66 PACIFIC COD FISHERIES. 
fins cut off. If it is to be put up as “absolutely boneless” the fish 
is passed to the bone pickers, who remove with forceps the ribs and 
any pieces of bone left in the body. If the fish are to be packed as 
so-called “ boneless,” then the fins only are cut off and the thick part 
of the backbone cut out closely, the small pieces of the fins, ribs, and 
backbone being allowed to remain. 
In making “ bricks” or blocks the fish are then cut to the desired 
size on a table made of blocks with openings between them at regu- 
lar intervals. The fish, sometimes as many as eight or nine, are laid 
one on top of the other on the cutting table so that the best parts 
come between the openings. Then a long-bladed knife is driven 
through them and they are ready to be packed into bricks, etc. A 
trough, or miter box, is also used for securing the same result. 
The pieces of fish are passed to girls, who sort them and weigh out 
exactly a pound or 2 pounds, whichever the weight of the brick is to 
be. Two good slices are selected to make the outside of the package 
and short or narrow strips to make up the middle part. The weighed 
fish is passed to the brickmaker, who selects, first, the piece which will 
make a whole side and an edge, and places it in the galvanized-iron 
mold; the smaller pieces are then put in, and lastly the remaining 
large piece to make a side. The selecting and placing of the pieces in 
such a way as to make the best appearing cake is quite a knack. The 
mold, which is 6 inches long by 3 inches wide and 3 inches deep, is 
pressed tightly by foot. or hand power, held for a few seconds, and 
then strings, which had previously been placed across the bottom of 
the mold in grooves left for the purpose, are tied around each end. 
The package is then completed by wrapping in paraffined or parch- 
ment paper with recipes and other matter printed on it. Some 
packers wrap in the parchment or paraflined paper and then inclose 
in a lithographed wrapper. There are several grades of bricks, de- 
pending upon the appearance and color of the fish, the choiceness of 
the pieces used, and the special curing to which the fish was origi- 
nally subjected. Twenty-four 1-pound, twelve 2-pound, or twelve 
3-pound bricks make a crate or case. The “boneless” fish put up in 
5-pound boxes, but not pressed, run, 12 to a crate. 
Several forms of presses are used in this work, the most common 
consisting of a sliding box having two or three compartments, each 
of the size desired, and so arranged that a hand or foot lever forces 
a block down in one compartment at a time. The pressure remains 
while the fish are being placed in the second compartment, and when 
it is released the box is slid along until: the second compartment 
comes under the press, when the brick in the first compartment is 
removed, 
