THE SALMON FISHERIES OF THE LOWER COLUMBIA. 747 



One boat now carries three times as much netting as was formerly carried. The gill-nets, 

 at first 125 fathoms, are now 350 fathoms long, and they are now made 45 feet deep. 



The sea-lions and seals destroy immense numbers of salmon in the mouth of the Columbia. 

 They watch the gill-nets, and take the caught salmon by the throat, devouring that choice morsel 

 as it comes through the net, for a salmon is " gilled" just in front of the middle of the body. 

 From a fishery point of view, the seal is an egregious nuisance. 



4. PEOCESS OF-CANNING. 



The salmon are brought to the wharf usually in the morning, counted and thrown* in a heap. 

 A Chinaman then takes each, cuts off its head, tail, and fins, and removes the viscera, throwing 

 them into a large tub. Some of the cutters become very expert and will clean 1,700 fish per day. 



Next the fish are washed and sometimes scraped with a knife, though the scales are not 

 removed. Then they are placed in a trough in which several kuives acting like a feed-cutter cut 

 the salmon into sections as long as the height of a can. These sections are set on end and split 

 by a Chinaman into about three pieces, one large enough to fill a can, the others smaller. 



These fragments are placed on tables and Chinamen there fit them into the cans. Other China- 

 men put on the covers, and still others solder them. In some canneries the soldering is done by 

 machinery. In this case the cans are rolled along by an iron chain belt and the end rolls in the 

 melted solder. Most of the cauners think hand-soldering safer, although much more labor is 

 required. 



After soldering, the cans are placed in hot water and carefully watched to see if any bubbles 

 rise from them indicating a leak in the can. If perfect the can is placed in an iron tank and boiled 

 in salt water, it being possible to raise salt water to a higher temperature than fresh. After being 

 boiled about one and one-fourth hours the can is taken out and vented, the pressure within 

 driving out all the air through the aperture made. The hole is immediately soldered up, and the 

 cooking completed by again boiling (one and one-half hours) in salt-water kettles. If the 

 process of cooking were completed before the cans were vented, the pressure would be sufficient 

 to burst the cans. 



The cans are afterwards tested by being tapped on the head with a large nail. If the cau is 

 leaky it gives back a " tinny " sound easily recognized. This is a very important process, as some 

 canneries lose largely by careless testing, the leaky cans afterwards bursting and damaging more 

 or less the entire box. The cans are usually tested three or four times, and by different workmen. 

 A leaky can is simply sent back to be soldered. 



The cans are all made on the premises from sheet-tin imported for that purpose. The cost 

 of the tin can is estimated at one-ninth of the cost of the can of salmon. 



On an average three salmon fill one case of forty-eight 1-pound cans. 



5. LABOR AT THE CANNERIES. 



In the canneries a white foreman, book-keepers, and a few subordinate overseers are employed, 

 and sometimes a few white boys or girls. The bulk of the work is done by Chinese. 



Some of the Chinese, as the fish-cutter, the Chinese foreman, and other very capable persons, 

 receive $40 to $45 per month. The most of them receive $1 per day of eleven hours and work 

 as wanted, i. e., leaving when told and coming at any hour set, only the time in which they are 

 actually engaged being counted. 



