Evening star., 1925-10-14
FISH CANNING GIVES
LIVING TO ESK|M0S
Plant Established by Danish
Government to Afford En-
pIoyment to People.

How the Eskimos live in icy
Greenland, one of the most forbiddine
of all inhabited areas, is related In
The following bulletin from the Ma
tional Geographic Society. based on
Il radio dispatch from the Macmillan
Arctic expedition:
Aside from its mines of coal and
cryolite Greenland is as free of in
dustry and manufacture as IL is OF
agriculture. huSbandry or forestry
The rock lace-work border between
ice cap and sea, offers no opportunity
for farming or herdinS and two
inch tree produces little lumber. But
there are thousands of suitable har
bors to which a kayak or a small
wooden boat can retreat from the
storm.
Fishing Only Industry.
The Eskimo has been repulsed BY
barren land which, however, wei
comes him cordially when fish arr
piled on his deck or walrus or sea
drag at his towline. 1t is natural
therefore that the only industria,
plant we saw In Greenland should b,
related to fishing.
Near the town of Holstenborg l.:
Il small but modern factory for can
ming halibut. There girls. in bright
bead collars, work for 40 cents Il day
solder cans, weigh the firm white
flesh or scrub sections of the big fish
n chilly tubs OF sea water.
In the north, as elsewhere. CiVilZa-
ton has been working its way with
primitive peoples. What has meant
wealth to Gloucester has meant in
creaSing want to the kayaker. and
the Danes have sought to provide
employment for those Greenlanders
who, while developing tastes for i'm
ported articles, are farming their
once productive half acres less profit
ably than before. The halibut can
merry at Holstenborg is an attempt
10 enable a settlement to live through
cooperate at time when individual
skill and initiative are on the wane.
Sons of kayakers. who would brave
any storm, get Seasick on the big
halibut schooner and it is hard to
find efficient men at any price com
nensurate with possible return.
Trapping White Whales.
Greenland halibut is perfection In
fish food. and a sale is gradually be.
ing developed for canned halibut pro-
duced In a factory which answers a
demand, not for food or profit, but
for employment by those who would
otherwise lack 1t. Sukkertoppen has
become prosperous by running nets
between islands and trapping white
whales. The whale factory, around
which the entire economic life of the
town centers, can be provided with
500 carcaSses In Il season.
'Holstenborg depends on big fiat
fish to keep bright boots on its women
and fat cheeks on its babies.
The halibut is the king of those
fish whose wandering eyes and shift
ing body planes make them seem de.
formed when they are actually highly
developed for the life they lead. AL
though the life history of the halibut
is still unknown. a study of these
fiat fish leads one to think that dur
ing growth one eye migrateS across
the head and that the body axis shifts.
"Not only because of his shifty eye
and turnable spine is the halihut in.
teresting. but he Is also able to change
the color of his skin to match that OF
the bottom near which he lies. In
some mysterious way this ability 10
play cameleon is connected with eye
sight, and a severing of the optic
nerve robs the halibut of it's protean
ability to camouflage himself against
the home he has chosen and the fur
niture amid which he moves. Only by
keeping his eyes open can the halibut
work out n color scheme of his own.
So commercial fishermen prevent the
flesh from becoming discolored by
using the fish's own body as a binder
and laying his eyes down.
When a schooner arrives in port