Before these however the potentialities of the industry were 

 realised and attempts were made within the Colony itself to put 

 it on a proper basis. The Right Honourable John X. Merri- 

 man was the pioneer in the new industry and, althou^fh his 

 enterprise met with little encouragement, and even with ridicule 

 from some quarters at the time, it marks the first successful 

 step in a series of experiments, which have led up to the 

 present condition of the industry. 



In the year 1874, in conjunction with Mr. Charles Manuel, 

 he imported an expert in the canning business from Messrs. 

 Crosse and Blackwell. A beginning was made wi^h the 

 canning of crawHsh, but with limited success. Attention was 

 then turned to fruit and jam making, and, with such results, 

 that the produce found a ready sale. Experiments on crawfish 

 canning, however, were continued, and a satisfactory method 

 for preserving it wa^ at last devised. The canned products 

 were exhibited at the Philadelphia Exhibition of 1876, and 

 were awarded a Bronze Medal. In 1875 Mr. Merriman joined 

 the Government, and disposed of the business to Messrs King 

 and Son, but, in consequence of some difficulty with the 

 operator, the enterprise was allowed to drop. 



It was not again until 1890 that the idea of canning the 

 crawfish was taken up. In that year Baron Eugene 

 Oppenheim, the Consul for the Transvaal Government, 

 observing the large quantities of crawfish to be 

 easily caught in Table Bay, conceived the idea of 

 canning and exporting them to Europe. Along with his 

 brother he formed a syndicate under the name of the 

 " South Atlantic Lobster Syndicate," and, utilizing an old 

 mill between the Old Somerset Hospital and the Docks as a 

 factory, commenced to experiment in preserving the fish in 

 tins. Mr. Carl Poppe was manager. The crawfish were got 

 in abundance, chiefly from beyond the Woodstock beach, 

 near Milnerton, or at Mouille Point, and no difficulty was 

 experienced in procuring the raw material in sufficient quantity. 

 From this factory about 4 or 5 thousand cases were turned out 

 per year (about 96 small and 48 large tins in a case with an 

 average of about 2 crawfish per tin). At this time the crawfish 

 was not only abundant, but very large specimens were often 

 taken. Owing, however, to difficulties in devising a proper 

 method for preserving the fish and the consequent bad condition 

 of the produce when placed on the market (Paris chiefly) 

 there was little sale for the crawfish, and this syndicate soon 

 went into liquidation. 



At a later date Baron Oppenheim, who still had faith in 

 the ultimate success of the enterprise, started another factory 

 under the name of " Trebor Bros." at Woodstock about the 

 year 1893 under the management of Mr. Lefevre. 



