Page:Portland, Oregon, its History and Builders volume 1.djvu/452



32 i THE CITY OF PORTLAND

For the year 1875 we find dull trade — or at least not so flattering as might be expected. From Walling's directory we clip the following: "During the past year, Portland, in common with every other section of the Union, has felt the eflE^ect of the stagnation, which has had such disastrous effects upon the commercial prosperity of the entire country ; but remote as we are from the great centers of commerce, we have been comparatively free from the dis- astrous consequences which have left their impress upon the business marts of the eastern slope."

The number of American vessels entering this year aggregated 100,602 tons ; the foreign, 16,304 tons.

The value of exports is shown by the following table :

To England $ 799,818.00

To British Columbia 136,600.00

To Hong Kong, 41,448.00

To Sandwich islands 549,480.00

To Australia 9,720.00

To Uruguay 58,743.00

Total $1,623,313.00

Imports from these countries in foreign vessels were valued at $283,499; in American vessels, $163,359; total, $446,858.

The wheat sent to England during this year was 513,481 bushels; to Ireland, 548,986 bushels; flour, 48,110 barrels.

Noticing some of the imports we find ten thousand bricks from England — evidently brought by way of ballast. Bags, also, were brought from England to the value of $79,086. The trade from China was very largely in rice, a con- siderable portion of which was for the Chinese consumers in our midst; 731,926 pounds.

From the Sandwich islands there were imported 160,839 pounds of rice; of sugar, three million, three hundred and fifty-three thousand, five hundred and fifty-two; of molasses, 1,088 gallons. This is evidently before the monopoly of Spreckles in California.

During 1876 business rapidly revived and the general enthusiasm prevailing through the entire United States did much to inspire our merchants with new energy and confidence. More interest was taken in collecting reliable statistics and in showing the world what we were capable of. It was found that the exports of Oregon averaged three hundred and eighteen dollars to each man in the state. "With a population of forty thousand men, Oregon's exports of wheat equals one-seventh of the total exports of the United States." Eastern Oregon and Washington had now begun to raise wheat in large quantities. Wool figured as a very valuable product — the export being for that year 3,125,000 pounds worth $600,000. The salmon catch was also rising and exports from this source were assuming large propositions. In 1875, 372,000 cases were put up, and in 1876 this was swelled to 480,000 cases, ^^2 vessels cleared with cargoes, mostly wheat, for European ports. The export of wheat to Europe was 1,824,- 371 centals, valued at $3,138,294. The total export was 1,937,787 centals. The export of flour aggregated 215,714 barrels. The excess of wheat and flour ex- ports for 1876 over 1875, reached a value of $794,856.

In the record of shipments to San Francisco, it is noticeable that apples are coming up to their former figure, being 41,523 boxes of the fresh fruit, and 6,363 packages of the dry; 22,671 sacks of potatoes and 176,939 bushels of oats were also shipped, but the bulk of our shipments thither for that year con- sisted of 290,076 cases of canned salmon, showing that almost from the first, our cannery men looked for sale of their goods in California. If it had been possible to carry on the salmon business on a purely independent basis before the world, and make Portland, the city nearest the greatest production of this