Page:The Overland Monthly, volume 1, issue 1.djvu/30

 riod $75,000 was expended upon street improvements, but this sum was levied exclusively upon the real property im- mediately adjoining the improvements. The city tax now being collected for this year amounts in the aggregate to $33,101; for general purposes $19,200; for river improvement $3,203; for interest on railway bonds $10,678, or seven and three-quarters mills on the dollar of the assessed value of property. Generally a large amount of taxable property is omitted from the assessment roll, while the rest is not assessed at more than half its value. The cash value of Port- land is not far from $10,000,000.

The following statement of the exports of Portland for the year 1866 is taken from the manifests of the vessels going out of the Columbia—mostly to San Francisco. These values are estimated, but may be relied upon as near the wholesale prices of that year:

Apples, 68,860 boxes, at $1 per box. ....$ 68,860 “ dried, 2,603 pkgs., at $10 per pkg. 26,030 Bacon, 4,376 gunnies, at $16 per gun... 70,016 Eggs, 1,763 pkgs., at $10 per pkg 17,630 Flour, 29,813 barrels, at 5 per bbl..... 149,065 Hides, 4,674, at $1.50 per hide.......... 7,011 Onions, 1,325 sacks, at $4 per sack..... 5,300 Pork, 72 barrels, at $20 per bbl 1,440 Pitch, 292 barrels, at 36 per bbl 1,752 Salmon, 2,564 pkgs., at $8.50 per pkg... 21,794 Staves and headings, 59,203, gross value. 15,000 Shooks, 14,972, at 40 cents per shook.... 5.989 Varnish, 124 pkgs., at #10 per pkg....... 1,240 Wool, 1,671 bales, at $40 per bale

$457,967

In addition, it is estimated that dur- ing this year there was exported from Portland, Oregon products to the value of $200,000. Neither does this table include any of the exports pf the Co- lumbia river by steamboat, to the min- ing regions. As to the export of wool, it is proper to remark that the export from Portland only includes a portion of the Oregon clip for 1866. The ex- port by the way of the Umpqua river, was at least 100,000 poundls more, and there was also manufactured in the State during the same period 1,000,000 pounds.

The seaward bound exports from Portland, for the year 1867, were five times the value of those of 1866. As appears from the manifests of vessels, the total value of merchandise and pro- duce exported from Portland in 1867 was $2,462,793.

Some fifty different articles enter into the list of exports for 1867. The fol- lowing table exhibits the quantity and value of the leading articles :

Apples, 33,596 boxes, at $1 per box. Do., dried, 4,958 pkgs., at $12 per pkg. . Bacon, 5,657 gunnies, at $11 per gun ... Butter, 1,492 pkgs., at $24 per pkg Bran, 1,116 sacks, at 60 cts per sack.... Beef, 1,020 bbls., at $15 per bbl Cherries, 137 boxes, at $2 per box Eggs, 2,520 pkgs., at $7 per pkg Flour, 120,980 bbls., at $6 per bbl Furs, 65 bales, at $50 per bale Flax seed, 10 bags, at $6 per bag........ Hides, 4,312 pkgs., at $2 per pkg Horses, 159 head, at $200 per head. Lard, 1,323 pkgs., at $11 per pkg Leather, 516 pkgs., at $30 per pkg Middlings, 4,659 sacks, at $1.25 per sack Onions, 1,372 gunnies, at $2 per gun.... Oregon pig iron, 50 fons, at $35 per ton.. Salmon, 4,244 pkgs., at $7 per pkg Staves and headings, 150,000 M, at $50

14,553 15,480 5,823 25744 1,750

Turpentine, 117 cases, at $45 per case... Wheat, 76,350 bush., at go cts per bush., 68,715 Wool, 3,309 bales, at $40 per bale

In addition to the foregoing exports of merchandise and produce, Wells, Fargo & Co.’s register exhibits the export of treasure from Portland, as follows:

BBG. .............. $6,200,000

During the months of January, Feb- ruaty, March and April, of 1868, there was received at Portland:

Flour, barrels Wheat, bushels Apples, boxes,

During the same period there was exported from Portland, as appears from the manifests of sea-going vessels :

Flour, 65,441 bbls., at $6 per bbl... $392,646 Wheat, 85,976 bush., at $1 perbush. 85,976 Apples, 36,197 boxes, at $1 per box.. 36,197

$514,819