40 ALASKA FISHERIES AND FUR INDUSTRIES, 1911. 



exhauster too rapidly. Where properly handled this can proved very 

 satisfactory. It is because of the claim that the very small amount 

 of solder used in this style of can frees the contents from danger of 

 lead contannnation that the name "sanitary" is applied. 



The last 10 years have witnessed many changes in canning methods. 

 A number of new and improved forms of cleaning and packing 

 machines have been installed, and while the main objects sought in 

 their introduction have been the increasing of the output and the 

 elimination of workers they have incidentally improved the pack 

 from a sanitary point of view by cuttmg down the number of people 

 who have to handle the fish. The use of the sanitary can has aided 

 very materially, but there are still some points which can be very 

 greatly improved. 



The machinery in use is -syell suited for filluig 1-pound tall cans, 

 which form the bulk of the pack, but it is not yet adapted to filling 

 the fiat cans, and these are still packed by hand. The pack of flat 

 cans in Alaska is very small, usually of the choicest grades only. By 

 means of the neater appearance of the meat when the can is opened, 

 the flat can commands a higher price than the 1 -pound tall can . Indian 

 women and children are usually employed to fill the flat cans. 



Too little efi'ort is made by the average cannery men to see that 

 cleanliness is observed by their employees, and in very few instances 

 are lavatories for their use to be found. A few of the workers use 

 gloves when packing in order to protect their hands from being cut 

 by the tin, but these are rarely if ever washed. The cannery men 

 should supply gloves to the workers who handle the fish, and should 

 sec that these gloves are thrown away at the end of each day's work. 

 Gloves suitable for this work can be purchased in large quantities for 

 a few cents each. With the mmimizing of handling in the butchering 

 shod due to the introduction of the iron chink, contact of the dressed 

 fish with the hands of the worknien is now limited to the operations 

 of cutting and filling. By care in the selection of cleanly, healthy 

 laborers for this portion of the work and by furnishing them with 

 better facilities and opportunity to keep clean, the packers will be 

 able to remove the last ground for scruples against a factory-packed 

 product. Water is abundant in Alaska, and it would require slight 

 expenditure only to install proper lavatories in each cannery. 



