The Salmon-canning Industry 



furnace beneath the brickwork, and are her- 

 metically sealed. Other Chinamen now take 

 the cans and put them into trays, which are 

 put into a steam-heated retort which holds 

 thirty-two cases, of four dozen cans to a case. 

 Here they remain for fifty-five minutes at a 

 temperature of 228 F., which cooks the con- 

 tents of the cans. They are then taken out 

 and placed on a table in front of another China- 

 man, who has in his hand a small wooden mallet 

 with a small spike inserted in it. With this 

 instrument he proceeds to knock a small hole in 

 the top of each can, from out of which spurts a 

 small jet of boiling water and steam. Another 

 man follows immediately afterwards and re- 

 seals these small holes with a hot iron and a stick 

 of solder, the small round disc of tin previously 

 mentioned preventing any of the solder falling 

 on to the contents. The cans are gathered 

 together once more in trays, and are subjected 

 to the heat of another retort at a temperature 

 of 242 F., and for eighty minutes. This com- 

 pletes the process of cooking. The cans are now 

 scrubbed in a lye bath, and are then placed 

 out of doors on a brick floor, where they are 

 allowed to cool, cold water being sometimes 

 thrown on them to hasten the process. This 

 seems to be the critical time of the operation ; 

 for if everything has gone well the top of the 

 can collapses with a report caused by the 



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