158 REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF FISHERIES. 



This test reveals the leaks due to imperfect soldeiino-. Two men 

 superintend this work, and they, like all others connected with a can- 

 nery, are very skillful. The slightest leak is immediately detected 

 and located by small bubbles issuing- from the cans. The spots are 

 marked and the cans are taken out and placed in small wooden trays, 

 in which they are carried to the bench men, whose duty it is to mend 

 them. Cans that have been mended are again tested as before. In 

 larg'e canneries, from 20 to 25 men, stationed in front of a long bench 

 at the side of the building, are employed in mending cans. Formerly 

 tinsmith's charcoal stoves were used for heating purposes, but these 

 are now mostly out of use, the soldering irons being heated by kero- 

 sene lire-pots, each pot supplied with oil and air led through small 

 tubes, the heat and air being regulated by connecting valves. Gaso- 

 line has been used as fuel to some extent. 



A cooler of cans having been tested, it is hoisted out, placed on a 

 low square truck, and another takes its place in the bath. 



Cooking. — The cans are now read}'^ for the first cooking. It is said 

 that in the inception of the salmon industry the cooking was consid- 

 ered by those not initiated in the method as an art in itself, and in 

 consequence was guarded carefully by those possessing the knowledge. 

 In a few years, however, the method employed became common prop- 

 erty, since which time salmon have been cooked in the main portion of 

 the cannery instead of in a separate room under lock and key. The 

 first cooking was done in common tubs, hence the term bathroom now 

 applied to that part of the building where the cooking takes i:)lace. 

 The early retorts were of Wood made on the same principle as a steam 

 box in a shipyard for steaming plank. Later, round iron kettles were 

 substituted, these set on end, nearly one-half consisting of cover; and 

 round crates were used for holding the cans. When a lot of salmon 

 was to be cooked, the cover of the retort was lifted by block and tackle 

 rigged overhead, the retort filled with crates and the cover lowered 

 over them, the top and bottom being fastened perfectly tight by a set 

 of screws and levers which extended all the way around. Steam was 

 then turned on until the desired amount of heat was obtained. 



The modern retort rests horizontally in a bed, the crates being 

 rolled in on a track. The trucks which carry them hold six crates, 

 one piled upon another, and four loaded trucks arc rolled in at one 

 time, representing on an average some 2,500 cans. 



The number of retorts in a cannery is governed by its capacity; 

 few canneries at the present time have less than four or five. In 

 front of each retort is a turntable, on which is an iron track, the pur- 

 pose of the turntables being to receive the loaded trucks which come 

 on tracks from difl'erent parts of the building; also to facilitate the 

 transferring of cans from one retort to another, since it is necessary 



