50 ALASKA FISHERIES AND FUR INDUSTRIES IN 1916. 
LOSSES AND DISASTERS IN THE SALMON-CANNING INDUSTRY. 
Three disastrous fires occurred during the year, each of which 
destroyed a cannery and considerable other property. The first of 
these happened on May 17, when the cannery of the Metlakatla 
Industrial Co. on Annette Island was burned. This plant was 
owned by the natives of Metlakatla, who had leased it to P. E. Harris 
& Co., of Seattle. New machinery was to be installed by the com- 
pany to bring the plant down to date, but fortunately none of it 
had been received at the cannery before the fire. “A considerable 
quantity of gear was lost, however. 
On May 22 the cannery of the Northwestern Fisheries Co. at Kenai 
was burned. Fire broke out about midnight in the can loft, and 
before it could be gotten under control the cannery and adjoming 
warehouses in which were stored cans for the season’s pack and all 
new webbing for traps had burned. The superintendent’s residence, 
several other small buildings, and’most of the floating equipment were 
undamaged. The losses were approximately $190,000. As it was 
impossible to rebuild the cannery in time to operate during the season 
of 1916, all oriental laborers returned to Seattle. Most of the regular 
outside men remained at Kenai during the summer, clearing away the 
débris and laying the foundation for new buildings which will be 
erected early next season. 
The last large fire of the season occurred on June 26 and destroyed 
the cannery of the G. W. Hume Co. at Nakat Harbor. The plant was 
valued at about $30,000 and the material and supplies for the opera- 
tions of the season were worth $50,000, making a total loss of about 
$80,000. 
The wharf of the North Pacific Trading & Packing Co. at Klawak 
was damaged by ice to the extent of $2,500. 
The loss of fishing gear for the several districts was approximately 
$27,400. The Alaska Sanitary Packing Co. and the Canoe Pass 
Packing Co. lost one trap each. The Tee Harbor Packing Co. re- 
ported the loss of four traps, valued at $12,000. 
The Hoonah Packing Co. lost a launch in southeast Alaska, valued 
at $1,200, and the Deep Sea Salmon Co. lost one on Cook Inlet having 
a book value of $2,500. Other losses of small boats and scows 
aggregated $3,250. 
Three fishermen and one transporter were accidently killed while 
engaged in salmon fishing in southeast Alaska. One shoresman was 
drowned in central Alaska, and five fishermen, two shoresmen, and 
one transporter were drowned in western Alaska, while two shoresmen 
met accidental death otherwise in the same district. 
The Alaska Fishermen’s Packing Co. reported the loss at its Nusha- 
gak cannery of 2,060 cases of red salmon, valued at $7,828. 
