AD ALASKA FISHERIES AND FUR INDUSTRIES IN 1915, 
sioner’s court at Craig on August 4, 1915. The defendants denied 
the charge, and, evidence in their favor being adduced, they were 
discharged. 
The Thlinket Packing Co. appealed the case decided against it 
at Juneau in the fall of 1914 for not closing certain fish traps in ac- 
cordance with the weekly close period requirement of law. The 
appeal is still pending. 
The cases against Libby, McNeill & Libby, based upon the indict- 
ments charging them with the wanton waste of salmon at a trap 
operated at Tyonek in connection with their cannery at Kenai on 
July 15 to 20, 1914, were brought to trial at Valdez in September, 
1915. It was established at the trial that the company had furnished 
the wire and cotton webbing for a trap to two fishermen who alleged 
that they knew of a good trap site. These men furnished the piling. 
Through part of the season the company took the fish caught by the 
trap, but later on did not need any fish from it. Thereafter the 
alleged waste of salmon took place. One of the most important 
questions of the case was the ownership of the trap. The defendants 
represented that the material had been furnished to the fishermen 
without cost and none of it was returned save a few tools used in its 
construction. They disclaimed wholly any interest in the ownership 
or management of the trap and claimed they had agreed to take 
only the king salmon, and that they had faithfully performed their 
part of the contract. The jury deliberated 16 hours and returned a 
verdict of not guilty. 
An indictment against the Northwestern Fisheries Co. charged it 
with the wanton waste of salmon at its Salamatof Point trap. The 
case was brought to trial at Valdez on September 18, 1915. The 
evidence was purely circumstantial and no witnesses were introduced 
by the defendant. The jury returned a verdict of not guilty. An- 
other indictment against this company charged it with having wan- 
tonly wasted halibut, skates, cod, and other fishes. The case was 
brought to trial at Valdez, September 20, 1915. While there was no 
denial that such fishes in small quantities had been lost, the Govern- 
ment failed to show that there had been wanton waste and for that 
reason the jury was instructed to find the defendant not guilty, on 
the ground that wanton waste had not resulted if the company in 
fishing for salmon had taken other fishes that were not wanted and 
could not be separated from the salmon without rendering: the busi- 
ness unprofitable. A third indictment against the company charged 
it with the wanton waste of some 60,000 herring. The United States 
attorney moved a dismissal of the case and the motion was granted. 
The cases arising from the indictments filed in the United States 
district court at Valdez in 1914 charging the Alaska Packers Asso- 
ciation with wanton waste of salmon on Cook Inlet are set for trial 
