EEPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF FISHERIES. 151 



the wharf from the upper side down an incUned plane to the water's 

 edge, and on these small fish cars are run. At Loring a double track 

 is built out from the canner}^, forming a kind of slip into which the 

 steamers or boats can come and discharge fish from either side. 



The salmon usually remain in the bins from twenty to twenty-four 

 hours before being dressed, at the end of which tim^e they are in much 

 better condition for canning than if the}^ had been dressed immediately 

 after being caught. The danger of canning iish that are too fresh, 

 however, is of minor importance as compared with the tendency in the 

 other direction. 



Dressing fisli. — The manner in which salmon are handled by the 

 "butchers," or dress gang, is a remarkable development of speed and 

 skill, acquired through long practice. In most canneries this, work is 

 performed by (Chinese, although Indians are sometimes employed and 

 also become ver}^ expert. Two men constitute a "batcher's gang." 

 Tije number of gangs in a cannery is regulated by its size and capacity. 

 From 30 to 10 salmon are placed in a row upon a long table, heads 

 tov/ard the operator. One man cuts ofi' the heads, and is followed 

 immediately b}' another, who removes the fins, tails, and viscera. 

 Only one stroke of the knife is required to remove the head; eight 

 more cuts, and the fins and tail have been taken off and the belly 

 opened. The first process is thus completed. The offal falls through 

 an opening in the wharf and supplies food to a large niunber of salmon 

 trout, sculpins, a few cod, and frequently halibut. 



From the hands of the dress gang the fish pass into cleaning tanks, 

 where they are scaled, washed, and given a partial cleaning on the 

 inside. Each fish passes through at least two, and frequently three of 

 these tanks. In the second cleaning they receive the same treatment 

 as in the first, small bits of offal, blood, and scales M^hich were over- 

 looked in the first cleaning being now removed. To make sure that 

 nothing of an objectionable nature remains, they are subjected to 

 another inspection bj^ a third man, 



A machine wdiicli practically' does away witli the men in the "butcher" 

 room was invented by Mr. William Munn, of San Francisco, who is 

 connected with the Alaska Packers' Association. It has been used in 

 various canneries belonging to that company during the past three 

 seasons, and is said to give much satisfaction. Another type of fish 

 cleaner has since appeared on the market, 23 of these machines having 

 been used in various canneries of Alaska during the season of 1903. 

 It is stated that each means a saving of from 15 to 20 men, and that it 

 will satisfactorily open the fish, remove the entrails, scrape the blood 

 from the backbone, and thoroughly wash the body. More recent 

 inventions are used in canneries on Puget Sound, and still another 

 machine, invented by Mr. E. A, Smith, of Seattle, Wash,, and used 

 for the first time, in 1903, by the United Fish and Packing Company, 



