PACIFIC SALMON FISHERIES 523 



a like period for reducing the temperature and pressure before opening 

 the doors. The cooking times given above are exchisive of the two 

 5-miniite periods noted here. 



It should be distinctly understood that the processing times noted 

 are only approximate. The condition of the fish, the weather — 

 whether hot or cold, rainy or dry — etc., all nmst be taken into ac- 

 count. The canner can not go far astray, however, if he keeps 

 generally within the narrow margins noted above. In the early days 

 much secrecy and mystery was thrown about the cooking, and the 

 work was carried on in a separate room, kno\Mi as the "bathroom," 

 under lock and key. The first cooking was done in common tubs. 

 The early retorts were made of wood. Later, round iron kettles were 

 substituted, nearly one-half consisting of cover, and round crates 

 were used for holding the cans. At the present time only rectangular 

 horizontal iron or steel retorts are used, and access to these is had by 

 means of miniature railroad tracks. 



For many years cannery men believed that the double cooking of 

 salmon was absolutely necessary, but in 1898 F. A. Seufert, at his 

 cannery on the Columbia River, at Seuferts, Oreg., a short distance 

 above The Dalles, discarded this idea, and has since used a one- 

 cooking method. By the new process the cans are tested for leaks 

 after the center hole in the top is soldered up, as before, and are 

 left in the retort 70 minutes at 245° F. and 12 pounds steam pres- 

 sure. According to its originator, this method saves more than 

 one-half the labor in the bathroom, saves nearly one-half the labor in 

 washing the cans after cooking, and also better retains the color of 

 the fish. 



REPAIRING CANS 



Imperfect cans which are discovered after cooking and are repaired 

 at once and whose contents are recooked are still very good, the only 

 difficulty being that by blowing or venting them a second time they 

 lose weight. The above goods generally go in with the regular pack 

 of their kind and are not classed as regular "do-overs." The latter 

 were generally defective cans, which, owing to pressure of other work, 

 could not be repaired until considerable time had elapsed, by which 

 time decomposition had set in. The cans which can not be repaired 

 immediately are now thrown onto the cannery dump. 



On coming from the retort the coolers are lowered into a bath 

 of lye, or, as in some canneries, the cans are run through such a 

 bath on an endless belt, which, with the aid of a slight linsing and a 

 few rubs with a brush over the top, removes from the can all the 

 grease and other material. The belt then passes them into another 

 bath where the lye is washed off in hot fresh water. The cans then 

 go to the cooling room, where a stream of water is played upon them, 

 or during rainy weather are placed out of doors upon the wharf, and 

 there allowed to cool, in order to stop the heat inside the can from 

 continuing to cook the fish. In some canneries the lye bath before 

 coohng is dispensed with, as the earUer washings are supposed to 

 have cleaned the cans. 



The top and bottom of the cans contract in coohng, and for several 

 hours a sharp popping noise is heard. Here, as in nearly every proc- 

 ess through which they pass, the cans are again tested, this time by 

 tapping the tops with a small piece of iron about 6 inches long, or, 



