Page:The History of Oregon Bancroft 1888.djvu/755

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equal to the best. Resources Or. and Wash., 1881, 70-1. Soap, for all pur poses, was long imported into Oregon, the first factory being established in Portland in 1862, by W. B. Mead. Or. Aryus, June 7, 1862. In 18Cb R. Irving commenced the manufacture of this article, and being joined by G. A. Webb, the Oregon Standard Soap Company was formed, which turned out fifteen varieties of soap, and was the second manufactory of this kind on the Pacific coast. Review Board of Trade, 1877, 12; HittetVs Resources, 719. Vinegar was made for market at Portland and Butteville, to the amount of four hundred thousand gallons annually.

Fruit-drying was carried on at Oregon City and other points to a consider able extent, but no reliable figures are to be found concerning this industry, which is divided up among individual fruit-raisers. Patented movable dryers were used, which could be set up in any orchard. Plums, prunes, pears, and apples were the fruits commonly dried, and their excellence was unsur passed, the fruit being fine, and the method of preserving leaving the flavor unexhausted, and each separate slice clean and whole.

A flax-mill was established at Albany in 1877, which manufactured 5,000 pounds of linen twines and threads per month. The flax was grown in Linn county, by tenant farmers, who worked on shares for one third of the crop at twelve cents a pound for the fibre, and the market price for the seed. The mill company, having two thirds of the crop for rental, only paid for one third of the flax used, which left them a profit of about $0,000 a year in the fac tory. The seed produced was worth $45 an acre. It had long been known that flax was a native product of Oregon. It was discovered by experiment that the cultivation of it was favored by the soil and climate. Linseed oil was first manufactured at Salem. The company was incorporated in November 1866. Their machinery, having a capacity for crushing 30,000 bushels of seed per annum, was shipped around Cape Horn, and since 1867 the Pioneer Oil Mill has been running, its capacity being increased to GO, 000 bushels. Brown s Salem Direc., 1871, 1874; Gilfry s Or., MS., 86; U. S. Agric. Kept, 1872, 451. Tow for upholstering was made at this establishment. The nore of Oregon flax is very fine and strong, with a peculiar silkiness which makes it equal to the best used in the manufacture of Irish linens.

The first tannery in Oregon, other than household ones, was that of Daniel H. Lownsdale, on Banner s Creek, just back of the original Portland land claim. Here was made the leather, valued at 5,000, which purchased Petty- grove s interest in the town. The manufacture of this article has not been what the natural resources of the country warranted until recently. Small tanneries existed at several places, including Portland, Salem, Eugene City, Brownsville, Coquille City, Parkersburg, and Milwaukee. Leinenweber & Co. of upper Astoria first connected the manufacture of leather "with the making of boots and shoes. The Oregon Leather Manufacturing Company was incorporated in 1878, A. W. Waters, president. The company employed convict labor, and turned out 30,000 sides annually, at a good profit. Hitteli s Resources, 495. Roots and shoes were made extensively by several firms. Aikin, who began the manufacture in a small way at Portland, in 1859, \vas later associated with Selling & Co., and had a profitable trade with Idaho and Montana. The Oregon Boot, Shoe, and Leather Manufacturing Com pany of Portland is the successor to Hibbard & Brazee who begun manu facturing in 1873, and projected the new company in 1881, which employed fifty workmen. The factory of B. Leinenweber & Co. at Astoria cost 40,000, employed 35 workmen, and manufactured $78,000 worth of goods annually. Gloves of the coarser sort were made at two places in Portland, and one place in Eugene City. Saddle and harness making was carried on in every town of any importance, but only to supply the local demand. Wagons and carriages were also manufactured to a limited extent. Brooms and brushes were made at Portland. Malt liquors were produced at thirty-four different breweries in the state, to the amount of 24,000 barrels per annum. Portland early enjoyed a spice and coffee mill, candy factory, and various other minor industries.

Manufactures which are secondary to trade are slow in development, the HIST. OB., VOL. II. 47 \n