The Cordova daily times., 1922-12-29
An Alaska Silver Mine By FRANK H. FOSTER in the Alaska Churchman

close of the stormy season, the can nery ships at the docks of Seattle,
 Portland, and San Francisco fill their
 maws with supplies for the fishing
 season The Glory of the Seas" the
 "Dashing Wave" and many more once
 proud ships of the sailing fleet, now ttapering masts once bent to the per suasion of tropic breezes on snowy
 canvas, relegated to the discard by
 steam and gasoline, go forth heavily
 laden, wallowing in the wake of fussy l tugs or snorting power tenders. The l gilded figure heads of Neptune, bran
 dishing his trident, or of the beautiful mermaid, coy and alluring, present an
 appearance of extreme dejection; Nep-
 tunes trident is missing and his crown is badly battered, while the
 siren of the sea plunges up and down in her native element, bereft of her i gilt, with one eye knocked out, from the empty socket of which the briny
 tears flow with the recession of each
 wave.
 Ill the hold which once carried the
 thousand cases of empty cans, sacks
 of salt, provisions and miscellaneous
 supplies necessary to the operation
 of a business carried on in so remote a section that nothing may be over. looked, for there are no sources Of supply other than the goods contained in the hulk.
 In the forecastle are the Chinks Mexicans, Greeks, Italians, and sundry other races; the Chinks under con tract made by the cannery company { with China boss, who agrees to i furnish enough help to butcher ant !! can given number of thousands oi cases at so much per case; the other
 nationaIities catch the fish and serve as cannery hands and helpers.
 Fl The captains cabin and the lux
 urious stateroom adjoining, once fit ted up for the captains bride, are occupied by the Swede foreman ant 2 the cook. The foreman's word mus y be law, for in such miscellaneou. g aggregation of nationalities as follow l the cannery game, discipline must bt
 maintained. Some of the employees e are but lately out of jail; some art e only two jumps ahead ofS the sheriff j. the six months trip to Alaska furnish
 ing much needed respite durin, S which the healing touch of time ma. /; cause the officers of the law to for s from bootlegging to assault,
 e With the arrival of the ship, the bil | barnlike cannery buildings erected ol d the wharf over the water, deserte' e during the winter, awake to activity r Although the snow is still deep on tn s grouhd, and it will be two month y befo,f the fish begin to run, there i a much to be done. Nets must be hun r and put in readiness; traps must b n repaired; new piles driven in tn l. place of those taken out by tn n winters ice; boats must be caulke s and painted; machinery overhauled
 and thousand details looked after. ell In early June everything is in order Forty or fifty Columbia River boats |, each with crew or two, laden wit drift nets eight hundred to thousan ;, fathoms to the boat, are stationed a O various favorable points, The trap
 are in readiness, extending fiftee , hundred feet out from the shore lin o and usually located at the apex c h some long point jutting out into tn !. water, piles driven few feet apar ', between which is stretched wire ne , ting, and at the end of the heart 0 4 trap proper, into which the fish ar , led only to find the way out almos
 npossible.
 n And then the word comes that tn E. salmon are running. Great silver f kings jumping three feet out of tn . water, weighing from fifteen to hur f. dred pounds. come first, then in
 week or so, the reds" commence, jus a scattering few at first, then hul o d'eds and thousands and hundreds ( thousands, until the cannery floor
 piled high each morning. The bi i. cinnery tender makes the round every day collecting the catch (
 eich boat, and the traps are brailet
 B'ailing trap is most interestin,
 The fish swim around in the pot, a it is called, a great circular net close
 at the bottom and having but on