122 PACIFIC SALMON FISHERIES. 
or into a scow moored underneath, while the dressed fish is trans- 
ferred to a tank of water, to be scaled, washed, and scraped. It is 
then passed to another tank of water, where it receives a second 
washing, scraping, and final brushing with a whisklike broom, which 
removes any offal, blood, and scales that were overlooked in the first 
washing, after which it is removed to large bins on either side of the 
cutting machine. 
The most useful cannery inventions in recent years have been of 
machines for doing the work of the dressing gangs. Several have 
been invented and work more or less satisfactory. The one commonly 
known as the ‘‘Iron Chink,” now in general use in canneries where 
such machines are employed, was first used in 1903 at Fairhaven (now 
Bellingham), Wash. It removes the head, tail, and fins and opens 
and thoroughly cleans the fish ready to cut into pieces for the cans. 
By the use of these machines the dressing gang is almost entirely done 
away with, dispensing with 15 to 20 men. This same machine is now 
so arranged that the fish after dressing are also ‘‘slimed’’; i. e., the 
thick mucus covering the skin removed. 
CUTTING. 
The usual method of cutting the salmon is by a machine. Thisis 
generally a large wooden cylindrical carrier, elliptical in shape, thus 
having a larger carrying capacity. es or rests on the outside 
the length of the carrier are wide enough to hold the fish, and are 
slit in cross section through the ledges and outer casing to receive 
the gang knives. ‘The latter are circular, fixed on an axle at the 
proper distances apart, and revolve at the highest point reached by 
the carrier and independently of the latter. The carrier and gang 
knives are set in motion, each revolving on its own shaft. As a rest 
on the carrier comes to a horizontal position, men, stationed at the 
fish bins lay a fish on each ledge as it passes. Thence it is conveyed 
to the revolving gang knives and, after being divided, passes through 
on the downward course, sliding off the rest into the filling chute. 
The knives in these machines are so arranged as to cut the fish 
transversely in sections the exact length of the cans to be filled. 
The rotary cutter shunts the tail pieces to one side, and these are 
carried by means of a chute to baskets. The tail pieces are canned 
separately. As the tail portion is much smaller, with less meat, it 
can not be placed in the cans with the middle and head sections 
without detracting from their value, but if packed under a distinct 
and separate label, as is now done, there is no reason why the tails 
should not supply the demand for a cheap grade of fish. 
In some of the smaller canneries, especially in those packing flat 
cans, the gang knives are worked by hand. In this case the knives 
are not circular, but elongated or semicircular in shape, tapering at 
