Seward daily gateway., 1925-12-05
PORT BENNY LIVING QUARTERS AT 1MLAcHs PLANT

be carefully operated and attended to until it has been used several times The top end of the net is lined with corks, and air buoys are used for float ing the fleet of nets. The leader rope is used for sinking the bottom of the nets. No leads are used on this rope as is the case on Alaskan seine nets By this method the fish are caught by the gills and anchored so that they cannot possibly escape. The net can be hauled immediately the large schools of herring are caught, the fish. ermen gauging the number of herring in their nets by the submerging air buoys.
 | In referring back to the primitive methods of the salmon seine web where the fish are 20 to A hours sub- merged, it is proof that fish caught in such condition could not possibly be native cured, but are hard cured for our Scandinavian trade. I do not in fer, by this, that the fish for the Scan dinavian trade are inferior to that for the Jewish trade, as the procedure in the mild and the hard cure is entirely different in each case
 The Hard Cure Described The hard cure for Scottish herring is similar to that of the Norwegian in salting, but in the gibbing process in the Norwegian cure small cut is made in the fish's throat, which is bled while in the Scotch process the gills and guts are extracted.
 In the salteries on Cooks Inlet, 1 found that great room for improve ment could have been made. There was no checking of any one persons work, faulty brining occurred, no top tiering was done, leaky barrels were frequent, and incompetent employees were on the payroll.
 Here I say, at this time, the public was being supplied with a very infe- rior cured herring, chiefly because of the ignorance of the packer.
 Goes to Prince William Sound
 In 1920, I went as superintendent of the Scotch cure for the Franklin Packing Company, at Port Ashton, on Sawmill Bay, Prince William Sound. Captain Thomas was manager for the company at that time, and he was the originator of the impounding of her ring, which I had never seen until my arrival here. Great credit is due Captain Thomas for his ability in in venting this unquestionable boon to the herring fishing industry. Other surprising improvements I noticed included conveyor for taking the herring from the boats to the gibbing tables. The many labor saving ship ping facilities, the many improve ments in cooperage, such as slaves ready to be put together to make bar rels, the windlass, the salt bins:-all this equipment was above par to that of the Scotch curing system, and was an education to me, as with all this modern equipment we were assured of first-class pack.
 In former years this company had experienced considerable difficulty in reaching the proper cure. However. we found little difficulties here and therefor instance, the improper in- stallation of the conveyor, the end of which dipped in the water, the cleats lifting the water and carrying it along with the fish. This washed off the oily coating from the body of the fish. coat so necessary in proper curing, as the salt adheres to this substance. In gibbing and packing also, the em- ployes in many instances were igno- rant of the proper method essential to cure.
 However, when we had rectified all those irregularities, and with the help of a few experienced Scottish herring workers had educated the employees. we were rewarded by very success full season.
 Lack of Experienced Help, Packers,
 and Brokers
 It IS understood ill any business that the buyer of an article is out to get the cheapest and best. It was also customary for the packer at this time to contract his herring at a cer-