The suburban citizen., 1900-10-06
CANNING THE SALMON.
THE WORK AS EXTENSIVELY DONE
ON THE COLUMBIA RIVER.

He was that king Of all kingly
fshes-a Royal Chinook. Fresh from
the limitless freedom of unfathomed
seas, from untracked journeys to mys-
terious feeding grounds, whose loca-
ton no man has yet been able to
guess, he was beautiful beyond COM
pare; in form, graceful, symmetrical;
in color, a silvered harmony. Science
stands baffied in the presence of the
salmon. For whittier he goes, on de-
parting from his native stream, or by
what strange fate he is drawn to re-
visit the scenes of his early infancy,
not even the wisest can tell
1t was early morning. The lordly
Chinook lay in lowered cage, where
his captor had flung him. There was
a score Of others Of his kind in this
cage, all of which had been consider
ate1y knocked in the head by the boat
puller, as they were drawn up, splash
ing and struggling, out of their native
element.
Hell tip the scales atsixty pounds"
remarked the boat puller, with touch
of enthusiasm,
"Sixty-five," sententiously replied
his companion; hell weigh siXty-fve
as sure as he weighs an ounce--the
finest fish we've caught this season."
Later, when recounting. the notable
events of the years catch to inter-
ested comrades and rivals, that fish
doomed large in memory, and they
swore him an cighty-hyepounder,
which, according to tho late Hollister
d. Mcclure, is the Chlnooks maxi
mum weight. But the Acknowledged
Celestial who delivered him over TO
the butcher" by means Of a gait
hooked into his gills, regarded him
with sullen resentment SiXty-fve
pounds taxes ones strength somewhat
to lift The Chinaman was not partial
to big fish; besides they were monoto-
nously common in his experience.
The cage, full to OVERLOOKING, was
swung slowly upward, its contents
cleaning and glinting in the sunlight
Magnificent creatures, every one of
them, but the FOUNDER had
an air of regallty that was all his
own. He was Lifted to the "butcher's'
block, where a Monaghan decaptated
him at a single stroke Another sweep
of the knife deprived him Of fins and
tail, and a swift incislon accompanied
by a dexterous turn Of the wrist, left
him minus his limited internal mech.
anism.
A mere shapeless lump, shorn of
every grace save that of color, the
shining, coral-sided salmon was slid
into a vat of running water, washed
with care and rapidity, and lifted out
upon a slightly slanting table, before
which stood the "slimer," who gave
him a few effective downward strokes
with a sword-shaped blade, and
passed him on. The next man treated
him to a shower bath, and put him
into the draining tank From the
draining tank he went to the cutting
block, and was cut into small slices
by an automatic knife.
1t was here that he lost his identity.
He was still salmon, but no longer a
salmon. He had become just an in
distinguishable part Of a mass Of cor
al-colored section of fish, and in this
divided condition he was carried by
Chinese helpers to the oilers" The
'fillers," also Chinese, packed the sew
cred salmon into cans, which were
then placed in trays-twO dozen cans
to the tray-and washed by means of
an automatically revolving brush. The
cans then went to a man who fitted
tops on them, and who, having re
turned them TO the trays, dispatched
them to the ''crimper," who clamped
the tops with a little hand tool and
sent them rolling down a shallow
trough, or boxed incline, where they
were soldered as they rolled Then
they were rolled down another incline
to give the solder a chance to cool
After this cooling process they were
placed again in the trays, and the
tiny puncture in the top Of each can
was touched with the soldering stick,
and thereby rendered alright.
They were now ready for the boiling
watts, in which they were allowed to
cook a certain fixed time, after which
they were taken out and placed in
large iron Cooler" A man, a Chi
nese, with a hammer, in which was n
sharp pointed tack, then puncturod
each can, with n single light tap, to let
out the air and steam.
Another man, again a Chinese, sol
derlng stick and iron in hand, immo-
diately sealed the punctures, and the
cans were then in readiness for the
second cooking. This differed some
what from the first, in that the cool
ers, each Of which, square in shape,
was large enough to contain la cans
and so heavy that the aid Of a block
and tackle was required in the hand
ling, were swung into place, in great
retorts, wherein was room for twenty
four coolers, and the steam turned on
for sixty minutes. At the end of this
period, the block and tackle being
again in requisition, they were lifted
out and submerged in q bath of slight
ly diluted I've, rinsed under a cold