Omaha daily bee., 1909-10-17

its deep sea home. The reason for this
is one OF the mysteries Of natural history.
Devices For Catching
Many and varied are the methods used
In catching the salmon. wheels, traps,
seines and gill nets being the more Inn
portant forms.
The wheel is used almost exclusively
on the Columbia river. II Is generally
from five to fifteen feet in width and from
ten TO thirty feet in diameter and Is
usually located on abutments In a mar
row runway which has been constructed
in the upper reaches OF the river. To its
blades are attached dip nets made Of gal
vanized iron netting. and as the wheel
is placed in the force OF the current II
r~evolves continually night and lay ac-
cording to the force of the water.
Every time It revolves It scoops up from
one to a dozen Of the salmon that are
trying to get up the river and are forced
into the runwa by the dam.run out to the
side. As the wheel turns it dumps its load
automatically into chutes on either side
rrang so thai the fish will slide by
their wi weight into flat boats waiting for
them, Some OF these wheel have paid
enormously in the value of salmon taken.
Trap Nets Take Thousands.
~ aob AA1No SaNSA III AhAAA any va
fixed form of apparatus. They are formed
by means Of stakes driven into the bottom
and hung with netting. A lead of a single
row OF stakes is run out into the water,
usually at right angles to the shore. a
V-shaped line Of stakes hung with netting
with the open end toward the shore and
beginning at a short distance inshore Of
the outer end of the lead and with an
49,. A.-A - 81 -
IL and the lead on both sides is called the
outer heart. The far end of this leads into
what is known as the inner heart, which Is
shaped and arrange the same as the outer
heart, but is smaller. The pointed end of
the inner heart leads through a narrow
tunnel into the pot, which is a square COM
partment placed at right angles to the lead.
The spiller is located alongside the pot,
from which the salmon pass into It by
means of another tunnel. The fish are
taken from the spiller. the front wall Of
which is lowered to the waters edge, and
the fish dipped out and into the scows by
means of a brailer or large dip net. AS
many as $4,000 salmon have been taken out
Of a single trap In one lift,
Not Touched BY Hand.
In canning SO far as possible the hand
ling Of fish by hand is prevented. The
scows are run alongside the wharf and
the fish pitched on IN endless conveyer
which carries them up and delivers them
on the floor Of the butchering shed. Here
hey are fed one by one into an Iron
chink," a wonderful machine which cuts
off the head, tail and fins and splits the
fish down the belly and removes the Wis
cera, all in one revolution Of the machine.
The fish are then placed in pockets on a
revolving drum and carried around to a
series of rapidly moving circular knives,
which divide them into cuts OF Just the
size required to fill the cans. The cuts
roll down a chute and are fed into the
filling machine. In this tho cuts 20 down
one opening, the empty can come down
another and when they are opposite each
other a plunger forces the fish into the
can The filled can is then dropped out
on a table.
From here 1t Is taken by means Of an
endless belt through the steam box,
which cleans the outside Of the can, past
"a couple OF workmen who place little
disks of tin on top of the meat-this Is
done so that later when the tops OF the
cans are punctured after the first cook
ing to allow the steam and gas to escape
the fish will not clog up the hole-and on
to the topper.
Soldering by Machinery.
Here the open cans are seized and car
Ted around horizontally, and at the same
time the tops, which have been carried
into the machine from the opposite side,
are accurately placed on them. From the
topping machine the cans are discharged
upon a moving belt that carries them
through an iron device which tips them
over on their sides. and as they roll in
between two steel disks the top Is slightly
crimped to the body OF each can.
Next a chain conveyer rolls them through
a pan where just the edge OF the can
top is moistened with muriatic acid and
then through a soldering machine, kept
hot by gas jets below. where the top is
securely soldered down.
A rubber belt conveys the cans under
a Jet Of cold water which gives the solder
a set, past the counting mschine and then
to the end, where men lift them off onto
iron crates. Here the small vent hole
in the top Of the can is soldered up by
hand and the crate lowered into a vat OF
hot water to test for leakY cans.
The crates are then loaded upon low
iron cars and run into steam boxes, where
they are steamed for thirty minutes at a
pressure of III pounds. The cans are
then taken out and punctured to let vapor
and excess air escape after which they
are Immediately soldered up again.
The crates are now run into iron retorts
and exposed for one hour to a steam heat
of $40 degrees Fahrenheit. which thor
Oughly cooks the salmon and softens the
bone.
After being taken from the retorts the
crates of cans are run through two watts OF
hot water, in which they are thoroughly
scrubbed, after which they are placed upon
the floor of the warehouse to season for
some days.
Later the cans are run through a var
nishing machine, after which they are
labelled and then packed in boxes holding
forty-eight one pound cans each.
Character of Labor Employed.
Nearly all the canning work is per-
formed by orientals, the japanese predomi-
mating, For many years the bulk OF this
work was most efficiently done by
Chinese, but the rigid exclusion laws have
prevented the bringing in Of any new
hands, while the old ones are gradually
dying off. Owing TO their quarrelsomeness
the japanese are not very popular In can
merry work.
Many FtlipinOs and a few Porto Ricans
are employed. White men, many OF them
go