PACIFIC SALMON FISHERIES. LI3 
After the salmon had been cleaned by removing the entrails and washing them out- 
side the covered portion of the scow, they were brought inside and placed on the table, 
and aman with a butcher knife in one hand and a stick in the other, which had a mark 
showing the length of the pieces desired, cut gashes in the side of the salmon as a 
guide and then cut the fish into sections corresponding to the length of the mark on 
the stick. He then proceeded to cut the sections in pieces to suit the cans. Then 
three or four operators placed the salmons in the cans and shoved them along the table 
to where a boy wiped the top edge and passed them along to two others who placed 
tops which fitted inside of the rim, The cans were then taken in wooden trays to 
the bench opposite the starting point, which was fitted with four sheet-iron pots, 
and at the one nearest the entrance to the house on the scow a man put a soldering 
flux on the top edge, which was made by adding zinc to muriatic acid, and then with 
a pointed soldering copper and a stick of solder melted the solder until a small portion 
could be drawn around the groove formed by the edge of the can and the bevel of the 
top. From there the cans were taken to the other parts of the bench, where two men 
finished soldering the head in, and then taken to the third man, who soldered, or, as it 
was called, buttoned, the end of the seam lap. The cooking department or bathroom, 
as it was called, was separated from the filling and soldering room by a partition. 
The cans were shoved through a hole in the partition. 
At this time the process was a secret. Mr. Hapgood did the cooking and all the 
work done inside, no one but a member of the firm being allowed to go in. This 
rivacy was continued until the firm moved to the Columbia River, and, the labor 
ecoming too arduous for Mr. Hapgood to perform alone, a boy by the name of Charlie 
Taylor was taken in as an assistant. * * * 
But to return to the original proposition: When the filled cans had been soldered 
and entered the bathroom they were put in the coolers and lowered into the cast- 
iron pot, one cooler of cans being cooked at a time. The cooler was lowered into the 
boiling fresh water until the cans were submerged to within 1 inch of the top ends and 
left to cook for one hour; then they were hoisted out and the vent holes in the center 
oi the top soldered up, after which they were dumped into the boiler-iron kettle, 
which held a solution of salt and water of density sufficient to produce, when boiling, 
a heat of 228° to 230° F. They were cooked in this solution for one hour and then 
taken out of the kettle with an iron scoop shaped like a dip net, with a wooden handle 
about 6 feet in length. They were dumped into a tank of water on the other side of the 
partition which separated the bathroom from the packing room through an opening 
in the partition, receiving many a bump and bruise in the operation. Then they 
were washed with soap and rag to remove the dirt and grease, each can being handled 
separately. When this was done they were piled on the floor of the packing room 
and in a few days were painted with a mixture of red lead, turpentine, and linseed 
oil, for at that time buyers would have no canned salmon, no matter how good the 
quality, unless the cans were painted red. 
When packs of 10,000 to 15,000 cases were made in a season 
only the absolutely essential machinery was used, the rest of the 
work, such as cutting and cleaning the fish and placing them in the 
cans, being done by hand. When larger canneries were constructed, 
especially in Alaska, where labor is expensive and difficult to obtain, 
the greater part of the workmen having to be brought up from the 
States, machinery to do as much as possible of the work became 
absolutely essential. The inventive genius of the country came to 
the rescue and one by one machines for cutting, sliming, and 
cleaning the fish, filling the cans, putting the tops on, and washing 
them were invented and put into use, while automatic weighing 
machines were produced and extensive improvements and alterations 
were made in the machines previously in use. There are to-day 
many large manufacturing establishments which devote all or the 
greater part of their facilities to furnishing machinery and supplies 
to this giant branch of the salmon industry. 
When salmon canning was in its infancy, a pack of from 150 to 200 
cases was considered a good day’s work. Now it is not an uncommon 
occurrence for a cannery to turn out from 2,500 to 4,000 cases in one 
day, and there are a number which have even greater capacity. 
11312°—21——_8 
