The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1893-11-06

varieties, noticeable among which are I've
o. tne best commercial salmon % the
weird; namely. Chinook o. king salmon.
esing the largest and best In the world,
and deriving his name from the Chinook
inaaanss who tor long time reigned
supreme as the most powerful tribe Of In
QiA1s inhahittng Bakers bay on the WASH
ingfon side sf the mouth Of the
columbia river: silver salmon, so named
rom his bright siivery coloring; blue-eack
salmon. from the Blush coscring Of his
oack. which more often takes On q shade
OF green. sometimes locally called the red
salmon. IS he possesses the reddest meat
OF al Of tie salmon family: steei-head or
naru-he4d salmon, more properly trout,
pat, owing 30 his great ssxe aud the red
color OF his meat. caught. canned, labelled
ana seld ~ Column hia river salmon: hump
oack salmon, 50 called from the hump LIE
carries little way back from his head,
though 0! distinct species and not TO be
confounded with the males OF all of the
salmon varieties, who toward the close OF
the breeding and spawning season get
very round backs, booked shouts and long
teeth, and the QainiAast salmon, so called
HON Its habitat close 20 the Qusnianlt In
dian reservation, north of Gray's harhor.
There are multitude OF other varieties of
salmon. ali partaklng more or less the
forms an5 characteristics of the above
named species The changes are owing
90 The different localities and waters
which they inhahit. Then, again. each OF
the ADORE named varieties hare sab-gami-
lies. partaking in all Of the points Of the
larger ones, all being locally called salmon
trout.
I'm its natural facilities for commerce
by ocean Washington 10 without . rival
among the states OF the Union. Its coast
shore line. extending from Cape Flattery
TO the Columbia river is TO miles. but its
interior seas opening to the Pacific give il
an inside shore line Of / s92 miles. Prac-
ticatly the entire region west of the Cas-
cade mountains slopes by easy graduations
TO harbors, among the safest and deepest
In the world. Puget sound. entered by
the Straits Of Fuca, Is an inland sea with
many bays and harbors. Farther south is
uray,s haroor. accommodating the largest
vessels and containing an area of seventy
hve square miles. Fourteen miles farther
south is the beautiful Wilgapa bay. on
whose bar the captain of the United States
warship Monterey found least depth OF
thirty feet one hour and thirty-fye min
utes before low tide, making least depth
at low tide OF twenty-eight feet Of water on
1t bar. Tmenty-slx miles still farther
south rolls the majestic Columbia river
whose praises have been sung by all ma
tions, and whose waters are alive with
salmon and fish of all kinds, and on
whose banks are such canneries as those
Company, u. NJ. Warren d Co, Hapgood
q Co., the North Shore Company. Wallace
Bros, s. Schmidt & Co., ]. q. Megier and
McGowen. The Aberdeen Packing Com
pany is represented with large plant at
ilwaco, right at the mouth of the Column
bia river, where the salmon are caught
fresh and hard as they come in from the
salt water of the Pacific ocean.
"There are numberless species of good
edible fish In ali of the waters of the state
which are made no use of as the present
time owing to lack of interested capital.
Sardines, smeit and herring are very
abundant, and no one in the business
Whales. such as the Pacific humpback.
California gray whale, finback. Pacific
right whale, sulphur bottom and sperm,
are plentiful all along the Coast, outside of
the breakers and in sight from the land
at any time of the day, yet there is no
whaling outfit nor whale station. Fur
seals are also plentiful outside of the
breakers, with few sea offers. Hair seals
and sea lions are very plentiful. The best
sturgeon in the world. often attaining a
weight of LOCO pounds. are very plentiful
in all the waters of the state and are con-
sidered o drug and q nuisance. When IL
will be considered that this sturgeon is the
Transmontanus, or royal fish, of Russia IL
is strange that there are not more packers
in the business.
ION Willapa bay there are four salmon
canneries and it is considered fortunate
for the fishermen If one of them will run
in the season. There appears TO be no end
of salmon at from 10 to IS cents each, vet
the cannery men combine and run only
one cannery, thereby controlling the mar
ket and the price paid to the fishermen.
Such state OF affairs cannot long exist
with the present growth and knowledge
of our state and its fishing resources.
There are no factories making oils Clues
or fertilizers, although there Is plenty of
room, material and welcome, with I'M
equaied land and water transportation.
The bay is sometimes alive with salmon,
sturgeon. carp. shad, porgies, shrimps,
smeit. herring, sardines and squids. with
natural oyster beds everywhere. Clans,
cookies, periwinkles and crabs are drug.
"Gray's harbor is in exactly the same
condition as regards the amount and
varieties of fish and enyironed with the
same conditions of development as VIII
lapa bay. Along the coast up to Cape
Fiattery, from five 10 ten miles out from
the shore, are halibut and Goldfish banks
which would well repay investors who
understand the business and know of re-
sponsible parties 10 ship TO. Among the
varieties of cod are the buffalo, rock cod,
red rockfsh, black cod, ling cod and cul-
tus cod. Founders and sole also abound.
In fact, all that Is required is for the peo-
pie 10 know the state aud its resources TO
give as thousands OF fishermen, as We
have fish enough TO support an empire
alone, if developed as il should be.
II will now give you few figures from
the report Of Capt. J. w. Collins of the
fisheries Of the state of Washington for
the year 1885: There were 8 $50 persons
employed in the fishing industry. There
was 81, ST., S97 invested capital. The produc-
ton was Il. al4 336 pounds OF fish, worth at
first hands s763. los. and other products,
including fnr seal peits, sS90e6 1t had
twenty-one canneries, in which were en-
ployed s16 persons: there was used II, 3d.
go pounds of fresh salmon and 216,S93
cases packed, worth 81 81, $50. Recent In.
vesiigation shows that the fisheries of
Washington, and particularly Puget sound,
have increased enormously since the above
statistics we're gathered. There Is good
authority for the statement that II viii be
approximately coTrect 10 double the ng-
ures given TO show ihs present status OF
the fisheries OF Washington. In fact, the
state fish commissioner of Washington,
Hon. James Cras ord. of Vancouver, gives
the total number of cases of salmon packed
in Isa2 at 465, o00."
Mr. Fletcher Returns From the East.
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