El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1916-02-05

wharves they are so fresh thar they
are still kicking and they fairly fly
through the iron chink," a machine
which cleans each fish, cutting off its
head. tail and fins and taking out its
insides within the time of watch tick.
1t used Il be chat all this Work was
done by hand, and those hands were
usually owned by a Chinaman. When
the machine was invented to take the
place of the Chinaman it was nick
named tho iron chipk." and so il is
known 20 this day.
Seattle Cook Makes Fortune.
TIL" inventor was a cook Of Seattle
named Smith. who ma le fortune out
of his invention. His machine will clean
O,000 fish in a run of ten hours. or as
much as was formerly done by fifty
OF the most expert Chinese. Neverthe
less, the whole machine is not much
larger around than a flour barrel. and
not more than eight feet in height. II
consists of a number of knives so ar
ranged by machinery that as the fish
fly in one knife cuts off the head. and
at the same time another chops off the
tail. AS the fish moves a third knife
rips up the belly and other knives take
off the fins
At the end the>fish has been split and
the backbone taken out. The blood
has been removed and the salmon is
ready for the can. It is carefully in
spected. however, before being put into
the can by men who watch the stream
Of fish as they make their way on over
endless belts to the chopper.
The chopper is a second machine that
automatically cuts the fish into pieces
of the right size for the can. and this
is such way that each can gets its
own share of the several parts Of the
fish. It must have some from the back
and some from the belly in order to
supply the streak of lean and the
10.
necessary to make the can Of salmon
just right The machine puts in just
sixteen ounces, which fills the can to
the top. As the cans move onward
they pass through an automatic
machine, and IL any are of
light weight the machine drops them
out
Cooked In the Cans.
After this the cover of the can is
fitted on by machinery in such way
that It will allow the steam to escape.
and the cans travel on into furnace
or exhaust box. where the temperature
is 212 degrees. After this another ma
chine makes the tops tight without
acid or solder, and the cans are moved
on into great retOrts, where they are
cooked in a heat of 254 degrees for an
hour and a half When they come out
they are ready to be labeled and pack
ed in boxes for shipment to all parts
OF the world.
This. in brief, is the way salmon are
prepared for the market. The business
goes on at all of the fishing centers OF
Alaska during two or three months OF
the summer. when a continuous stream
Of fish flows from the waters through
the machinery and on in to the ships
that carry them south to Seattle and
San Francisco. from where they go by
ships and trains to the great markets
at home and abroad.
Catching the salmon and bringing
them to the canneries is another great |
industry. There are certain weeks or
months of the year during which these
fish come from the ocean into the
fresh waters OF the rivers to spawn
They are born in fresh water, and the
spawning grounds are often thou
sand miles or more inland from the
sea- ] have seen them fighting Their
way up at the Yukon 1000 miles from !
its mouth at Boring strait and they /
may be found in great numbers climb
ing over the rocks of the streams that
flow down the mountains of the coast |
into the Pacific.
The fish come in such hordes that !
they can be caught in traps both sta
uonary and floating. in nets fastened !
10 posts and stakes m the rivers. and |
IN seines which are brought from the