REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. CXXVII 



interest which attaches to any information bearing upon this much- 

 disputed subject, it seems important to present a brief review of the 

 investigation so far as it has been carried on. 



At the mill in question five large digesters are used for converting 

 the wood into pulp, and in each of these from 1,000 to 1,200 gallons of 

 sulphurous acid, or a total of 5,000 to 6,000 gallons, are employed daily. 

 The contents of the digesters are subjected to steam heat for a period 

 of twenty-four hours, after which the acid passes through a trough 

 into the river at a point where a strong current issues from several 

 turbine wheels. The direction of this current is such that it tends to 

 retain the acid for some time along the right shore of the river — that 

 on which the mill is located. The volume of Avater said to pass the 

 turbine wheels amounts to about 1,000,000 gallons per minute, which is 

 estimated to be not far from one-fifth the average flow of the river at 

 this i)lace. Five minutes are consumed in emptying each digester, dur- 

 ing which time 5,000,000 gallons of water would issue at the same point, 

 and in that case the mixture of acid with water would be in the propor- 

 tion of 1 part of the former to 5,000 parts of the latter; but should all the 

 digesters be emptied at the same time the proportion would change to 

 1 part of acid to 833 parts of water. This latter occurrence is not 

 probable, however, and, in any event, according to the statement of the 

 manager of the mill, the entire outflow of acid during any twenty-four 

 hours would not exceed their total capacity of 6,000 gallons. 



On the part of the fishermen it was claimed that whenever schools of 

 fishes approached the locality occupied by the mill they were driven 

 back and disappeared, and, in fact, that they have come to avoid the 

 neighborhood, greatly to the detriment of the fishing interests. Unfor- 

 tunately, at the time the examinations were made the season was still 

 too early to observe the direct effects of the polluted water, and 

 although it was arranged that the Commission should be informed as 

 soon as the fish began running no notice to that effect has been received. 

 Samples of the acid, of the waste liquor as it issues from the mill, and 

 of the river water at the time of emptying a digester, at distances of 100 

 and 400 yards and of 1^ miles below the outlet, were obtained, however, 

 and sent to Washington. None of the samples of river water showed by 

 color or smell any perceptible trace of acid contamination. The waste 

 liquor as it passes out from the digester is a dark-reddish liquor, having 

 a specific gravity of 1.006 at 4°0. and a pungent odor, apparently of 

 sulphurous acid and creosote. The following experiments with this 

 refuse product mixed with water were made by Dr. R. R. Gurley : 



A shiner, roach, and young sunfish were placed in such a mixture, 

 beginning with the ftroportion of 1 part of acid to 250 parts of water 

 and gradually increasing the strength to 4 per cent of acid, during a 

 period of four days, but with no deleterious effect upon the fishes. The 

 odor and taste of the acid first became perceptible when the propor- 

 tion of the same reached 1.2 per cent. A young sunfish remained alive 

 and apparently without suffering during twenty-four hours in a mix- 



