164 REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 



rendering at Wallingford ; he had a load of white-fish carted to his fac- 

 tory from Branford, 16 miles distant. At night, after his men had left 

 the factory, he cleaned out his tallow tanks, steamed his fish, and ex- 

 tracted the oil ; his experiment was satisfactory and the process was 

 immediately patented. The priority of his discovery is challenged by 

 Mr. D. D. Wells, of Greenport, who claims to have used the process for 

 some years previous to this time. After securing his patents, Mr. Hall 

 visited numerous "pot works," which had by this time been established, 

 for the purpose of introducing his new methods. At this time he also 

 secured a patent for the process of drying fish scraps upon platforms by 

 solar heat. 



The inception of the oil business in Maine. 



227. The first factory in Maine was built by a company from Ehode 

 Island, in 1864, at Blue Hill, and the next by another company from 

 Ehode Island, at Bristol, on John's Bay, the same season. Operations 

 being successful, home parties in Booth Bay, Bristol, Bremen, and South- 

 port went into the business. In the spring of 1866 eleven factories were 

 built, all using steam. This may be regarded as the beginning of the 

 industry in Maine on a scale at all in ratio with its capabilities. 



Erection of factories in Maine. 



228. The following table, taken from Mr. Maddock's pamphlet, gives 

 the dates at which the factories of the several firms named were built, 

 and the cost of the same. The titles of some have since been changed 

 by incorporation with others, change of ownership, &c. Of the eleven 

 factories specified before as built in 1866, one has been burned, and two 

 absorbed by now existing corporations. 



Date of hnilding of factories in Maine. 



The original investment of $260,500 has been increased, as shown by 

 the report for 1877, to $1,083,612. 



