New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1897-03-28
CANNED SlLNON Not so BAD.
A SENSATIONAL. ENGLISH STORY DENIED
nv PEOPLE WHO KNOW.

Under the headline. The Danger OF Fish foon'
London paper OF recent date denounee' ''e
canned FISH which is put up In British Co'u''oid
and says that .a timed fish should he given the
go-by" The writer of the article says 'ta' lie
saw the canning process at Sevcston on the fraser
River and that many cases Of direct poisoning
must have followed the methods employed there
He says among other things:
I saw fish received from the fishermen. in large
and small lots varying generally from thirty TO
five fish and kept piled upon one another Just , as
thrown in from the boats FOR several days nd "' hn
fore cleaning and canning. to save the expense
Of steam. etc. The thermometer Is rarely ne, NV
20 degrees. and often 30 degrees Fdhrenhc IN tne
shade during the greater part OF the canning sea
son. that you may imagine the CONDITION OF tte
fish first received which would be underneath the
The Cinnamon who gut the FISH use the keen est
often unable to make clean cut or 10 prevent
Ss baa aT SS fish RTns to Canned This
the usual state of things but have seen at , the
busiest times so many as looo or logD isn P sn
abominable
The process OF timing is then explained. In which
the correspondent finds further elements or danger
Blu; he refers to another danger in the canning
business in the shape Of polluted water In which
the fish is washed before 1t is prepared for the can
The fish. after being Quilted are washed in the
river he says. which. lin addition 10 It's normally
dirty state IL prolific Of products OF decomposi-
ton at the canning season. really shocking from
les into the water through holes made for the pur-
pose in the flooring: and as every bit OF the
riparian land at Steveston Is occupied by Gamer
les and eddes obtain all along In front OF the
buildings. the accumulation of offa which washes
up and down and to and fro makes Of the water
breeding pond so speak for bacterial organisms.
| Informed by competent authority that II
takes six weeks or two months after the canning
finished for the river to get anything like clear
of the oTa, good deal of 1t remaining to decay.
This Is the water In which all Fraser River salmon
is cleaned before putting into the tins
The facts that hundreds OF thousands OF cans
OF fish sold In the United States. and that many
Upland places dependent the product OF the
canneres for all the fish OF certain kinds consumed
by them, make the accusation OF the English writer
interesting
1t appears. however, that the picture has been
overdrawn. and that the danger connected with
eating canned salmon Is not as great one would
believe from reading the article in question.
Eugene Blackford. in speaking the subject.
said that he had visited the canneries on the Co.
lumbia River and that ne had watched the process
from the time the fish caught until IL was
canned and cased. ready for shipment to the East
market. and that he had never seen anything
TO warrant criticism.
"of course" he said there are canneries and
some where the methods are bad. but even the
fish, because their trade would be ruined. The
fish product is so large and so cheap that 1t would
in the salmon business is the least. because fine
fish weighing fifteen pounds can be had for 10
cents apiece, and these delivered by the Ind
ians in such quantities that have known
neres to throw Ss away as 5 many ny, as ZOO in day
clites sufficient to handle and pack
the great wheels fitted with buckets and drags cost
still less They thrown into the barges and
boats and strung on lines and put into barrels.
These barrels are thrown into the water and drift:
the stream. Each barrel Is painted. that there
can be doubt as to the owner. and the contents
are at once turned over to the Gamer Fish which
is than one day old is thrown away. / am in
the fresh fish business. and have interest In
booming the canned goods trade. but know that
only good fish packed on the Columbia River
and that the talk about rotten canned stuff is all
untrue
The largest dealers in canned goods are equally
sceptica to the English criticism. At the office
of Francis II. Leggett, the head OF the canned
know II the fish which was offered for sale
bad and that it could not be Sold II mer-
chants were INSCRIPTIONS enough 10 make the at
"We handle about twenty thous md OF one
brand of Columbia River salmon year." said.
land doubt whether We had dozen complaints
In the course OF year. NO matter how careful
the Gamer is, occasional bad is unavoida-
Bile: but there are more bad cans of corn and to-
matOcS than OF salmon.
As to the criticism by the Engishnan. IL was said
Columbia and that the duty on 1t is so high that
none OF IL comes into the United States Tho
Alaska fisheries supply the United States with the
cheap brands Of canned salmon. and the extra or
the product referred TO as bad goes 10 England.
At Austin. Nichols e. COS canned goods depart
ment these statements were confirmed, and there
it said also that the complaints as to bad
canned salmon are few. and that there Is no good
reason why "all timed fish should he given the
go-by."