Arm 2i, xgbo.j 
FOREST And stream. 
303 
they are taken to racks, ranged over tanks of shellac, and 
when one of these racks is full, by a simple device the 
Chinaman dips its contents into the vat beneath, lifts it out 
and leaves it there to drian. The shellac soon dries; the 
cans are removed from the rack and again stacked up on 
the floor, where the final operation of putting on the labels 
goes on. When this has been done they are ready for 
casing, forty-eight one-pound cans going into a case. 
The salmon of Alaska, numerous as they have been 
and in some places still are, are being destroyed at so 
wholesale a rate that before very long the canning indus- 
try must cease to be profitable, and the capital put into the 
.canneries must cease to yield any return. 
This destruction of salmon comes about through the 
competition between the various canneries. Their greed 
is so great that each strives to catch all the fish there are, 
and all at one time, in order that its rivals may secure as 
few as possible. With their steam tugs, their crews of 
white men and Aleuts and their immense seines they 
sweep, first the waters near the canneries, and then, when 
these have been cleared out, go further and further away, 
until at present many canneries, having exhausted the 
nearby waters are obliged to send their tugs 60 or 
70 or even 100 miles to find fish for the pack. The 
fish are caught with seines, some of which are 300 fath- 
oms long, some 450 fathoms, and I was told of one 750 
fathoms and 18 to 20 fathoms deep. These seines are 
run out near the mouths of the rivers where the fish are 
schooling preparatory to their ascent, and of course every- 
thing within the compass of the net is caught. Not only 
are salmon taken by the steamer load, but in addition 
millions of other good food fish are captured, killed and 
thrown away. 
One of the best known salmon districts of Alaska may 
be chosen as an example of what this wasteful method will 
do for any river. I was told recently by a person very 
familiar with the canning industry and with Alaska that 
the catch of salmon in the Kadiak and Chignik districts — 
which put up nearly 44 per cent, of all the Alaska canned 
salmon— for 1896 was nearly 360,000 cases; for 1897 it wa.s 
about 300,000 cases; for 1898, 90,000 cases, and that up to 
midsummer in 1899 the fishing had been practically a 
failure. And what is going on in the Kadiak district is 
going on in other districts. Competition is so very sharp 
between the great canning companies, as well as between 
the smaller individual concerns which run canneries, that 
each manager is eagerly desirous to put up more fish than 
his neighbor. All these people recognize very well that 
they are destroying the fishing; that before very long a 
lime must come when there will be no more salmon to 
be canned at a profit. But this very knowledge makes 
them more and m.ore eager to capture the fish and to 
capture all the fish. This bitter competition sometimes 
leads to actual fighting on the water as well as in the 
courts. A year or two since one company which was try- 
ing to stop another from fishing on ground which it 
claimed as its own, sent out its boats with immense 
seines, and dropping them about the steam launches of 
its rival tried to haul them to the shore. This action led 
to long litigation, which resulted in a verdict for the 
company attacked. 
So it is that the canners work in a most wasteful and 
thoughtlessly selfish way, grasping for everything that 
is within their reach and thinking nothing of the future. 
Their motto seems to be, 'Tf I do not take all I can get 
somebody else will get something." 
Congress has passed laws governing the taking of sal- 
mon in Alaska, but they are ineffective and there is 
scarcely a pretense of enforcing them. It is true that in- 
spectors are brought up each year on the revenue cutter 
to see that the law is enforced, and of course these in- 
spectors see very clearly that the law is violated in every 
direction. Where the violations are so flagrant that they 
force themselves on the inspectors' notice they tell the 
canners that they are doing wrong, and that the viola- 
tions of the law must cease. The canners reply to them, 
"Yes, we know you arc quite right; it is wrong. We do 
not wish to do as we are doing, but so long as others 
act in this way we must contintie to do so for our own 
protection. Speak to our rivals about this. We will stop 
if they will." The rival companies, when spoken to, make 
the same reply, so accusations are bandied back and 
forth. Nothing is done and the bad work goes on. 
Nor are the concerns satisfied with capturing the vast 
quantities of fish as they are schooling in the salt water 
preparatory to running up the streams to their spaw'ning 
ground. To do this systematically would catch most of 
the fish, but it would not catch them all — it woitld not 
make a clean sweep. So on many of the streams the 
companies build dams or barricades, designed to pre- 
vent any fish from ascending. Drawn by instinct to the 
mouths of the rivers, the fish crowd to them trying to 
ascend, pushing forward, going only in one direction, and 
never becoming discouraged so long as life remains. 
None ever turn back, and so, in the course of the sum- 
mer the whole number which in the natural course of 
things would ascend a river finally collect at its mouth. 
If the nets are systematically drawn, all these fish are 
caught; not one escapes, and the river is absolutely de- 
spoiled of breeding fish for that year. Not one a.scends. 
and so. of course, no eggs are deposited and no fry are 
hatched next spring. 
Of course this absolute obstruction of the streams is 
practicable only on the smaller rivers. But it is carried 
on to a greater or less extent all through the Territory 
wherever it can be done, and yet "the erection of dams, 
barricades, fish wheels, fences or any such fixed or sta- 
tionar}- obstructions in any part of the rivers or streams 
of Alaska * * * is declared to be unlawful," and is 
punishable by a fine not exceeding $1,000 or imprison- 
ment at hard labor for a term of 90 days, or by both 
such fine and imprisonment, and by a further fine of $250 
per day for each day that such obstruction is maintained. 
■ There are certain rivers too large to be barricaded, and 
up these some fish run, notwithstanding the continual 
netting at their mouths. Siich rivers often head in con- 
siderable lakes, where the fish spawn. It is the common 
practice of many of the canners to fish with nets in such 
lakes, and with an utter disregard for consequences to 
catch the fish while occupied in depositing their, eggs. 
As the natives of Alaska, many of them Aleuts, subsist 
largely on salmon, the regulations of the Treasury De- 
partment permit them to fish for food, and they are not 
subject to the g«neral law which provides "for the pro- 
tection of the salmon fisiheries of Alaska." Advantage is 
taken of this liberty to still further •destroy the fish. The 
Indians catch all the salmon they wish and sell them to 
the canners, and this goes on indefinitely wherever the 
prohibition against fishihg is in any degree regarded. 
Of coiu'se the Indians, ignorant of the law, and, like the 
white man, eager for present gain, are glad to catch the 
fish and to sell them. 
On some streams it is easier to take the fish in traps 
than it is to stop them by means of barricades, and then 
net them from the water below the barrier. In such 
places traps are built with wings and low dams up which 
the fish can pass into a pool or lake, which at its head is 
dammed up by an impassable barrier. When the pool is 
full, or nearly so, it is swept clean by the net and is left 
empty to be filled again. Thus all the breeding fish of a 
season may be and often are caught. 
I was told that one of the great corporations established 
in Alaska had received permission to establish a fish 
hatchery, and that the employees of this company during 
the day catch fish to strip for the hatchery and at night 
take them back to the cannery and can them. 
It is well remembered that the island of Afognak, lying 
just east of Kadiak Island, and in one of the richest sal- 
mon regions of Alaska, was set aside some years since 
by Presidential proclamation as a forest reserve. For- 
merly there was a cannery on this island, but it has been 
discontinued and its machinery moved away. This, how- 
ever, does not make much difference in the destruction of 
the salmon. The streams of Afognak Island are con- 
stantly fished by means of nets and barricades, and this 
reservation, like some 'of those within the limits of the 
United States, is a prey to wijoever may Be the first to 
despoil it. , 
By the law passed June 9, 1896, now in force, entitled 
"An act to amend an act entitled 'An act to provide for 
the protection of .salmon fisheries of Alaska,' " it is spe- 
cifically provided: 
1. That streams shall not be dammed or barricaded nor 
traps used on them to prevent or impede the ascent of 
the salmon to their spawning grounds, and that the Sec- 
retary of the Treasury shall establish and enforce such 
regulations as may be necessary to insure compliance 
with the provisions of the law relating to salmon fisheries 
of Alaska. 
2. That salmon shall not be taken except with rod or 
spear above the tide water of any stream less than 500 
feet in width except for purposes of propagation; that 
nets and traps may not be laid or set for a distance of 
more than one-third the width of such rivers nor within 
100 yards of any other net or seine in said rivers: that no 
fish may be killed, except in Cook's Inlet and Prince 
William's Sound, between midnight on Friday and 6 
o'clock in the morning of the Sunday following; that no 
salmon may be caught in any manner or by any appliance, 
except by rod or spear, in any stream less than 300 feet 
wide between 6 o'clock in the evening and 6 o'clock in 
the morning on each day of the week. 
3. That the Secretary of the Treasury may set aside cer- 
tain streams in which no fishing may be permitted, and 
that he may establish close seasons to limit the duration 
of the fishing season, or may prohibit the fishing entirely 
for one year or more. 
4. The appointment is authorized of three inspectors of 
fisheries and their salaries are named. 
5. Penalties for violation of the provisions of this act 
are announced. 
A-S has been said, the law in force is entirely inade- 
quate, but it is, of course, easier to see where it fails 
to protect than it is to suggest amendments which shall 
make it efficient. Persons in Alasaka interested in can- 
neries have expressed the opinioin that a tax should be 
laid on the oittput of each cannery, and that this tax 
should be used to support hatcheries by which the sup- 
ply of salmon in the streams might constantly be re- 
newed. It is obvious that Congress, which enacts the 
laws, can know but little, or nothing, about the actual 
necessities of the case. The present law, which provides 
for the appointment of three inspectors to look after a 
Territory one-fifth as large as the whole United States, 
where there are no means of transportation and where 
every stream that is 6 inches deep is a salmon stream, is 
simply to waste the small amount of money that is paid 
to each one of these men. Many of the provisions of the 
present law are excellent so far as they go, and its chief 
weakness lies in the fact, that no itieans are provided for 
emforcing the statute. 
It is obvious that 'the expense of enforcing the law 
protecting salmon in Alaska should be borne by those 
persons who are engaged in the business of catching 
and selling these salmon. The canners should be taxed 
presumably on the. output of their factories, and the rev- 
enue received from this source should be used from year 
to year for the purpose of restocking the streams and of 
protecting them. It might be practicable also to lease 
certain sti'eams to certain companies on reasonable terms, 
not permitting them to fish except on the streams that 
they have leased. , . 
The whole question of the protection of these fisheries 
is not one of sentiment in any degree. It is a question aS 
to whether the inaterial resources of Alaska are worth 
protecting. Beginning twenty years ago in a very small 
way. Alaska has produced up to this time about 7,500,000 
cases of salmon entire. The output of these salmon fish- 
eries to-day is worth approximately $3,000,000 a year. 
Certainly such a resource is worth saving and making 
perpetual. G. B. G. 
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iMcat by Monday aad m bmIi ««r)kr m sractksbtak 
Sam's Boy»— XX. 
Winter school was in session again with Mr. Mump- 
son in his accustomed place, and the families of the 
district impatiently waiting their turn to board the favorite 
teacher, who never found fault with fare or accommoda- 
tions, and was always on the friendliest terms with his en- 
tertainers. 
Now he was lodged for a fortnight at Joseph Hill's, 
whose good wife was exercising her culinary skill to the 
utmost for his sake, and every member of the household 
doing the best to make his sojourn pleasant. When the 
family was fairly seated at the bountiful supper, the 
patriarch never failed to ask : 
, "Wall, schoolmaster, haow many lickin's hev you gi'n 
these 'ere young uns to-day?" 
Mr. Mumpson, clearing his throat, would answer 
apologetically, "Why, the fact is, Captain Plill, they've 
all behaved so uncommonly well that I haven't been 
obliged to chastise any one to-day." 
"Good Lord!" the veteran cried, with hands uplifted, 
"a hul day an' nary a lickin'. That wa'n't the way we 
uster Tarn young uns in my time. When I kep' school 
I hed me a good blue beech gad handy, an' I used it tew, 
an' I tell ye the's nothin' tu .beat blue beech for tu make 
a young un remember his lesson. Why, when the country 
was new an' all woods, a man 'Id take his boys tu the 
corner trees of his lot. an' tie 'em up tu 'em an' give 'em an 
almighty good hid in' wi' a blue beech, an' I tell ye what, 
they wouldn't never forgit them corners." 
'T should think they would be likely to remember," said 
the schoolmaster. 
"'Jes' so, an' jest the same it'll make a boy remember 
the lessons he Tarns aout'n books. It 'Id help aour Bub 
an' Ben amazin' if you trim 'em aottt 'baout every other 
day." He glowered upon the boys, who cautiously raised 
their eyes from their plates enough to see that the fierce- 
ness of his glance was tempered by a mirthful twinkle of 
the deep-set gray orbs that shone so keen beneath the 
overhanging brows, that Mr. Mumpson, given to poetic 
imagery, likened them to ambushed sharpshooters. The 
boys were thankful that their school days had not fallen 
within the harsh swaj' of their grandfather. 
The veteran was very fond of the schoolmaster, and the 
two got on excellently, notwith.standing Gran'ther's harsh 
criticism of modern modes of education. 
"What's the good o' this 'ere Matthew Mattick's tarnal 
books?'' he demanded. "He hedn't got 'era made when I 
M'as goin' tti school, nor yet a-keepin' — do' know as he 
was borned as he never'd orter b'en, an' we got along jest 
ezackly as well — an' then this 'ere grammer. What is it 
for?" 
''Why, Captain Hill, grammer teaches us to speak and 
write correctly." 
"Oh, thunder, we spoke an' writ .so't we understood one 
'nother, an' what more d'ye want? I tell ye, they're all 
flnmmadiddle, your grammer an' your Matthew Mattick 
an' your square-rhut. Square-rhuts be cussed! Raound 
rhuts is good 'nough for or'nary folks ! In my time we 
I'arned readin' an' writin' an' 'rithmertic, an' if a feller 
ciphered as fur as the rule o' three, he was king-pin. 
More'n them wouldn't ha' helped us none 'baout choppin' 
an' loggin', an' squabblin' wi' Yorkers, an' fightin' Inj^n.s 
an' Britishers — no, no, not a sou-markee! But what I 
should like to know is, what on this livin' airth you, your- 
self, be everlastin'ly a-studyin' an' a-readin' that 'ere con- 
sarned Latin lingo for every identical night. Be you 
expectin' for tu go a-missionaryin' amongst them Latin 
critturs? Wouldn't they eat ye, suppose?" he added, 
glancing at the master's lean figure. 
The young man had pleasanter intercourse with his 
aged host -when settled for the long evening in his arm- 
chair with his pipe alight. He told of the bitter feud of 
the Green Mountain Boys, and New York land specu- 
lators, of scouts and battles in which he had borne part, 
or repeated as he had heard them told by actors and eye- 
witnesses the bloody tragedies of the old French War, 
whereof the schoolmaster made careful and copious notes 
with a view to future use in his projected "Early History 
of Vermont." His finger slipped from its place in the 
shut volume of the Iliad,' and he forgot the battles of 
Greeks and Trojans as he listened with pride swelling 
his heart to the unsung heroic deeds of his own humble 
ancestors. 
One evening during their season of waiting their turn 
to_ entertain the master, the Lovel household was at supper 
with the addition of Polly Purington to the number. 
Polly had the privileges of a member of the family, and 
ran in at meal time with perfect freedom if it suited her 
convenience. Perhaps this was more than usually the 
case now that there was a "spelling school" that night. 
"Oh, Sammy Lovel!" she cried, shaking her knife at 
her nephew after buttering a half of one of Huldah's 
buttermilk biscuits, fleece-white and fleece-light in spite 
of the much-abused pearlash, and overlaying it with the 
honey of Sam's wild bees, "if you didn't make me 
ashamed the way you got your 'rithmatic lesson to-day !" 
The boy's face blazed red hot with shame at having 
his shortcomings so ruthlessly exposed, and he did not 
hesitate to retaliate by a sharp thrust in the only ex- 
planation he could give: 'T don't care. They're awful 
hard sums! Mebby 'f I hed someb'dy tu set by me an' 
show me half the time, I— I'd be smart at figures." 
"^Why, Sammy, who does?" his mother asked. 
. ."You ask Aun' Polly," he answered, casting a vin- 
dictive glance at his buxom young aunt, whose cheeks 
began to outburn his own. "I don't tell tales out o' 
school!" 
Little Polly had no scruples when so good an oppor- 
tunity was given, and piped up shrilly and eagerly, "Oh, 
I know who! It's Mr. Mumpson! Every time Aun' 
Polly gits stuck, he goes an' sets by her an' 'splains an' 
'splains." 
"What be you young uns talkin' about?" said Polly 
Purington, her eyes flashing angry glances upon her 
nephew and neice. "Mr. Mumpson don't show me no 
more'n he does anyb'dy." 
"Ah, ha. Miss Polly! So that's the way the cat jumps, 
is it?" said Sam, looking at his sister-in-law with • a 
quizical expression on his surprised face. 
"I don't care, it hain't no sech a thing !" she cried, 
pouting. 
No, you don't look as if 't was," Huldah quietly 
marked, "My ! Your cheeks'U set irour hair afire." . 
