and vegetables. and
within a few years the Oroville can
merry will be among the big canning
institutions of the state, giving an
unfailing market for the grower, and
furnishing employment to an army OF
employees.