The Alaska daily empire., 1918-04-23
Only a Few Years Ago the First Cannery Was Es- tablished in s. F.
 Alaska.
SHOULD SUPPLY TRADE
Opportunities Which Open Before Juneau for Getting Money from
 Business.
CBy George F. ForresN

Nr'''
 So many of the cannerymen have recently asked for an expression as to olir intentions of covering the sur rounding country with suitable boat that it seems the merchants of Ju- neau should take some immediate action toward this end.
 Juneau is more fortunate in very many ways than some of the other towns in Alaska because of it's vast mining interests, being the center of trict in the world, and we were for tunate in having a substantial pay roll supplied by four extensive plants in our midst. We, also, have the good fortune of being tributary to the greatest fishing center in Alas ka, and by a little consistent work on the part of our merchants, we would be able to control the splendid trade derived from this industry, wlich has heretofore gone elsewhere.
 Many residents of Juneau can re member the time when there was but one cannery in this part of Al aska, located at Chilkat, and owned by the Alaska Packers Association They were contented with pack of 30,000 cases of mixed salmon, which was considered good seasons run. We can, also, recall the time when there was no fresh fish shipped out from Alaska. This was but very few years ago. Today, there are hun dreds of men engaged in the fresh fish industry, with many hundreds of thousands of dollars invested in boats and other equipment, and this is considered to be one of the most profitable enterprises in the territory today.
 About fifteen years ago, John L. Carlson built small cannery on Tal1u Inlet at a point known as Carlson Creek, near the mouth of Taku river A short time later James T. Barron broke all previous records for ignorance, from the view point of those who knew the fishing business, and erected cannery at Funter Bay. If he had known the rule of selecting cannery location as well as he knew the banking business, he would have followed the old-established practice of plac ing his cannery on some river where the salmon could be seen ascending the stream to spawn, but this errol in judgment made him a fortune and gave him a place in the front rank of cannery magnates. He, al so demonstrated that better paci could be secured from fish caughi before they reached fresh water. Hi; plant was built tributary to tn: 1 shores of Icy Straits and Chatham Straits, which is lined on both shore' with cannery equipment from Cap' 1 Spencer to Cape Omaney, and in stead of a few thousand cases, hun dreds of thousands of cases of cholc, salmon are canned every year. Yer. | few people realize what beehive o activity the fishing grounds are dur | ing the harvest of the silver horGi l from June to September and how eX 1 tremely inconvenient and expensive | it is to remove for one day one 0 the fishing boats for an occasions trip to town to purchase needed sup plies This brings me to the poia l wish to make.
 When but a small boy pedler ! ,,yhn hod a ct tuhanlG and ried every article needed by th' | housewife to clothe her family, made regular trips through a sparsely set tied country. Today one of the larg l est mercantile establishments in Cali fornia bears his name. Moral: l:-i the merchants of Juneau are unahl' to get suitable boat to make resu lar trips covering the Chatham and Icy Straits Districts, they shonit equip a house-boat that would have sufficient capacity to store all arti cles needed for supplying the fisher men.
 A boat to cover the territory onct week during the busy season wrult IuctI MttA tHtpiI dStCliiht fhOii th' start and would fill long felt wan that would result in profit to tht promoters and relieve the situation that is hard to overcome in any oth CT way.
 There are a number of varieties of food fish to be had in Alaska Wa ters that have not as yet found place on the market Two years ago the red snapper the ling cod and the black cod had no market value Today they bring a better price than the fayorite halibut did at that time, As these food fish become scarce' other varieties will take their place, and the fishing business will be per petuated assuring the investors Tn such an enterprise a permanent busi ness.
 It will be many years before the world is in position to supply the quantities of meat that were avail able before the war, owing to the
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