The Dalles daily chronicle. [volume] (The Dalles, Or.) 1890-1948, 1895-05-15
"A PEW BRIEF FACTS CONCERNING
IT'S RESOURCES.
Fruits, Fish, Farm and FOrests--she
Has Them All, and Unlimited
Water Power.
FISH.

As suggested in the beginning of this
sketch the fishing industry is large
one, and the amount of money made at
it, under favorable circumstances, is
fabulous. !, There are two modes of fish
ing on the middle Colnmbia-one the
usual one followed elsewhere, the gill
net, and the other peculiar to the loca-
ton, and admissible only wheVe there
is a good current. The latter is by what
is known as the fish wheels, and these
in turn are divided into two kinds, the
stationary and the scow wheel. As the
mode is something new, we will devote
a small space to its description;
The fish wheel is simply three wire
dip nets mounted on wheel, which is
turned by the force of the current. The
wire screen, of which the net is COM
posed, is a part of the wheel itself, act
ing as a paddle. The wire is put on
diagonally to the radius, and three nets,
or screens, compose the wheel. On the
scows these are fastened at the rear end
of the boat, the nets striking the water
at the upstream side, dipping down
stream. AS the fish are caught running
up to their breeding grounds, the net
gathers them in, and as it lifts rolls
them towards the center of the wheel,
finally emptying them into an inclined
chute, down which they slide into the
scow. These scows and wheels cost
$500 to $1,000. They are generally
anchored at some point at the head of
an eddy, which the salmon seek to avoid
the current. The amount of fish they
will catch in day, with good run, is
almost beyond belief. Last summer a
wheel of this kind was left running over
night at the upper Cascades. near the
western boundary of this county, with
no one to watch it. The salmon were
running well, and in the morning the
owner, going to his wheel, was sur
prised to find it sunk. 1t had caught
salmon enough to sink the scow, proba-
bly, fifteen tons in twelve hours. This
of course was during an unusually good
run of fish. The stationary fish whee
works on the same principle as the
scow wheel, but bring built on the bank
where it is exposed at high water to {
tremendous current. is a much more ex
pensive matter, costing from s., 600 u
5000.
There are two canneries in the county
where the salmon are preserved-one a
Seufert's, three miles east of The Dalles
the other in the city. The latter wa
built this spring, and the season tha
has just opened (April lOth) it began it
fret run. The other has been in opera
tion several years. Last year, owing I
the extreme high water, although til
season ends August 10Th, and the can
merry did not begin operations until Jun
10Th, SO, 600 cases, of forty-eight pound
each, were packed. These fish were al
caught near the cannery. and hundred
OF tons more would have been caught
the canneiy could have handled them
Besides this, probably twice as man
fish were caught near the Cascades (thi
couEty) and shipped few miles dow
the river to the Warrendale cannery
Generally many carloads are sent Eas
in refrigerator cars, and sold fresh ii
the eastern cities. The sturgeon fisher
les, although on much smaller scale
yield considerable revenue. The Col
umbia sturgeon grow to immense size
an sOO-pound ish being no great rarity