The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1888-07-30
THE SALMON WHEEL.
A Lazy Mans Device that Is Exter-
nInating the Salmon.
[Llvermore Herald ]


The man who invented the Columbia river
salmon wheel was genius. The LATEST fish
man who ever baited hook could ask no
easier way Of landing fish. And only the
fact that 1t can only be used at certain points
on the stream prevents this machine from
extermlnating the salmon in one season.
Imagine a common undershot wheel, with
the buckets turned the wrong way about
This Is set in high, narrow fiume near the
bank Of the river, where the current Is very
swift. From the downstream END Of this
flume, extending outward at an angle OF
forty five degrees, are two upright fences,
formed by pickets driven closely together
into the bottom Of the river and wired to
keep them from washing away. just above
the wheel, which Is some ten feet IN diameter,
at the upstream end, Is platform, from
which box fume runs TO the shore. This Is
the machine Now let us see how 1t works.
When the salmon are running. as everybody
knows, they come up the Columbia river by
millions. The stream Is very deep, and a
large percentage always succeed In getting
TO the breeeing grounds In safety. When
salmon are running up river they are con-
stantly on the lookout for small streams In
which to spawn. Also when the current Is
very swift they are unable to make headway
in the centre Of the stream and consequently
seek the more quiet water near the bank.
OF these two instincts, the inventor Of the
fish wheel took a mean advantage. At the
Cascades, for instance, where the water Is
very swift, he sets his wheel Here come
the fish, hugging the bank by thousands
great black fellows, from two to four feet
long, heading resolutely up the stream.
Nothing can turn them backward. That
wonderful instinct Of nature which insures
the preservation Of species is nowhere better
developed than in salmon. But in this in
stance it proves his destruction. Now they
are just below that widespread fence. The
current which Is rushing through the hume
and turning the big wheel at lively pace at
tracts their attention. The upper fence,
which sets nearly square across the stream.
makes quiet water here, and this flow seems
to come from the bank. This, to the sal
mons mind is evidently the mouth Of shall
low creek. Here Is a spawning ground TO
our liking, and up this little stream we will
90. SO they crowd up between the two mar
rowing fences toward the fatal wheel. The
first fish reaches II, goes In with a rush to
overcome the current, Is caught by bucket,
and up he goes high in the air, while every
bucket brings up another and another till
there is a procession Of ascending hsh. AT
the top the velocity throws the fish violently
upon the platform, from which he shoots
down the fume to great tank on the shore.
Here come the fish, er0wding each other for
ward to that busy wheel. None can go un-
der nor to one side None will go back.
And once q school starts for wheel the
owner can consider that he has title deed
10 the entire lot. One wheel Will run can
merry. Day and night, while the run .i:,: iass:
they come flying up the wheel and shooting
down the flume In continuous stream; F9I-
tunately there are but few places on the rlv-
| er where wheels can be worked WITH TINS re-
suit. Where the fish can keep IN NV hiluuIe
Of the river few can be caught In TINS way.
Bnt the men who control these points are
making fortunes. AS IL Is. salmon are rapidly
disappearing from the Columbia. Many can
neries are idle this season and the fisher
i fab Ia Wta tnaT
Surely this engine Of destruction is largely
the cause.