50 
REPORT OF BOARD OF FISH AND GAME COMMISSIONERS. 
THE FISH DISTRIBUTING CAR. 
During the thirty-seventh legislative session an appropriation of 
$7,500.00 was secured for the purpose of acquiring and equipping a 
car to be used to distribute the fish raised in our hatcheries. At our 
principal hatchery, located at Sisson, the output was practically limited 
to the number of cans of fish that could be shipped between July 1st 
and November 15th of each year in the limited space that could be 
found in the crowded baggage or express cars, and which rarely accom¬ 
modated twelve cans. On the long trips to southern California, occupy¬ 
ing two nights and one day, the services of f wo men were required to 
handle twelve cans of fish and a week’s time w r as occupied in making 
a round trip. Realizing that with better facilities to handle them not 
only could the output be increased and the fry reach the waters to be 
stocked in better condition, but the expense of distribution would be 
considerably reduced. The Chief Deputy, Mr. Chas. A. Vogelsang, 
being called to Washington to attend a meeting of the National Breeders’ 
Association, was directed to inspect the fish distributing cars of the 
United States Bureau of Fisheries, of which there are six, with a view of 
getting the best ideas to incorporate in the new car under consideration, 
and the same was accordingly done. Through the courtesy of Mr. E. E. 
Calvin, general manager of the Southern Pacific Railroad Company, 
we were enabled to purchase for the sum of $4,500.00 a 60-foot substan¬ 
tially constructed baggage car. This car was then placed in the general 
car shops of the Southern Pacific Company at Sacramento, where under 
the personal supervision of master mechanic Pleintzleman it received 
a complete and modern outfitting, including new trucks with steel 
wheels, air brake equipment, suitable lights, appropriate lettering and 
painting. 
The interior was fitted up with four sleeping bertlis, following the 
plan of upper berths in Pullman cars, complete galley with six-hole 
range, tableware and table to accommodate the crew of four men. One 
end of the car was partitioned off and fitted up as an office for the 
superintendent of the car. The car also contained two steel tanks with 
a capacity of 500 gallons each, in which fresh water is carried as a 
reserve to replenish the supply in the cans carrying the fish should 
occasion arise. At the other end is located the engine room, in which 
is installed a steam boiler, two Westinghouse air pumps, a refrigerator, 
and the culinary department. 
Under regular service conditions but one air pump is run at a time, 
but they are used alternately. The pumps compress air into an auxil¬ 
iary tank or reservoir at a pressure of 80 pounds to the square inch, 
from which by using a reducing valve it is supplied to the cans con¬ 
taining the fish at 15 pounds. Before reaching them the air passes 
