938 EEPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 



mission has ofl'ered Mr. Leschinsky a fair reimbursement for the labor he 

 has expended on the fishing-ground if he will vacate ; but he has de- 

 clined, and the whole subject has been placed in the hands of the United 

 States Attorney-General, though at the present time nothing has been 

 done toward an adjustment or a legal decision in the matter. 



C— BEGINNING OF THE SEASON. 



The necessary work having been done to put the place in order for the 

 summer, everything was ready to begin the regular work of the season 

 except the appropriation by Congress providing funds for the season's 

 operations. This appropriation is included in the sundry civil appro- 

 priation bill, the passage of which was delayed to a late day. As it 

 was not safe to incur any expense at the fishery till the fate of the fish- 

 culture bill was determined, there was nothing left for us to do but to 

 wait until Congress had taken action in the matter. Week after week 

 passed, however, and the season became so far advanced thot at last it 

 became absolutely necessary to begin preparations for the spawning 

 season of the salmon or give up the year's work altogether. It was 

 rather a difficult question to settle. To begin work without the cer- 

 tainty of any appropriation being made to cover the cost was not a de- 

 sirable thing to do. Neither was it a desirable or agreeable thing to let 

 the year go by without accomplishing anything. Yet one or the other 

 must be done. After a careful consideration of the case, I resolved, if 

 the bill had not passed when the 1st of July came, to wait no longer, but 

 to begin work and take the risk of reimbursement. Accordingly, on 

 the 1st of July, though, as is well known, the sundry civil appropria- 

 tion bill was still a subject of conference between the two houses of 

 Congress, I began operations at the United States salmon fishery on 

 the McCloud River. 



The most important things to be done, were (1) The construction of 

 the bridge and dam across the river to prevent the parent salmon from 

 passing the fishery on their ascent of the river ; (2) the placing of a 

 large current- wheel on the river to pump up the water for the hatching- 

 house ; and (3) the erection of a new, large, and prominent building for 

 a hatching-house. 



I went to work at all of these simultaneously, as there was no time 

 to spare, and the work must be driven ahead at all points, in order to 

 have everything ready for the spawning of the salmon. 



The bridge and dam were constructed on exactly the same principles 

 as in previous years, the bridge being formed of heavy timbers resting 

 on hollow triangular piers of logs filled with rocks, and the dam being 

 made of poles resting against the upper side of the bridge. The cur- 

 rent is so very powerful on the McCloud, and the volume of water so 

 great, that the building of the bridge and dam is always attended with 

 a good deal of difficulty, but the experience of former years was of 

 great service in accomplishing this labor, and helped very much to 



