The Austin weekly statesman. (Austin, Tex.) 1883-1898, 1883-08-16
AMERICAN SARDINES.
How the Native Herring Becomes a
Full Pledged Foreigner.

AMERICAN SARDINES.
How the Native Herring Becomes a
Full Pledged Foreigner.
Portland (Ie.) Cor. Philadelphia Press.I
1t is not generally known that very
few, if any, sardincs are imported.
Nearly all the fish consumed in Amer
lea come from the southeast corner of
this state. AT EastpOrt there are
nineteen places where they turn out
sardines; at Lubec, three, and along
the coast at different ports many
others are found. The process of prep
aratiOn 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 water. They are arranged in
line quite close together, running
out from the shore some SeYenty-five
or hundred feet, then curved like a
horse shoe, with line returned to
the proper tidal moment the net is
raised and the fish taken up in scoop
nets. The fish are not sardineS at all,
ways very uncertain. Sometimes
and at others so many as to epdanger
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 requires the
cutting off of the head and the remov-
al of the entrails. The degree of deX-
5erity with which both of these opera
lions 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 decapitated
and removed the interior portions of
eighty fish in that time. Both opera
tions are done with one stroke of the
knife. The mead is neatly severed
from the body, and the knife is
then pulled slightly away fr0m the
fish, removing the one car al which
composes the entire digestive ar
rangement. A large box, holding
about a bu-hel, lies directly at the
feet oi each operative, into which the
fish slides, while the head is thrown
with the same fatal stroke into an
other. The pay of this work is ten
cents for each boXful. Some of the
more expert make from dollar to a
dollar and half 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 a
very hot fire, where they are partly
broiled These gridirons are called
''hakes" by little girls, who receive
ten cents for filling every hundred.
After broiling, the fish are ready for
boxes. There are already prepared
with the attractive French labels,
stating that the enclosed are "Sar-
dimes lhuile supervivre," and others
claim to contain "l'huile d'olline," but
this is false. The oil is cotton seed
pure and simple, and is not always
the best quality. The first quality of
oil is used, however, for those sardines
sold us prime.
The boxing or packing is another
branch of the operation at which the
little people are quite expert. A fish
is seized in each hand and laid length
wise in the box, first head at the
outer end and then a tail. In watch
ing 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 cotton seen oil, about
half gill, is poured in, and it is then
passed to another set of girls who
placed the bottoms in position. These
| fit snugly Just 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 little stove and
soldering iron at his side. The box
is placed in a little groved platform,
which forms the top OF a 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 a number or mark
to indicate the sealer, whose identity
is thereby established in case of bad
work, the boxes are taken to an i'm
mense cauldron, where the contents
are boiled for two hours, thus COM
pleting the cooking process and dis
solving the bones of the fish.
After boiling, the boxes are placed
side by side, and small hole is pune
tured in one corner, in order to per-
nit the air, which was necessarily
sealed in the box, to escape. This
sometimes comes with a sudden squirt,
throwing a tiny stream OF steam and
hot oil in all directions. Immediately
after this a hoy seals the hole with
solder, and the box is then placed with
others in revolving chamber part
ly filled with dust. A few reyolu-
lions cleanse them of all dirt and oil,
and they are then ready for testing.
Each box is taken up separately be-
tween 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 ar which did not escape
when the box was pierced. 1t is
thrown aside and returned to the
sealer, who must pay the value OF
| the box thus spoiled. The final hand
ling is done when the sardines are
packed in large wooden boxes for
shipment.
Almost the entire product is
shipped to New York. whence it is
shipped to retailers. throughout the
country. One of the establishments
in Lubec prepares about 1900 boxes
daily. When it is remembered that
there are nineteen such places in East
port and many others at different sea-
port towns, the enormous consump-
ton of the gentle herring, masquer-
aiding under the nobler title, may be
seen. The actual cost per box, in
Guiding all expenses, is five cents.
The profit made by the packers some
times reaches seven and nine cents,
but it is oftener less. The difference
between these prices and the con-
sumers' expenditure is lost in the diff
ferent hands through which the fish