River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1910-06-30
1ANOW cAMfXERY

EW people know that the can of
salmon served on their tables
has reached them by being
shipped around Cape Horn in
stead of being sent by rail to
Chicago. Not all Pacific coast salmon
is sent in this way, but enough is to
make this method of long distance
shipment noticeable and to set one
wondering about freight rates.
1t is said that last year the large
packing establishments on the Column
bia river sent their cans east by tramp
and regular steamers, around the
Horn to Atlantic ports, where the cans
were sent by rail into the interior.
One reason for shipping by water in
stead of rail is that the vans can be
loaded directly on to the boats in
Alaska and on the Columbia, and not
taken off until they reach the Atlantic
seaboard, whereas if they are sent by
rail they must be stored in Seattle
or some other large point and then
reloaded on to the cars. So great has
been the effect of this water shipment
that it has reduced the freight rates
on salmon from the Pacific to eastern
points.
No one can realize the extent of
the salmon industry and the figure it
cuts in trade, unless he has visited
the salmon canneries on the Colum-
bia, Puget sound and in Alaska. On
the Columbia the salmon is taken up
in places with wheels, but at the
mouth the Firms are adept at collect
ing them in nets. In Alaska nets are
extensively used and it is a common
thing to get as many as 10000 in a
seine. The seines are usually set at
the mouth of a river, for the fish al
ways seek fresh water in which to
spawn. A net ten feet or so wide,
and many thousand feet long, is load
ed on tug, which pays out the net so
that it protects large area. Then
one end of the seine is made fast,
while the other end is attached to a
windlasS and drawn slowly in to shore.
When the seine fills 1t is made small
er and smaller by the windlass and
men in boats gather up the fish with
baskets. At length the net is drawn
ashore and the remainder of the fish
are collected. The salmon are taken
in immense quantities to the can.
neries, where the fish are placed upon
the floor. AS many as $4,000 have
been taken at one time, so there is
always danger of much waste. The
process of canning is rapid, and con-
sists in cleaning, cutting, putting in
cans and boiling. Then it is labeled
Grated and ready for shipment Much
of the work iSdone by Chinese and In.
dams. Many well-equipped canneries
make their own cans and get the
crates ready to ship in bond to foreign
ports.
The red salmon is generally consid-
cred the best and it is found abun.
dainty in the cold waters of the
north. Wherever there are streams
running inland on the northwest coast
on the Pacific there may be salmon
The salmon have been known to jump
over huge barriers to reach fresh wa
ter, and they often choke the mouth
of a stream. They are valueless for
food after they have spawned, and sell
dom find their way back to salt wa.
ter, usually dying where they lay
their eggs. Because they come in
such vast quantities it is a small trick
to catch them, and such waste goes
on that the government is trying in
some manner to stop It,
Not all salmon is canned. Japan
and China take much sailed salmon
other kinds are dried. The Indians
are fond of dried salmon and open the
fish, bone it and slash the flesh be.
fore hanging it up in the sun to dry
After it is exposed In this way for a
week it is smoked and in the winter
time dipped in oil and fried. But these
are crude methods Of preparing
salmon compared with the canning
process. SO expeditions are salmon
Gamers that they can over go cans a
minute. All the cans are subjected to
intense heat and if tapping discloses
that one is not air tight it is imme
diately rejected.
Salmon fishing and canning is sum
mer business. June, July and August
are the months when the salmon rush
for fresh water streams from their
home In the ocean. 1t is necessary tC
work fast to accomplish in that short
time what every salmon factory own