48 SALMON FISHERIES OF PACIFIC COAST. 



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 privacy was continued until the firm moved to the Columbia River and, 

 the labor becoming 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 of 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 bjr 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, ma- 

 chinery 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 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 es- 



