News and citizen. [volume] (Morrisville, Vt. ;) 1881-current, 1883-08-23
AMERICAN SARDINES.
A BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF HOW
THEY ARE PUT UP.
How the Little Fish is CRuRht and Pre-
pared for the Market.


ew, if any, sardines are imported.
Nearly all the fish consumed in America
come from the southeast part Of Maine.
At Eastport there are nineteen places
where they turn out sardines; at Lubec
three, and along the coast ht different
ports many others are found. The pro-
cess of preparation is very interesting.
To catch the fish small trees or brush
are thrust into the bottom of little bays
or directly into the main body of the wa
ter. They are arranged in a line quite
close together, running out from the
shore some seventy-ive or one hundred
feet, then curved like a horseshoe, with
a line returned to the shore. In this is
placed a net. At the proper tidal mo-
ment the net is raised and the fish taken
up in scoop nets. The fish are not sar-
dimes at all, but small herring. The
catch is always very uncertain. Some
times only a bushel or two will be taken,
and at others so many as to endanger
the safety of the net. After being
placed in the boats they are at once
taken to the packing place and laid upon
long tables in heaps. The first step re-
quires the cutting off of the head and
the removal of the entrails. The degree
of dexterity with which both of these op-
erations are performed is astonishing,
especially as they are done entirely by
very young children. The writer
counted one little girls work during a
minute and found she had decapitated
and removed the interior portions of
tions are done with one stroke of the
knife. The head is neatly severed from
the body, and the knife is then pulled
slightly away from the fish, removing
the one canal which composes the en-
tire digestive arrangement. A large box
holding about bushel lies directly at
the feet of each operative, into which
the fish slides, while the head is thrown
by the same fatal stroke into another.
The pay for this work is ten cents for
each box full. Some of the more eX-
pert make from 81 to $15O a day. The
fish are then placed in warm water,
which is slightly agitated in order to
cleanse them thoroughly. After this
necessary precaution they are placed on
very large gridirons Of which the bars
are thin and wide apart, and are then
suspended over q very hot fire, where
they are partly broiled. These gridirons
are called ''hakes" and hold about one
hundred and twenty fish. The sardines
are placed in position on the ''tiakes" by
little girls, who receive ten cents for fill
ing every hundred. After broiling the
fish are ready for the boxes. These are
already prepared with the attractive
French labels. The oil used is common
cottongeed. The first quality of oil is
used, however, for the sardines sold as
prime.
The boxing or packing of sardines IS
a branch of the operation at which chlI-
dren are quite expert. A fish IS seized
in each hand and laid lengthwise In the
box. first 4 head at the outer end and
then a tail. In watching the packing, an
observer is struck with the idea that it
is much easier to put them in the box
than to take them out. After the box is
full, a small quantity of cottonseed oil,
about half a gill, is poured in, and it IS
then passed to another set Of girls. who
place the bottoms in position. These
fit snugly lust inside the outer rim and
rest upon little shoulder OF tin. The
boxes are now ready for the sealers.
These men sit at long tables, and each
one has a little stove and soldering iron
at his side. The box is placed in a little
grooved platform, which forms the top
of q revolving frame, extending below
the table and worked by the feet. The
solder. in long, thin sticks or coils, is
placed about half an inch above the end
of the hot copper pointed iron, and IS
rapidly melted, running down along the
point~-and filling up the groove. After
slightly scratching with the point OF the
copper number or mark to indicate the
sealer, whose identity is thereby estab-
| lished III case of bad work, the boxes
are taken to an immense cauldrOn, where
| the contents are boiled for two hours,
thus completing the cooking process and
dlssolvmg the bones of the fish. After
boiling, the boxes are placed side by
side. and a small hole is punctred III
one corner, in order to permit the air,
which was necessarily sealed in the box,
TO cscapc. This sometimes comes with
a squirt, throwing a tiny stream of steam
and hot oil in all directions. Immedi-
atelv after this boy seals the hole with
solder, and the box is then placed with
others in revolving chamber partly
filed with sawdust. 4 few revolutions
cleanse them of all dirt and oil, and
they are then ready for testing Each
box is taken up separately between the
thumb and finger, and slightly pressed
If it Yields there is hole somewhere,
through which air enters the box, or
there is still some remaining or when
did not escape when the box was
picrcrd. It is thrown aside and returned
. to the seaIar who must pay the value oi
the. box thus spoiled. The final hand
limo is done when the sardines nre packed
in Iaroe wooden boxes for Shipment