Essex County herald. [volume] (Guildhall, Vt.) 1873-1964, 1889-10-25
THE TOOTHSOME SALMON.
CANNING AN IMPORTANT FOOD
FISH ON THE PACIFIC COAST.
Preparing the Fish for the Cans
Cooking the Raw Salmon Afier
1t Has Been Canned.

canncfleS not only 1ufnlSn employment
to those who are actually engaged in the
work of canning the fish, but it also
brings harvest TO the numerous fisher
men and Indians who are located here.
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 mover is pro-
vidcd with a stick in the end of which is
fastened sharp spike, and this is thrust
into the head of the fish and 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 commence
operations the fish are placed on long
bench side by side and heads all pointed
in the one direction. When the bench
is filled, 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 aud 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-
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 q receptacle prepared for them
After the removal of ! the cntrails the fish
where they are rinsed. They arc re-
moved from here and each fish is given
screping both outside and in. may
as well state that the salmon has no
scales and hence the work of removing
them is dispensed with.
Tho man who scrapes them makes
Just two twists of his we'll trained wrist
and the work is done, and they are
thrown into the water again, where they
are thoroughly rinsed and every trace Of
blood removed. From this place the
fish so to the chopper, where they are
cut into convenient sizes for the cans.
The chopper is made as follows: There
is table which, at II distance of two
inches apart, across the whole width,
has slots cut through. BY the action of
lever curved knives are brought down
ward 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 di.
yidpd 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 Chi
namen. The first operation of the can
ming process is the salting. This is done
in very simple manner. A table or
board one inch in thickness is bored full
of auger holes. think there are twen-
ty-four of these holes A thin board
slides under the one which contains the
holes, thus making bottom. Salt is
poured on the board and after the holes
are filled it is scraped off, Two dozen
cans arc placed in II tray and the tray is
showed under the table, 50 that can is
under each hole. The board is then re-
moved and the salt falls through into the
can. Each can receives something like
a 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 down until
the man cannot force in another ounce
Sometimes there will be some sticking
over the top of the can, and this is re-
moved with knife. They are now
ready to be topped and sealed The tops
are put on, and then the cans arc run
through soldering machine and the
work is completed with the exception of
soldering the small hole in the top of the
can. That is done by hand but it is
done very rapidly. The canning is now
over, provided there are no. flaws to be
found. From the time the can is filled
until the labels are pasted on they arc
being continually tested, in order that
there may be no chance of an imperfect
one being sent out,
The cooking is the next thing on the
list. The cans are placed in Il large
square iron tray, which holds about a
hundred. The tray is lifted by a rope
which runs over pulley and then low
cred into big vat of boiling water,
where they are allowed to remain two
hours. When the trays are removed they
are placed on table, and mau comes
along with mallct and strikes each can
in order to see il they are sound. When
he finds one that is faulty he takes it out,
throwsit to one side to be patched up.
The sound of the blow on the can tells
him which is perfect and which is not,
aud he will go over them so rapidly that
you can scarcely keep track of the blows.
After he is gone another man comes with
mallet which contains small awl. He
strikes each can, thus making u small
hole, through which the gas escapes.
Sometimes the gas and fluid will squirt
upward to the height of three feet.
After the gas has escaped they are
again made alright by the little pune
ture being soldered and then placed in
the retort. This is kept at steady heat,
twenty eight degrees above the boiling
point. Here they arc kept for two hours
more, and when they are taken out they
are sufficiently cooked After being
tested they are removed to the cooling
ROOM After cooling they arc again
tested and then they are laquered Or var
nished. The cans arc taken one by one
and rubbed over with a brush dipped
into brown varnish and they are placed
in trays which stand over large iron pans.
The lacquer runs off and drops into the
pan, and it then runs out into pail,
thug making q saving which in time