671 



soming of such importance as to demand the- 

 attention of tlio Legislature. Four years ago 

 tin- product of these fisheries was of oompara- 

 litilo importance; but in 1878 it approxi- 

 mated $1,000,000 in export value, and during 

 the season of 1674 exceeded $1,500,000. There 

 are now thirteen canning i-stalilMnm-nK on 

 th.- Lower Columbia, extending from Kainier 

 to Astoria. There are 800 boats engaged in 

 the fishing on this river, employing 000 men, 

 r two men to a boat one to manage the 

 I" MI and the other to attend to the net. These 

 men are paid 25 cents for every fish they catch, 

 making the wages paid to these 600 men for 

 the four months' fishing $250,000, less about 

 $50,000 for nets, leaving an average of $888 

 for each man. In the thirteen canning estab- 

 lishments there are 2,000 men employed in all 

 tin- departments, earning daily $2,500, in- 

 cluding night-work and other extra time, 

 making $250,000 paid for wages during the 

 100 days comprising the fishing-season from 

 April to July inclusive. 



The process of canning is more or less inter- 

 esting, and shows the value of the proper divi- 

 sion of labor. In catching the fish, two men 

 are required to a boat. Another receives the 

 fish at the wharf and counts them. A boy 

 places the fish on the splitter's table ; the 

 splitter, who is generally a strong, active man, 

 holds a large, sharp knife, and with ten cuts 

 removes seven fins, head, tail, opens the fish 

 and disembowels it. A competent man will 

 handle from 100 to 120 in an hour, or from 

 1,000 to 1,200 in ten hours. A man then 

 washes the fish, scrapes it, and transfers it to 

 another for a further washing and scraping, so 

 that all the blood and slime possible may be 

 removed before cutting. He then puts the 

 fish on the cutter's table. The cutter places 

 the fish in a frame, and with a circular knife 

 of six blades cuts the fish with one stroke into 

 six pieces, each piece the size of the depth of 

 the can. "With one motion he transfers these 

 pieces to the opposite side of the table, where 

 another man with an ordinary knife subdivides 

 them into about twelve pieces and puts them 

 into a vat of strong brine. Another man sub- 

 jects them to a second process of a similar 



kind, with the object of removing all impnri- 

 he then, with a strainer, place* tln-m M 

 a tal'l<-, where the watery part* are drained <>t!, 

 and the fish are ready for canning. A man 

 with a barrow conveys the piece* to the can- 

 ner's table ; another puts a small quantity of 

 brine or salt in each can ; another fills the can 

 with fish (one or two pounds, as the case may 

 IM-I; another removes any slime about the 

 mouth of the can; another puts on the lid: 

 another solders it; another conveys it to the 

 Lath -room for cooking. Five men and the su- 

 perintendent are employed in this department, 

 which is one of the most important. The cans 

 are placed on trays and boiled in kettles for 

 two hours, then taken out and tested, to ascer- 

 tain that they are air-tight; then boiled for 

 two hours more ; then dipped in lye to remove 

 all oily substances from the cans; then washed 

 with cold water by means of a hose ; then re- 

 moved to the store-room, when another man 

 dips them in a preparation that protects the 

 can from rnst ; another person puts on the label ; 

 another puts them in the case, and another nails 

 it up, when it is ready for shipment. 



The salmon has seldom frequented the 

 waters of the Upper Willamette River, not 

 being able to pass the falls at Oregon City. 

 It was anticipated that the salmon would pass 

 to the Upper Willamette through the canai 

 and locks lately constructed at those falls for 

 the purpose of navigation ; but it is ascertained 

 that the fish will not follow slack-water chan- 

 nels, and consequently will not present itself 

 nt the gates of these locks. Yet the Upper 

 Willamette Kiver, on account of its smooth 

 and pure waters, and its milder temperature, 

 is thought by the observant to be the best 

 home for young fish of all the tributaries of 

 the Columbia. If the salmon could pass the 

 falls of the Willamette without injury, the re- 

 sult would be a great blessing to the people of 

 the Willamette Valley, as well as a great addi- 

 tion to the spawning-grounds tributary to the 

 Columbia fisheries. The Governor recom- 

 mends the appointment of a commission to in- 

 vestigate the subject, and report to the Legis- 

 lature the best plan for protecting and pro- 

 moting this important industry. 



PARAGUAY (REpfjBLicA DEL PARAGUAY), 

 a country of South America, extending from 

 latitude 21 27' to 27 80' south, and from lon- 

 gitude 54 21' to 58 40' west. Its bounda- 

 ries are : on the north and northeast, Brazil ; 

 on the southeast, south, and southwest, the 

 Argentine Republic, and on the northwest, 

 Bolivia ; and it embraces an area variously es- 

 timated at from 57,000 to 90,000 square miles, 

 exclusive of the triangular section of the Gran 

 Chaco lying mainly between the two rivers 

 Paraguay and Bermejo, and the 22d parallel, 



one portion of which is claimed by Bolivia and 

 the remainder by the Argentine Republic. The 

 area was much more considerable before the war 

 of 1865-'70, at the termination of which Para- 

 guay ceded, as a war-indemnity, to Brazil, some 

 thousand square miles. The limits of the conn- 

 try were then fixed, by the terms of the treat v 

 of March 2tf, 1872, as follows: "The bed of 

 the Parana River from the mouth of the Ignazn 

 (latitude 25 80' south) to the Salto Grande 

 (latitude 24 7'). From these falls the line 

 runs (about due west) along the highest divide 



