50 SALMON FISHERIES OF PACIFIC COAST. 



DRESSING. 



The majority of the canneries still use the old hand method of 

 dressing the fish, and in such places the selection of the butchering or 

 dressing gangs is of prime importance. Two men constitute a " butch- 

 er's gang," and the number of these gangs is dependent upon the 

 output of the plant. Boys place the fish, with the head out, upon 

 the cutting tables. One man cuts off the heads, and is followed by 

 another who removes the fins, tails, and viscera. The offal is thrown 

 into a chute, whence it passes into the water under the cannery, 

 while the dressed fish is transferred 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 satisfactorily. The one 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. 



CUTTING. 



The usual method of cutting the salmon is by a machine. This 

 is generally a large wooden cylindrical carrier, elliptical in shape, 

 thus having a larger carrying capacity. Ledges 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. But few of the larger tail 

 pieces are canned, the rest being thrown away, this forming a con- 



