3 0^ 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
[April 21, igoo. 
The Waist Boat and the Gig. 
The stoi'y of the waist boat's crew in their "Pull to 
Windward" was received with so much good Avill that I 
feel tempted to tell of a little race they had soon after. 
After Mrs. Camp'.s death the Vision went up to Val- 
paraiso for some stores that had been sent out from 
home. There were a large number of vessels in the 
harbor, and aniong them an English sloop-of-war, her 
captain a typical Briton, jovial and big-hearted, but with 
an abounding faith in the superiority of everything Eng- 
lish. 
The Englishrnan's pet hobby was his gig, a beautiful 
six-oared steel-btiilt boat, a splendid model, and very 
highlj'^ finished. 
The officers of all the ships frequented the few places 
of amusement in the city, and of course soon began to 
get acquainted. Yankees are proverbial for their brag, 
but as far as my experience goes the English are just 
as bad. It was not long before notice was taken of the 
British captain's faith in his gig, and his firm belief that 
his gig was the finest boat in the world; not only that, 
but that his gig's crew could outpull anj' crew that ever 
roamed old Neptime's domain. Manjr little scrub races 
were had with different ships' boats going to and fro 
between ship and shore, which always came out a victory 
for the Briton. 
There was no mistake. The gig was not only a fast 
boat, but she had an excellent crew. They were all 
yoimg, muscular seamen, who looked as if they had the 
skill and muscle to win a race and were not afraid to 
use it. The talk of boats and boating, best crews and 
the like was not confined to officers. The seamen soota 
beg"an to blow about their respective boats and crews. 
Quite a number of little scraps occurred between the 
English and American seamen. The general opinion, 
however, was that the English crew could beat any crew 
brought against them. 
All this time the stroke oar of the waist boat had been 
M'atching events. The second mate of the Vision, who 
headed the waist boat, was intervicAved. "Mr. W.," says 
stroke, "I tliink we can beat that Britisher." 
The matter was talked up. Air. W. had seen his crew 
on many a long pull; he knew they were game; he knew 
also that the}'- could pull for all day if need be, and when 
the stroke begged for a chance to try conclusions with 
the Englishmen he was willing to agree to anything. 
Says the stroke; "Mr. W., give us a five-mile pull and 
we'll show them fellows something." 
Mr. W. goes to Captain Camp and talks the matter 
over. Captain Camp has faith in the waist boat, but 
says: "Boys, the English boat is built for speed. She^ 
is in perfect condition. Her crew are used to beating 
every crew they have ever pulled against. I don't want 
you whipped, but I do hate to hear that English skip- 
per always bragging on the superiority of anything Eng- 
lish. I guess we'll have to give him a try." 
Next day, while enjoying a game of billiards with the 
EngHshman, the old question of fast boats came up. 
Captain Camp listened a while, then said very quietly: 
"Captain, I've an old boat on the cranes that I believe 
can beat yoxu- gig." 
"What!" said the Englishman. "The boat isn't built 
that can beat my gig." 
"Well," said captain Camp, "your men certainly do 
pull well, anrl your boat is a beauty, and very, fast; but 
my crew have the staying qualities, and for a long race 
they w'ould certainly win." 
"Thunder and lightning!" roared the Britisher; "you 
don't know English brawn. That's just where the fun 
would come in. The longer the race the better for my 
men. That's where English muscle will count — ^in a 
long pull." 
And so the talk went on. Finally they began to talk 
moneJ^ Other captains took sides, until nothing was 
talked of but the prospective race between the mongrel 
boat's crew from the old spouter and the tried and proved 
men of the sloop-of-war' s gig. Bets were made freely, 
and though many of the Americans in port were afraid 
of the English crew, their patriotism compelled them to 
back the Yankee. 
All arrangements were finally concluded. The boats 
were to start from the landing place, round the quaran- 
tine buoy and return- — a course of about six atid one- 
half miles. There was a marked dift'erence in the boats 
and crews when they came to the scratch. The English- 
men M^ere stripped to the waist and were a fine set of 
men. The clear white and red of their firm, healthy skin, 
their confident, easy air. all gave promise of victory. 
Their boat, too, was a marvel of neatness and polish. 
Her smooth side shone like a mirror, while her brass 
work glistened in the morning sun. 
The Yankee boat was old and patched; her paint was 
rubbed and faded; she had no brass work to polish, and 
the many scars she had received on the whaling grounds 
did not augur well for her speed. But her crew— no 
twp men were alike; hardly any two were of the same 
nation. They were not stripped for the contest, and their 
shirts, of various colors, frayed and patched, did not 
make a great show. Their only preparation was for each 
man to tuck his old hat under his throat and quietly 
wait for orders. Stroke oar had coached them until he 
Avas confident of the result. 
Boats and boatmen were everywhere. NeA'er had a 
larger gathering been seen in Valparaiso harbor. The 
crowd were about even as regarded their choice, but all 
felt that only by a miracle could the Yankees win. 
The cqmmantlatit's boat had hard work to keep a 
space clear for the start. Everything was finally ar- 
ranged. The .boats waited in readiness. The starter 
stood with pistol in hand. "Are you all ready?" "All • 
ready," was the answer. "Go!" and at the cra'ck of the i 
pistol away they went. ' 
The English crew were first over the line, and with f, 
their short, jerky strpikes nearly lifted their boat oi^t of 
the water at every Dull. Where Avere the spouters? Says 
Stroke: "Boys take it easy. Hold your wind J long ) 
aiirT strffdy IP Avhat counts-" k 
TIi(? Eng-'isli ho.at drew ahead. They were pulling mag-j! 
,nifi'-entlv, but fhey were doing their best anr] were not, I 
sparing themselves, while the Yankee boat was hanging 
to their wake, the men swinging back and forth with the 
regularity of a machine, their long, easy whalemen's 
stroke taken with perfect ease, but sending the boat 
ahead nearly as fast as the Britisher. 
As they near the quarantine buoy Stroke begins to 
moralize: "Boys, Ave'll haA^e to pick her up a bit; those 
felloAvs are pulling like fun." 
The English gig is first around the stake. As they 
pass the Avhale boat on their home stretch they give a 
triumphant cheer. "Wait," says Stroke. "Boys, reach a 
little further." 
By the time the Yankee turned the stake the English 
boat was nearly a hundred yards ahead on the home 
stretch, but her crew had done their best, while the 
Yankee crcAv Avere fresh as kittens. 
"Now," says Stroke, "if you've anything in you let it 
out. Twine, are you nere? Where's big John? What! 
Are you all asleep?" 
They Avere doing their best. Each man Avith shut teeth 
and eyes fixed on his oar was working as if he meant to 
AA'in. Many a long pull they had had together on the 
whaling grounds, and they had driven that same boat 
five miles to windAvard in the teeth of a gale. Were they 
going to let a man-of-war's crcAV beat them? Not much. 
Half way home the Avaist boat laps on to the gig. The 
Englishmen make a spurt and hold their own for" a dozen 
boat's lengths, but it's their last effort. Slowly but surely 
the Yankee craft creeps past them, opens a gap, and the 
gap gets Avider until the homely old spouter crosses the 
line 50 yards ahead and going easy; and they Avere fit for 
another pull as Avell. "Ki," says the Kanaka; "that's all 
e same fun." 
But the English crew pulled Avell. They did their best, 
and had they had the training of the Yankee crew, Avith 
their better boat they would have Avon the race. While 
the whalemen were comparatively fresh, the Englishmen 
Avere barely able to sit in their boat. It is needless to 
add that the waist boat's crew never had to go thirsty 
after the race; but they were very modest withal and 
bore their honors meekly. 
The English skipper never boasted of his gig after 
that: but he Avas a gentleman, for Avhen he met the Avaist 
boat's creAV in Payter some six months afterward he filled 
them full and sent them aboard in his own boat. And 
that's all the story. Tarpon. 
The Harriman Alaska Expedition. 
VTI. — Salmon DestructfoD. 
Its fisheries constitute one of the greatest economic re- 
sources of Alaska, but these have been little exploited, ex- 
cept so far as the salmon are concerned. Of these there are, 
as is Avell known, half a dozen species, not all of them of 
equal value. Spending most of their time in the salt 
Avater, the salmon run as far as they can get up the 
fresh-Avater streaiss in summer, and there deposit their 
eggs. Many of the fish die before they return to the 
salt Avater; many others are destroyed by enemies of one 
sort and another, and it is commonly believed by the local 
fishermen that after a salmon has deposited its spawn 
the question of its death is one of a very short time only. 
The Avorld's output of canned salmon comes chiefly 
from our Northwest coast, and this output is said to have 
been in 1897 not far from 3,000,000 cases, with forty-eight 
one-pound cans to the case. Of this, Alaska produced 
about 1,000,000 cases. 
In most salmon streams the fish appear to be about 
the same size and age. The females are likely to be 
very similar in appearance; the males all resemble each 
other. There are, hoAvever, exceptions to this rule; that 
is, some streams are entered by more than one species. 
The spawning ground sought by the salmon is usually 
sandy or gravelly bottom in a pool or eddy, but some- 
times the beds are SAvept out and the spaAvn is deposited 
Avhere the bottom is covered Avith stones, varying in size 
of from that of a hen's egg to a man's fist. During the 
winter the eggs of the salmon hatch out, and in the 
spring after the ice passes out of the lakes the young 
salmon move down the streams and can often be seen in 
large numbers at their mouths. 
It is an astonishing sight to witness the ascent of a 
small salmon stream by the fish, urged on by the repro- 
ductive desire. They Avork their Avay sloAvly up over 
rifHes, Avhere there is not nearly enough Avater to float 
them, but they seem to have the power of keeping them- 
selves right side up, and so long as it does not fall over 
on its side a fish 6 or 8 inches deep can wriggle over 
shoals Avhere the water is not an inch deep faster than a 
man can run. On such a stream one may catch in his 
hand great salmon weighing 10 or 12 pounds, or may 
kick them out on the bank Avith his feet. And while the 
appearance of a man in the shoal Avater will at once alarm 
the fish and send them darting in all directions, up or 
down the stream, or even out on to the bank, yet they soon 
return, and again begin to Avork their sIoav Avay up 
through the shallow A\'ater. 
If one inquires of an individual connected with salmon 
fishing in Alaska something about their numbers, he is 
at once told of the millions found there, and informed 
that the supply is inexhaustible. The same language Avill 
be used that all may have heard in past years Avith 
regard to the abundance of the wild pigeons, or of the 
buffalo, or of the fur seals of the Bering Sea. But 
if the investigator .will continue his conversation and ask 
for the details of to-day, he Avill learn that it now takes 
far longer to secure a given number of fish than it used 
to, and that the fishermen are forced to travel much 
further from the cannery than formerly in order to secure 
their catch of fish.- Usually, as the reserve of the new 
acquaintance Avears off and. he becomes interested in his 
subject, it Avill become evident that the supply of Alaska 
salmon is diminishing, and diminishing at a rapid rate. 
The salmon in the early summer come up from the 
deeper waters tOAA'ard the mouths of the fresh-Avater 
streams, and for some weeks may be seen in the bays, in- 
lets and fiords collecting in great numbers, preparatory 
to running up the stream. At this time they may be 
taken in considerable nttmbers in mch places by trolling 
with the hook and line, and afford good ''oort. At morn- 
ing and evening they may often hp -^epji in great numbers 
leaning out of the water. .sbmetinTes fiffc^o 01* twenty 
folloAvmg one another, all leaving aTi4 entering the 
Avater almost at the same place, as if chasing one another. 
When the fish have at last congregated at the mouths 
of the rivers, the work of the canners begins. They 
seldom cast their nets unless fish are actually to be seen, 
but when the salmon are visible the seine, from three to 
five hundred fathoms long, is sAvept through the Avater, and 
the captured fish are loaded on to the steam tug, Avhich 
then takes them to the cannery. 
The fishermen who manage the small boats and SAveep 
the nets are either Indians or Aleuts. The creAV of the 
steam tug arc usually white men, while those Avorking on 
the wharf and in the cannery proper are all Chinamen, 
except for an occasional foreman or skilled mechanic. 
After the tug is tied up to the wharf, two or three 
men equipped with single-tined forks toss the fish from 
the tug's deck to the Avharf above, where they are re- 
ceived by other men similarly equipped, Avho pass them 
along to the gang AA'ho clean the fish. The man at the 
end of the table seizes a fish and cuts off its head and 
slides it along to the next man, who by tAvo rapid cuts 
along the back takes out the backbone and loosens the 
entrails. It is then pushed on to the next man, by whom 
these loose pieces and Avhatever blood there may be in the 
visceral cavity are scraped away, the tail is cut off and the 
fish is throAvn into a tank of water. From this it is 
lifted and placed with many others in a large tray, which 
is wheeled into one end of the cannery building. All the 
previous operations have taken place on the wharf, with- 
out the cannery and over the water, so that usually all the 
waste products fall down into the salt wat^r beloAV, 
where a part is devoured by the trout, Avhich are con- 
stantly to be seen sAvimming about; a part by the gulls 
and other birds Avhich congregate in great flocks near at 
hand, and the remainder is sAvept back and forth by the 
tide, much of it being carried aAvay, but enough being 
left on the beach to' give the plaeg a decided odor of 
its oAvn. , 
The tray of cleansed fish is placed at the end of a long 
machine, where a belt, divided by Avooden partitions stand- 
ing at right angles to it into compartments about 18 
inches square, is constantly ascending at an angle of 
about 40 degrees to the top of the machine, which is 10 
or 12 feet above the floor. This belt is formed of short 
boards linked together. The board cross partitions above 
the belt are not continuous, but have tAvo or three divisions 
Avide enough to permit heaA^y knives to pass doAvn through 
them. Above the belt, not far from the top, is a cam in 
Avhich are set a number of large knives, and this cam, 
revolving at the same rate Avith the movement of the 
belt, sends doAvn a set of knives through each compart- 
ment as it moves along. 
As the belt moves on, a single fish is plaeecl ill each 
compartment, is carried upward, is cut by the revolving 
knives into one-pound pieces, and when the compartment 
reaches the point where the belt turns to pass dowuAvard 
again, the fragments of the fish are throAvn out on a table. 
All this machinery Avorks automatically. 
From the elevatea table Avhere the pieces of the fish lie, 
another carrier belt runs doAvn toAvard another table. This 
is just Avide enough to hold the cut-up fragments of 
fish, each one of Avhich is to fill a can. A man standing 
by the upper table keeps placing the pieces of fish close to 
each other on the belt, and they are carried doAvnward to 
a point Avhere there is a great rammer just large enough 
to fit into a one-pound can. This rammer works con- 
stantly back and forth across the belt carrying the fish. 
Opposite to the rammer is another horizontal belt carry- 
ing a row of open empty cans, the mouths of Avhich lie 
toAvard the belt Avhich carries the fish. The tin cans 
move at such a rate that the mouth of one is opposite 
the rammer at each forAvard motion that it makes, and 
at each forward motion the one-pound fragment of salmon 
is jammed into an empty can, the can is carried on, and 
another empty can folloAvs it, into Avhich another piece of 
fish is thrust. This goes on Avithout interruption, minute 
after minute and hour after hour, so long as the supply 
of fish holds out. 
The belt carrying the filled cans now throAvs them out 
on a wide flat table surrounded by men, one of whom 
sets them on end as he receives them from the machine. 
Those that are completely full are whirled across the 
table to a man who Avith a cloth wipes the grease or 
moisture or salmon flesh from about the open end of the 
can, in order that Avhen the cover is soldered on, the 
solder may take proper hold of the tin. Those not 
quite full are thrown to another man, at whose right 
hand is a pile of bits of salmon flesh. He fills the can 
and pushes it along to the wiper. The latter, as soon as 
he has finished with the can, slides it across to another 
who places a fragment of tin on the contents in such a 
position that it Avill be under the middle of the cover, 
Avhich is noAv put on by another man, standing near the 
end of the table. The filled and covered cans are con- 
stantly gathered ttp and placed in trays by two men, who' 
carry them across a short passage and set them down 
near a man w-ho is attending to the soldering machine. 
They are laid side by side on a belt Avhich runs doAvn to 
a metal trough just as Avide as a can is high and loAver at 
one side than at the other, the loAver side being full of 
molten solder. The trough and solder are kept hot by a 
blast beneath them. The cans are moved forAvard by 
means of a heavy chain hanging over them. The belt 
carries the cans doAvn to this trough. The edge of the 
cover where it meets the can rolls along for 10 or 12 
feet through this molten solder, then the can passes on 
to another belt, is tipped so that it stands -on 
its bottom and passes along on the belt to a 
point where men stand with trays ready to carry 
the cans over to the testers, whose business it is to learn 
Avhether the cans are absolutely air tight or not. For this 
purpose a large number of cans are set in a strap iron 
crate, Avhich is loAvered into a tank of Avater. If bubbles 
arise from a can, it is cAadently not tight, and is removed 
and another one put in its place. In this Avay five, ten or 
tAventjr cans may be taken from, the crate, which is then 
lifted out and carried over to the great boilers, into 
Avhich crates full of cans are rolled and Avhere they are 
cooked by steam for an hour. 
The defective cans are pas.sed over to the =oldercrs 
and by them carefully examined, the holes soldered ut) 
by hand and the cans then go bark to the testers, to take 
the nlace of other defective cans in subsequent crates. 
After the cooking process the cans are gone over 
again to see whether any are defeclivp, and are then 
stacked up In grej^t piles on the floor From the§e piles 
