The daily morning journal and courier., 1902-03-28
SALMON CANNING INDUSTRY
HOW THE BIG FISH ARE
 CAUGHT
And Packed for Market-A Dotaile"
 Description of the Canning Pro-

And Packed for Market-A Dotaile"
 Description of the Canning Pro-
 cess.
 The fish of the sea from the time Of the most primitive man down to the present day have been a very import ant factor in the worlds supply In fact. as is well known, so great is the food value of fish that 1t is almost the exclusive diet of a great part Of the worlds people, Several of the semi barbaric races live on fish entirely, while it also enters into the diet of many of the civilized nations to very great extent. It is almost safe to as- or held in higher esteem than the sal mon. Little is commonly known of the manner of catching, canning and oth- erwise preserving this most valued of food fishes,
 The Sacramento, Columbia and Fraser river regions have long been famed as the home of the salmon. But of late years Alaska has been steadily forging it's way to the front, until now 1t is far ahead of any other country in the world in the value of the output of canned and salted salmon. The whole coast of Alaska, from the ice-bound shores in the Arctic Circle to the south- ern boundary, produces salmon in such marvellous numbers that to tell the truth about it, is to place oneself open to the charge of telling fish stories. This is especially true of southeastern Alaska which includes the coast trip from Lynn Canal south. The canners In this section find that so far it is not question of qauntity of fish, but of capacity for handling same quickly.
 The fish are caught mostly at the mouths of the streams, just as they are starting up toward their spawning grounds in the lakes and ponds whence these streams take their source. The exact manner of catching differs with the locality. Drag seines are used when a good landing beach is available. Purse seines where the shore is rocky, also for small schools in deep water. Gill netting is not much resorted to- and only in the mouths of the larger streams and rivers.
  and white fishermen. The Indian makes fairly diigent fisherman, but can only be depended to fish during the sea- son when the salmon are plentiful He l has little patience and is easily dis outraged. Steam tenders collect and | carry the fish to the respective can neries Chinese labor is used almost | altogether in the canning operations. | Mot; hot sometimes engaged to tide over the busy l season.
 After the salmon are landed the first operation is cleaning; this is done by hand From the first cleaning table the fish are passed into the first tank. The water in these washing tanks is stream running into them. The fish are forked onto by the second tables. where they are thoroughly cleaned and all blood clots and ragged parts re- moved. They are again run through another tank, then forked into large draining bin. While in this bin stream of fresh water is constantly sprayed over them. In this way every trace of uncleanliness is removed. From the draining bin the fish Is placed in ma chine which cuts them to just the right length for the can, This machine also carries the cut fish up and into hop per. From now on all the operations are automatic, and the fish are not again touched by the hand. The hopper Is connected with the filling machine, which fills the cans at about the rate of sixty per minute. Much canning is yet done by hand filling, but the more up- to- date canneries use the filling ma- chimes each of which can do the work of nearly twenty men. From the filling machine the cans pass to the can washer which removes any particles adhering; then to the top per This machine automatically places