ALASKA SALMON INVESTIGATIONS IN 1900. 
185 
CHINESE. 
An account of the Chinese cannery labor in the other Alaska salmon districts is 
given in the 1897 report, page 23, and it does not differ materially here. 
The arrangement for the employment of Chinese is made through the labor agen- 
cies of the large cities, principally in San Francisco. They work under a “boss” of 
their own, who guarantees each man a certain amount for the season. They do all the 
work in connection with the pack. They receive the uncleaned fish at the bins and 
deliver them canned, lacquered, and labeled, in cases, at the other end of the cannery. 
The packing company transports the Chinese to the field of work and carries them to 
the home port at the end of the season ; it provides them with a bunk house and 
furnishes fuel, water, and salt. The “boss” supplies the Chinese “ chow,” but during 
the height of the season they also receive some food from the white mess. 
The Chinese contract this year (1900), in Bristol Bay, was 15 cents per case for 
machine-filled and 60 cents per case for hand-filled pack. A certain number of cases 
are guaranteed in the contract, which must be paid for whether packed or not, and 
if the pack runs over the guaranty the extras are paid for at the same rate. On 
the other hand, they are under contract to pack a certain number per day if fhe fish 
be on hand; and if they are unable to do so the superintendent may employ extra 
hands and charge them against the Chinese “boss.” 
These hands are usually very satisfactory, but in 1900, on account of the scarcity 
of labor all over our country, particularly on the west coast, an inferior class of 
Chinese was obtained in many canneries, and there was great complaint. At one 
three-filler cannery visited, and rated at 2,100 cases capacity per day, 1,900 cases 
was the largest number that could be made, and this number only by the greatest 
effort. It was noticed that the Chinese appeared weak, and many seemed ill; in fact, 
the sick list was large, and it required much persuasion to turn them to work in 
the morning. The Chinese bosses in several instances could not till the quota with 
their own kind and substituted some Japanese coolies, which complicated matters 
materially. At one cannery, usually employing 300 Chinese, there were 250 of that 
nationality and 50 Japanese. These latter were not only lazy and worthless, but 
were constantly raising a disturbance. Of the two classes the Chinese are greatly 
preferred. It must be remembered, however, that the work in Bristol Bay is very 
trying, the season is short, the working hours are long, and the laborer is on a 
constant rush from the time of landing until the pack is loaded. 
The most arduous work in a cannery falls upon the butchers and fish-cleaners 
and the bathroom men. The former are on their feet during the long hours of each 
day, standing in slush and gurry, and suffer much with swelled feet and ankles, while 
the latter are on the constant move and are the last to clean up at night. The men 
that work at the lye tanks, with the hot spluttering lye splashing over them, have no 
sinecure. 
NATIVE LABOR. 
The canneries gladly employ every native who is willing to work; nay, more, 
they seek for this labor in the villages and offer every inducement for them to work, 
and would employ man} 7 more if they could be obtained and were reliable. This is 
not done for charity’s sake — the canneries are not in the field for that purpose, though 
