BULLETIN OF THE UNITED STATES FISB COMMISSI) 



Mr. George Hume's cannery in Astoria stands beside thai of bis 

 brother. In former years, when operating with little or do competition 

 in the field, a single case of their salmon, containing 18 one-pound cans 

 each, sold for $10 in gold. Lastyear the estimated price vras $1.16 per 

 dozen, or $4.60 per case. For the past five veins Mr. William Hume's 

 annual pack lias ranged from 26,000 to 36,000 cases. He estimates it for 

 the present year at about 15,000, the run of fisli being, for some inex- 

 plicable reason, very light. England, Australia, and the great Atlan- 

 tic sea-board cities are his markets. 



To day there are about forty firms and single parties taking salmon 

 from tbe Columbia. Twenty-two of them operate al Astoria, all their 

 establishments being located along the 5 miles of river brink embraced 

 by the sprightly little city, while none of them exist above Eagle Cliff. 

 One or two of them market no goods in this country, but send their 

 entire pack abroad. Between Astoria and the bar of the Columbia, a 

 distance of 15 miles, the river expands into Chinook Bay, wliieli aver- 

 ages about 5 miles in width. This bay is pre-eminently salmon terri- 

 tory. Here, especially close within the bar, are caught a large propor- 

 tion of the handsome fish, as they come in from the ocean on their way 

 up to the freshwater tributaries of the Columbia, where their spawning 

 takes place. The Chiuook salmon is the salmon par excellence, and con- 

 stitutes the prime brand of every prominent firm. 



Chinook Bay is the place where are lost the lives of many men en- 

 gaged in salmon fishing. I find great difference of opinion as to the 

 number annually drowned. Mr. Hume puts it at fifty or more, while 

 Mr. M. J. Kinney, of the Astoria Packing Company, places it much 

 below that. Mr. Tallant, of the Cutting Packing Company, states 

 that during a business term of nine years his firm has lost only one 

 man and not a single boat. 



Habits of drinking and inexperience in handling the boats and nets 

 have been observed to be the leading causes of drowning. If, with 

 a strong river-current running to sea and gigantic breakers rolling 

 in, the fishermen approach too near the bar, when intoxicated, their 

 doom is almost certain. The surf sweeps them into the deep. A- i 

 class the salmon fishers are a low order of men. They represent nearly 

 every nationality on the globe. Having neither fixed abode nor regular 

 employment, they migrate from place to place as hunger or impulse 

 drives them or work offers. The worthier among them are linns, 

 Swedes, Prussians, and Norwegians. Fishers by profession, many of 

 them have their families here, own land, and send their children to the 

 public schools. Some of them are estimable citizens of Astoria and 

 the vicinity. On the other hand, the Italians and Portuguese are tin- 

 rovers, the longshoremen of the calling. Since they were born they 

 have lived on some water's edge. Hot a picayune have they invested 

 in boats or nets, and the loss of either or both is nothing t<» them. It is 

 money in the pockets of the packers if their fishermen own their own 



