The daily morning Astorian. [volume] (Astoria, Oregon) 1883-1899, 1897-05-06
COLD STORAGE PLANT.
Is the Next Thing Needed by Astoria
Fishermen IN Their Business.


Among the practical and paying en-
tcrprises now needed IN Astoria IL a
cold storage plant u sufficient capacity
o. take care u a large and growing
BUSINESS.
To-day Messrs. Schmidt Brothers. OF
Portland and New York. and Mr. Tres
colt. of Portland. are buying salmon
a, the top price and shipping them to
the the Eastern markets fresh. Does
any one 1oubi that this business would
reach enormous proportions II there
wen, here proper facilities for freezing
the fsh as soon as they came out OF the
water? Now the fish have TO be han
died In an old cannery. packed In boxes
in Loose Ice. and shipped by beat 10 a
fn,ezing house up the river. Il is a.
cumbrous and expensive way Of doing
business. and under such methods can
not grow 10 any extent The railroad
viii soon be finished and shor; and
quick lire opened up to the Fast The
hshlng Industries OF this. a fishing town.
could Ia developed to magnitude little
dreamed of by the most ardent citizen
by the establishment OF cold storage
plants.
besides the sall'cn. there are the SUR
gcon. cod. hallbut. sardInes mackerel
yroupeIS. and many other salt water
nsh uhat are excellent food fish and
now are not handled because there are
no proper facilities for preserving and
shipping them. In speaking Of the
subject yesterday. Hon. Benz. Young,
an experienced handler OF fish, said:
I'VE have uot yet go, our eyes o. en-
In Astoria as TO what can be done vita
all kinds Of fish. with which our water,
are teeming, after the railroad Is in
operation and now is the time TO begin
preparations for taking up the business
on a large scale. First there must be q
large cold storage establishment for
taking care Of the fish when they come
IN and freezing them for Eastern ship
ment. There is no inducement now for
a schooner to bring in a cargo Of FISH.
for they would spoil before they could
be disposed OF and taken care OF. Let
ocean fishermen know that We have a
modern cold storage house of large ca
pacity, and a railruad and We will get
fish enough besides. we can send out
our own schomers. Look at what Seat
tie is doing, and she is not nearly so
well situated as far as the best fishing
banks are concerned as Astoria Is. We
are right on the ocean and but short
voyages from the finest banks for both
cod and haltbut
Take the cod-the best merchantable
fish there is. We are within easy reach
OF the wonderful banks on kadiak,
Alaska In the vicinity Of the Aleutian
islands Here are solid banks of cod of
the finest quality, and schooners can
be filled by hook and lire In four orI
i've days fishing. There is big money
In shipping them fresh. and then they
can be cured in Astoria better than
In an other place | know OF, The ell
mate il just right, there are plenty of
net racks to spread them upon after the
salmon season is over and the north
west wind and sun will do the rest
With the cod Is the halihut, which are
found IN large quantities off Flattery
and Of fine quality. Then there are the
sardines. groupers and other fine food
fish which we have , slip by us be
cause OF lack of cold storage and trans
portation facilities. There Is money inI
all of them II handled properly. By en-
gaging i'm such fisheries wewill be fishing
the year round and will not only COM
pete with the Sound, but viii rival Glou-
cester Mass. six or eight schooners
will do the business, sailing in pairs,
and will have two here discharging ev,
cry week. All the captain would have
to do would be to unload In the cold
storage house and put to sea for another
cargo.
Let us get our cold storage house on
the railroad line. somewhere in the mar
Dor, and brains and hard work win
soon accomplish all that could be de-
sired in the fishing industry, and win
add millions to our wealth"