Weekly Chillicothe crisis., 1884-06-19
FRESH OREGON SALMON.
Transporting them in Refrlgemtor-Cars to
the East.

Transporting them In Refrlgerator.Car Ia
the East.
Oregon salmon taken from the lower
Columbia, or from any of the streams
that fall into the Pacific north of Point
Oxford, have for more than one gencr-
alton been justly regarded as the best
fish Of that variety in the world, with
the single exception Of the King salmon
Of the Yukon and other rivers of Alas
ka. In size those caught in the fish
cries OF the estuary of the Columbia
will average about twenty pounds
each, and it is not at all uncommon to
take them of thirty-fvc and forty
pounds. We have personally seen
many of that weight taken in sight of
Astoria. Oregon salmon caught in
height Of the season, which runs from
the 10Th Of April to the LIST of June, is
oycrlaid by Il stream of black fat from
Il quarter TO Il half inch thick, and the
red meat under this surface of fat is as
solid rs beef. In the first efforts to
utilize these fish for commerce they
were either Saltcd down in brine and
barrclcd. or Saltcd dry and smoked.
Preparatory to the final curing they
had to be packed down for u day or
two in salt water till the excess of oily
substance should rise and be skinned
of, after which they were packed in
casks and rcsaltcd for export The
expense of this method was found 10
eat away about all the profits, and for
Il good many years past the canning
process has been followed TO greater
advantage
The canning of Oregon salmon has
become Il staple industry on the Col
umbia. II employs some millions in
capital and thousands Of laborcrS, en-.
gagged rs fishers, cutters, and Gamers.
Its annual products are next to the
wheat crop of that state in value.
But it has been long known that, with
cheap and rapid facilities for tranSpOr-
tation, the most profitable disposition
that can be made of the Columbia
river salmon would he to ship it in the
unSaltcd state to the eastern markets.
The first experiment on Il considerable
scale in this business has Just been
commcnccd One full refrigerator
carload was landed by way Of the
Northern Pacific railroad at New York
ON the nineteenth Of last month. The
fish, we are told, were packed in
boxes. which were surrounded by
crushed ice, to keep the tcmpcra-
turc of the ear at the freezing
point and from 10 degrees to
l. degrees below, though the frccz-
ing point would suffice as well rs
any degree below it. The car contained
one hundred boxes, each box having
from to 7, according to the size Of the
fish. If we assume GI rs the average,
the carload contained GjO salmon; and
if we average them at twenty pounds
each there was an aggregate ol l3,OOO
pounds of salmon. or 81 net tons. As
the average carload is 10 tons, it fol-
lows that the ice and boxes must have
weighed - tons, or 3j per cent of the
cargo, against 60 per cent of fish. For
every loo pounds Of freight charged
by the railroad against the shipper, he
had 81 pounds of salmon and 81 pounds
of dead weight, The fish cost him, de-
livcrcd at the ears at Portland, cents
per pound. the freight charge was I
cents, boxes and ice included, and the
shipper had TO pay in addition the fare
and wages of one person in attendance
to regulate the temperature of the ear
by rrplcni~hing the melting ice. The
fish rctailrd in New York at ~ cents
per pound, leaving Il profit of cents
per pound, minus the cost of the per-
son who attended the ear. The profits
ON the whole carload of $4,000 pounds
was S1.OlO. Deduct the wages and fare
of the attendant, say $40 fare for the
round trip and $50 for wages, or $500
in all. and We have Il net profit for the
shipper of $3.50 His investment was:
Cost of $1,000 pounds of fish, at cents
per pound, $500; cost of 100 boxes 1T
80 cents each, $50; cost of lee, say D.
600 pounds, at cent per pound, 500
eos, of attendant Stare, prepaid to New
York. Sl2O, or a total of $500. The
lIDlll VII llllN - 'gib's VI t'''N' W. l'i
cent.
And 50 the experiment demonstrates
the fact that the new business will pay
better than the old methods of disposing
Of the Oregon salmon. There is an I'M
limited market, and we may be SURE
that the first price will be well main
tanned us long aS beef and mutton aver
are as high as they now do at New
York. For, apart from the question OF
luxury, these ii h. pound for pound
contain rs much substance us beef ol
mutton, and to use Il homcly phrase
Twill 90 rs far in the family" Eight
cars have been fitted out for the bust
ness, and after il becomes thoroughly
organized and perfected in all its de
tails good deal may he saved in the
cost of transportation. Moreover, il
will he as easy to land the fish in prim,
condition ut London and Liverpool a'
at New York, for the only requisite j.
to keep them frozen from first TO last
and such salmon at London will b'
worth u good deal more than 20 ol
% cents per pound when salmon from
the frithS of Scotland readily sell fol
80 cents TO 81 pound in that market