FISHERIES OF THE PACIFIC COAST. 1G7 
the iudustry on the Pacific coast has been one of the most remarkable 
features in the history of the fisheries of this country. 
Messrs. A. S. Hapgood, William Hume, and George W. Hume, under 
the firm name of Hapgood, Hume & Co., built the first cannery on the 
coast. This event was fraught with such important consequences to 
the Pacific coast that it seems worthy to be recorded in detail. The 
gentlemen who had inaugurated this enterprise had resided in Augusta, 
Maine, in their boyhood days. William Hume went to Sacramento 
in 1850 and his brother George followed in 1855. In 1863 the latter 
returned home, where he met his former schoolmate, Hapgood, who 
in the mean time had learned the tinner’s trade and had also been 
engaged in canning lobsters on the Bay of Chaleur, New Brunswick. 
Hume had observed the abundance of salmon in the Sacramento. He 
had also lived on the Kennebec, and knew the commercial value of this 
“ king of fishes.” Having a mind that was quick to grasp possibilities, 
the thought naturally occurred to him : If lobsters can be canned for 
food, why can not salmon be treated in the same way, and the wealth 
of the Western rivers thus be given to the world % A few conversations 
with his friend led to preliminary arrangements for the establishment 
of the firm above named, and the inauguration of a business that has 
reached proportions not anticipated in the wildest dreams of its origi- 
nators. 
After Hume’s return to California his action was ratified by his 
brother, and, on March 24, 1864, Hapgood reached Sacramento. Ten 
days earlier, Mr. Robert D. Hume arrived in California and immedi- 
ately became connected with his brothers as an employe in the firm. 
Preparations for canning salmon were immediately begun. The can- 
nery was on a floating scow, located in the town of Washington, on the 
opposite bank of the river from Sacramento. Many difficulties, due to 
inexperience and crude devices, were met with, and some losses were 
unavoidable. Nearly 4,000 cases (4 dozen 1 -pound cans in each) were 
packed the first season, but only 2,000 cases were merchantable; the 
remainder of the pack was worthless and was thrown away. 
The machinery and apparatus were very rude, compared with 
modern devices. The fish was first put into the cans and then boiled 
in large, round-bottomed iron kettles. Fresh water was used to boil 
the fish in. The cans, with their vent-holes left open, were placed in 
the kettles so that the water would not come within an inch of their 
tops. The boiling continued an hour, after which the cans were taken 
from the kettles and the vents closed. No test for leaks was made. 
Next the cans were thrown loose into a bath kettle made of boiler iron. 
In this salt water was used so that a higher temperature could be ob- 
tained; the heat was generally from 228° to 230° F. This frequently 
burned out the kettle, and many imperfectly made cans were burst and 
their contents lost. Steam was not used at that time in cooking or 
otherwise preparing the products. After an hour’s bath, the cans were 
