440 



U. S. BUREAU OF FISHERIES 



NEW TRANSPORTATION PAILS 



In July, 1923, three of the bureau's cars were completely equipped 

 with the new type of transportation pail (described in Bureau of Fish- 

 eries Doc. 941, pp. 93-96), and one partially so, while small allotments 

 of pails were sent to a number of the hatcheries that make extensive 

 distributions. While tabulations have not been made showing the 

 saving brought about at each station where the pails were used, the fol- 

 lowing table, based on the actual cost of distribution from the bureau's 

 rescue stations and compiled from cost slips submitted by car captains 

 and messengers, shows the cost of distribution from the bureau's Mis- 

 sissippi River collecting stations. This distribution covered practically 

 all the Middle Western States and a few States east of the Allegheny 

 Mountains. 



Comparative table shoioing cost of distributing fishes rescued from the upper Missis ' 

 sippi River during the fiscal years 1923 and 192^^ 



'Includes distribution from La Crosse, Wis., Marquette and Bellevue, Iowa, and Homer, Minn. Size 

 of fish ranges from 1 inch to 6 inches. 



2 Cost of making distribution direct from station without a ear. 



3 Detached messenger shipments from cars. Cost in addition to distribution by car. 

 * Cost of transporting fish to destination or until delivered to car messenger. 



From the foregoing it will be seen that in 1924 there were handled 

 117,119 more fish (849 more cans) than in 1923, and an actual sav- 

 ing of $4,752.96 was made. Based on 1923 costs per thousand fish, 

 the expense of handling the 1924 collections would have been as 

 follows: Station messengers, $1,021.25; car messengers, $3,325.83; 

 cars, $13,471.20; or a total of $17,818.08. As the actual cost for 

 1923 was $11,824.36, on this basis the saving to the bureau would 

 have been $5,993.72. 



These savings, which have been brought about b}^ furnishing the 

 cars with transportation pails of the new type, have enabledf the 

 bureau to greatly extend its distribution work and at the same time 

 keep within the limits of its appropriation. 



At the Craig Brook (Me.), Manchester (Iowa), and White Sulphur 

 Springs (W. Va.) stations the pails are hauled from the station to the 

 car in double-deck loads. 



o 



