Alma record. (Alma, Mich.) 1878-1928, 1889-11-15
CANNING SALMON.
Cinnamon In the Flsh-Packing
Business on the Pacific Coast.

ucillc cotst IL one Vi great Importance
and this city is we'll repres ented in that
line OF business, says letter from
Seattle, Washington. The canneries
not only furnish employment to those
who are actually engaged in the work
of canning the fish. but it also brings
harvest TO the numerous fishermen
and Indians who are located here
Every day there are thousands OF
pounds of salmon, of the different va
rieties, landed on the wharves of the
canning companies. The fishermen
bring the fish TO the dock, where they
unload them.
After leaving the hands OF the white
fishermen, when they are piled on the
wharf, they are handled entirely by
Cinnamon. The method OF moving
them about is very simple. The NOV
er is provided with stick in the end
OF which is fastened a sharp spike, and
this is thrust into the mead OF the fish
and a sharp jerk is given which lands
him several feet away, and perhaps on
another pile. The fish weigh all the
way from five to forty pounds each.
When the men are ready to COM
mence operations the fish are placed
on IA long bench, side by side and
heads all pointing in the one direction.
When the bench is filed, the man who
has charge of that portion of the work
takes his knife and gives it rub on
his steel, and then cuts off the heads
and the front fins. The fish is then
turned over To another man, and the
head is thrown to one side. This man
makes one or two sleight-of-hand
movements with his knife and the fish
is shorn of its other fins and the tail
Another motion cuts the fish open and
another removes the entrails and
throws them into a receptacle pre-
pared for them.
After the removal OF the entrails the
fish are thrown into large vessel
of.water where they are rinsed. They
are removed from here and each fish
is given scraping both outside and
in. | may as well state that the sal
mon has no scales, and hence the
work of removing them has no effect.
The man who scrapes them makes
just two twists OF his well-trained wrist
and the work is done; and they are
thrown into the water again. where
they are thoroughly rinsed and every
stain OF blood removed. From this
place the fish go to the chopper. where
they are cut into convenient sizes for
the cans. The chopper is made as fol-
lows: There is a table which, at a
distance of two inches apart, across the
whole width, has slots cut through.
BY the action of lever curved knives
are brought downward through the
slots. The fish are laid lengthwise
across the table. and when the knives
are forced downward with quick jerk
the fish are neatly divided into cross
sections.
These cross sections are then split
into smaller sizes This IS done by
hand. The meat is now ready for the
cans which are made in the cannery by
cinnamon. The first operation of the
GINNING process is the sailing. This
is done in very simple manner. "A
table or board one inch in thickness is
bored full OF auger holes. A thin
board slides under the one which con-
tains the holes, thus making a bottom.
Salt is poured on the board, and after
the holes are filled it is scraped off
Two dozen cans are placed in tray
and the tray is showed under the table,
so that IA can is under each hole. The
board is then removed and the salt
falls through into the can. Each can
receives something like teaspoonful
of salt
The chopped fish is piled on tables.
and the cans are taken to these tables
as fast as they are ready. Here they
are filled with the raw salmon. The
pieces are put in and then packed
Il he. -,
other ounce Sometimes there will be
some sticking over the top OF the can.
and this is removed with knife.
They are now ready to be topped and
sealed. The tops are put on, and then
the cans are run through a soldering
machine and the work is completed
with the exception of soldering the
small hole in the top OF the the can.
The canning is now over, provided
there are no flaws to be found.
The cooking is the next thing on
the list. The cans are placed in a
| large square iron tray, which holds
about a hundred. The tray is lifted by
rope which runs over pulley and
then lowered into big vat of boiling
water, where they are allowed to re-
main two hours.
After the gas has escaped they are
again made air-tight by the little
puncture made for that purpose being
soldered and then placed in the retort
This is kept at a steady heat. % de-
grees above the boiling point Here
they are kept for two hours more,
and when they are taken out they are
sufficiently cooked. The cans are
taken one by one and rubbed over with
brush dipped into brown varnish and
they are placed in trays which stand
over large iron pans They are again
tested and then allowed to remain still.
in order for the varnish to have time
TO dry. After they are thoroughly
dried they are labeled. and last of all
they are placed in cases which contain
! four dozen cans each. These cases are
shipped to all parts Of the world and
the people at n distance get chance
TO eat some genuine Columbia River
] salmon"
WONDERFUL WILLS.
! Cranky Testamentary Utterances
| That Kept the Makers Memory