The quarterly of the Oregon Historical Society, Vol. 4, March, 1903-December, 1903Oregon Historical Society
History
The quarterly of the Oregon Historical Society, Vol. 4, March, 1903-December, 1903
Oregon Historical Society
Oregon -- History -- Periodicals
stir up mischief nor rebels to stir up rebellion in either the North
or South. Mr. Rector, the obliging and gentlemanly head of the
factory, showed me through the compartments and gave me some valuable
statistics relative to its annual growth. His intention is to double
this year the number of spindles. The surplus wool, heretofore shipped
to New York, will be retained and manufactured at home; thus, our
clothes and blankets will all be supplied from wool which all can
grow. Mr. Rector finds difference in the wools grown on the east and
the west of the Cascades, and preference being given to the latter, as
containing more oily or fatty matter, and hence requiring less oiling
in the process of manufacturing. That grown to the east of the
Cascades is thought to be not only drier but harsher--more dirty--but
time and the proper attention to its culture will doubtless bring
about changes. New breeds, housing in winter, and dry foothills for
grazing, are all advantages which wool growers to the east of the
Cascades can have on their side. There are few regions where finer
grazing fields are to be had than the slopes of the Bitter Root
Mountains; and the freedom from excessive dampness, the pure, fresh
mountain springs, are all so many advantages, that I confidently look
forward to the day when these many well-grassed slopes shall be
covered with fleecy flocks, and when the waters of the many silvery
streams that now flow through the Walla Walla Valley, shall be caught
and used to turn the wheels of a woolen factory, from which shall be
turned out all the fabrics needed to clothe the population destined to
find homes to the east of the Cascade Mountains. The clothes made by
the Salem factory compare favorably with those imported. One thing
certain, there is no cotton in their fabrics. Flannels of every hue
are turned out at forty cents per yard; blankets from $4 to $8,
according to texture; and clothes from 75 cents to $1.50 per yard,
according to fineness. It would be a most happy result if every
merchant, farmer, miner, and professional man in Oregon and Washington
would determine in his own mind to have at least one suit of clothes
made from Salem cloth, and every bed to be covered by at least one
pair of Salem blankets. This would be affording a practical proof of
our pride in seeing established in our midst these factories, which
must eventuate in the profit of individuals. It is much to be
regretted that the immense and illimitable mill power at Oregon City
is not now turned to good account. The disasters by fire and flood of
the Linn City mills have been of such a sad character that the
tendencies now are to intimidate capitalists, at least for a time,
from embarking in similar investments at the same site. A substantial
railroad is being built around the portage at Oregon City, destined to
diminish the time and cost of shipment up and down the Willamette. The
season for practicable steam navigation to the upper points of the
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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