Middletown transcript., 1883-04-06
A SALMON WHEEL.

! Ou6 pIGdSduG 6N6uluS, dG JIG Oc1O
cades of the Columbia, in Oregon,
walked up to see a salmon wheel. 1t il
the simplest, most fatuous way o.
catching fishes I know of, and one o.
the most picturesque.
The Cascades, as their name indi
Gates, occupy a space several miles il
length where the Columbia River is
obstructed by dykes of lava that have
been thrown across its course, causing
the water to rush down in series Of
small cataracts and boiling torrents,
impossible for boat to stem, and
which puts the salmon to their best
PAGES to surmount.
At convenient point on the south
ern bank of these cascades, where a
narrow and deep race-way swept be-
tween the shore and a small ledge of
rocks, a frame had been planted, in
which swung a vertical wheel like a
steamers side wheel, the diameter of
which was perhaps forty feet, and the
breadth of the paddles seven feet.
Most of the paddles, however, had been
dispensed with, the interior Of the
wheel being chiefly taken up by two
great cages or buckets of wire netting.
These buckets were somewhat funnel
shaped compartments, diminishing in a
curve from the opening, some five feet
square at the rim, to the centre of the
wheel, and there terminating in a
wooden trough laid in a slanting posi-
tion along the axle.
This huge wheel was hung low
enough so that the open ends of the
netting buckets should be immersed at
every tnrn, and they were so arranged
the wheel being underShOt, as to enter
the water on the upstream side with
downward motion. Anything swim
ming up the river under the wheel,
therefore, would go straight into the
mouth Of the funnel as the wheel came
around, and would be scooped up.
Carried aloft in this surprising fash
ion, the unharmed fishes made the most
frantic leaps in the hope Of escape but
the swift revolution of the wheel, ele-
waiting their prison, almost instantly
hurled them down to the axle, where
they slid out of the inclined and slippery
trough into pen of logs prepared for
their reception.
I was foolish enough to go out and
stand with the owner upon a slender
board that overhung the water near the
wheel ; foolish, because the racing cur
rent underneath, the whirling motion
Of the great machines so close to my
face, and the tremendous noise of the
rushing and tumbling waters combined
to bewilder ones faculties dangerously
unless he was trained to it. However,
10 harm came, and the manager shouted |
nto my ear upon our slender bridge a |
1ookful of interesting knowledge about |
salmon and their ways, Distinguishing
he different sorts by such names as
: Chinook Cbest Of alD, " steel-head,"
blue-belly," " ''July salmon, " "spring "
ialmon, +" etc., and pointing out each as
IN example came up in the wheel.
How many will you catch day ?''
ask.
g That varies greatly in different
7ears and on different days. To-day
We have got $500 so far, but we con-
ider that light. One day we took over
leven thousand, and then stopped
counting. The pen got full, and there
vas a regular stream of fish foppin'
through the wheel, slappin' down onto
he heap, and then slidin' off into the
water again. 1 reckon they took
quare drink after that bit o. luck"
g should think the fish would avoid
his big trap-'
"They don't see it in time,'' he an
wered. And I reckon their minds
) full of the spawnin', and they don't
office much. However, you can make
too clumsy. Now that man over on
he island there''- pointing to similar
Wheel, except that the buckets were
lade of laths instead of netting
amt havin' no luck, because the
almon see his wooden boxes and shy
IF. 1 experimental long time, and
find they can see and will scare at any
olored thing except this galvanized
ray wire, or else scarlet-they can't
ee scarlet at all. "
All this time the huge wheel, revolv-
ng three times in minute, was pick
ng up entrapped fishes, sometimes
lore than one at time. They seemed
0 come in pairs, two of the same sort
Using together or in immediate sue
ession. There were intervals when
one were caught at all, followed by
uOlG pC1lOuo VI PlCllIy9 uld1hluS IHS
assage of /" schools" Some of the
Julys" weighed forty pounds, and
7ere strong enough to make the biggest
ngler in the Scottish Highlands brace
imself for long struggle ; but these
7ill not bite at hook.
As fast as the fish are caught-the
iheel runs all night, so that there is a
on or SO to begin the mornings work
pon-they are taken into a shed and
ut under the knife. With few deft
trokes the rich pink flesh of their bel ]
es is cut out and thrown into the ]
zine, the rest Of the noble animal fully {
wo-thirds of its edible weight being ;
asst aside and wasted in what seems
he most wicked fashion. The fisher
len reply that the half-century of j
teady attack upon them has not dimih- !
she'd perceptibly the hordes of salmon +
hat annually ascend the great rivers i
ut surely sooner or later this heavy ,
laughter will tell upon their ranks. ,
The picking uses only a fraction of =