The daily morning Astorian. [volume] (Astoria, Oregon) 1883-1899, 1897-04-07
SOME OF The
SALMON PACKED
By British Columbia Canneries ror
the London Market.
TOLD ny AN EYEWITNESS
The STORY fOf the Benefit oi Consumers
karning AgSIast Using Low Grades Of
Fraser River Fish.


Sir, r,--whiie IN British Columbia lasl
summer ! read reprint IN Yorkshire
paper u an article published by you
upon this subject In wh!ch II WIS sug-
gest'd that "nh tinnod fish should be
given the go-by.' Being at the time
In the thick of the salmon canning in
duStry AZ Sirvonnton. Fraser River.
I was much Interested IN the state
mont and made particular observations
0f the whole canning process. The re-
cent cape of direct poisoning from tlnn-
,-d salmon AT Poole induces me 20
trouble you with few facts supple
m-nting your advice ray direct
poisoning. bcciuer II would Probably
bs impoxible "a trace the numbers OF
deaths due indirectly - thr eating OF
timed salmon. The large. very large.
number on record of undoubted polls
unsngs. however. makes the subteot ot
uh- gravest Importance. And ~ very
few but the canncry pTOprietcrs and
their Chlne-e cooiie employees reap any
material pccuniary benefit form the in
dustry. Il becomes duty 10 cndsavour
Ia have the present dangerous and
criminal methods Of canning lmmedi-
atcly abolished. Thcrc Is ample time
b''forc the ensuing canning s'ason 10
have new and effective measures es-
tabiishcti. 80 that NJ more Of these
vcr1table death traps may be thrust
upon the working classcs market In
dcsd tho cargo,S VI last years pack
aboard certain ships shortly expected
At Liverpool should be- carefully eS-
aminrd officially before being permit
tc,l TO b. sold. and in one instance Al
loas; would say On oath. Acizei and
Destroyed
Allow me q state why | make this
assertion At cancry az Steveston /
saw fish iNceivcd from the fishermen.
In large and small lots. varying gener-
ally fr"m 30 to fish. and kept piled
upun one another just a. thrown In
from the boats FOR several days. until
something IKE tWp or thrN,. thousand
fish were an hand h fore CLEANING and
canning. 50 az to slyc the expense OF
steam. etc The thermometer IL rarely
bolow 10 and often 30 Fair, IN the shade
during the greater part Of the canning
season. 81 that you may imagine the
condition ~ th, fish first received,
which would b. underneath the later
nts az the timc NJ putting Into cans.
Tho Cinnamon who gut the fish use
the keencst knives. constantly ground
and sharTened. but are often unable
60 make clean cut or 20 prevent the
flesh tearing away owing 20 It's rotten
state But however bad the fish Is,
u is canned, This is the usual state OF
things, but have seen at the busiest
times 50 many as $4,000 or $4,000 fish
piled up three or four fee, high. and
the stencil arising abominable. When
there were such quantities. the fisher
mems catches had been supplemented
by some thousands which came from
the traps near Point Roberts L. s. 4.
some 90 miles distant. ard which weINe
collected by a steamboat about twice a
week. The manager OF the cannery
had an interest IN the traps. and sold
the fish to the canning company.
saw every lot of trap fish, and not one
lot was good on delivery. except the
last and smallest lot (about 800 nshl.
which was received in comparatively
cold weather, at the end OF the season.
| called the managers attention to the
fact OF the fish being timed in had
state; and he stated that his fish were
better than those of any other cannery
although | saw them put into tins In a
putrld condition. and pushed my fin
ger right through some of the fish be-
fore they were cut The carbonic gas
generated In a tin OF such fish surely
must be deadly,
But no matter how bad the fish may
when put into the tins, no smell arises
after the long cooking they get The
tins are soldered up and put into rap
Idly boiling water and kept boiling hard
for am hour, when they are pricked to
let out the steam, etc, and Immediately
ly resoldered and put In u retort and
subjected to n heat twice that Of the
boiling water for another hour. But
II the fish were fresh aud good VIII an
gutted, there is another element of
danger In the method because the fish
after cutting are washed In the river
water, which, In addition 10 its nor
mally dirty state. and prolific OF prod
ucts OF decomposition, Is, at the can
ming season, really shocking from the
fish ofial, which is all dropped from
the canneiies into the water through
holes made for the purpose In the floor
ing; and as all of the riparian land
at Steveston Is occupied by cauaerias,
and eddies obtain all along in front Of
the buildings the accumulation of offal
which washes up and down and to and
fro, makes the water a breeding pond,
80 to speak, for bacterial organisms. I
was Informed by a competent authority
that II takes six weeks or two months
after the canning rs finished for the
river to get anything like clear Of the