Evening journal., 1898-06-30
InAdIF-TON sTUIRCEONs,

/ saw sturgeon here on the cannery
floor measuring twelve feet by the
tape and weighing more than coo
pounds. Anyone wishing to deceive the
public by aid of prevaricating camera
should pose beside this twelve-6oot fish.
The man who skillfully and laboriously
reduced it to sections with an axe said
It was not an uncommon Ash, though
the biggest on the floor; that they had
often found them far larger and
weighing as much as 1900 pounds.
Two men lifting a half ton fish In
their boat is the exciting feature OF
sturgeon fishing. The sturgeon Is not
lively fish, but when lifting hooks
are fastened in his thick hide he is apt
to resent it. He shakes his head in
emphatic dissent, and head three
feet long and as big as a log, when
vigorously shaken by half ton body,
is a thing to be avoided. The tail, too,
is source of danger, for 1t not only
slaps with energy, but can cover a
large surface with one application. The
man new at the business is apt to get
hurt the first time he helps to coax a
wriggling sturgeon OF standard size
over a gunwale.
On the floor OF the cannery the stur-
geon is a great, inert mass OF fish. The
first operation OF the butchers is to
chop of the head and tail with an axe,
and for these free gifts OF nature the
Indians and Cinnamon are eagerly
waiting at the door. The fins are cut
off with knife, and these are not all
lowed to SO to waste. AIS the refuse Is
shovelled along the planks to The
river there is little allowed to pass the
coast native and his cousin of the
braided hair. Chinaman potter around
the place and help to clear away the
refuse for the sake az what they can
CLEAN, and have a weakness for taking
parts not intended for the river When
such Mongolian tricks are discovered
they are all driven out with more
noise than ceremony, but they take
their expulsion with Oriental indiffer-
ence, and in few minutes are all back
again.
An Indian employed to help the
butchers in turning over the big FISH
and hauling them here and there gave
an amusing example Of racial senti-
ment in. throwing the most desirable
refuse in the way Of his red brethren,
to the annoyance and loss Of the Chi
nese. A brother Siwash. with his
cloochman (squaw) and other early
possessions, in a dugout canoe, padded
ashore to be in at the harvest. The
prize OF the day was the big fshs head
I and as soon as It was detached by the
choppers the Cinnamon crowded eager.
ly towards it. The Indian. who, by one
Of the exceptions that beset all the
laws OF human conduct, was working
caught the prize with his hook, drag
e ged it across tho floor to the platform
?, over the running water and dropped
: It down in the mud, some fifteen fee
: : below, close to where his red faced bro
Z ther had landed The cloochman hook.
I ed her clawlike fingers in the elastic
p mouth and lugged it. a heavy load, "a
the upper bank Then she waded to
the stern Of the canoe, being without
, such distractions as shoes and stock
: ings, and took out bark water basket
, But the washing Of the head was a
mere formality, as the water Of the
/, river was thick with sand and dirt.
She poured some murky water on the
upper surface Of the head, rubbed Il
with her hand, looked at It thoughtful
e ly and then carried 1t to the canoe, her
lord and master looking on in solemn
composure In the course OF an hour
the waiting Indians had their canoes
. comfortably loaded with surgeons
heads, while the Cinnamon were con-
tinually trotting away to their huts
= with various kinds OF refuse.-Toronto
Globe.