HOW THE SALMON IS VANISHING 273 



highest value, because it is right at hand easy to get 

 and easy to prepare. 



In the deepest forest, where running water exists, 

 the trap will catch him. A few minutes serves to skin 

 and dress him, and yet a few minutes more to build a 

 fire, put him on a stick and baste him with his own 

 fat, and, presto ! a meal fit for a king is before the 

 hunter. 



Every one, even the trappers, who make more 

 money from the hides of the beaver than from any 

 other animal, freely admit that the law passed for the 

 preservation of the beaver was a just, humane and 

 timely piece of legislation ; and has already proven 

 that it was a wise and necessary precaution for the 

 prevention of the total extinction of the animal. 



The salmon packing industry during recent years has 

 reached the enormous average annual pack of 4,000,000 

 cases of four dozen cans each, or 200,000,000 pounds of 

 salmon. The one-pound cans of salmon are a welcome 

 and economical addition to the table of the majority 

 of the people of civilized countries, and if the industry 

 should become a thing of the past, because of the ex- 

 tinction of the fish, it would be almost an international 

 calamity, and nations should join hand in hand to pro- 

 tect the salmon from total destruction, the same as 

 England, Canada, the United States, Japan and Eussia 

 have done to protect the seal. 



State and national legislation in the United States 



