Year: 1878

OAhAAk Ne


A Very Curious Industry on San Francis,


Bay.


OF the thousands who preface theil
meals by dish of appetizing shrimps
how few realize the vast amount of pa
tient labor expended in getting the mex
pensive shellfsh so temptingly placed be-
fore them and of those who awkwardlJ
attempt to twist and pull off the indigesti
BILE covering, how many imagine the
existence of a process whereby the shells
may be taken from tons of shrimps
almost as quickly as the impractical
hand can strip plateful? Yet it is q
fact that such a process has been per.
fected, and, as usual, where large profits
can be made only by the payment OF
minimum wages to laborers, the Chinese
have secured monopoly of the busi.
ness.


On the shores of the Bay of San Fran.
cisco over five hundred Cinnamon are
engaged in catching and curing shrimps.
There are six camps on the Potrero side,
near the bone factory, composed of
twelve men each. Six more, with an
equal number of occupants, skirt the
shore between Butchertown and Hunt
er's Point. Just beyond Hunters Point
are two camps of thirty Cinnamon each,
and at the Eight. Mile house there is one
camp containing forty Cinnamon. Each
camp is little community OF itself,
and is governed by contractor or
"boss," who consigns the cured shrimps
| to Chinese commission merchants on
shares. The contractor, who is generally
the representative of some firm in the
city, furnishes food and clothing to his
employees, and the sum paid as wages
is consequently very small.


It would, at first thought, in view Of
the stringent fishery laws in force in
California, seem impossible to snare
shrimps without catching considerable
quantity of small fish. This difficulty is
obviated by selecting a point where
there is from twelve to twenty fathoms
of water, and sinking the nets to a level
beneath that usually traversed by fish.
It is, of course, impossible TO avoid en-
trapping some of the smaller fish in
raising the nets. The nets used are
funnel.shaped, and about thirty-si1 feet
in length. The diameter at the mouth
is eighteen feet, but it decreases by
graduations to one foot at the lower e1-
tremity. The mesh is usually half an
inch on the square for a distance of
thirty feet from the orifce, but is less
than quarter of an inch in width from
that point to the smaller end. The time
chosen for setting the nets is when the
tide is coming in, and they are allowed
to remain in the water until after the
ebb. They are then lifted and the con-
tents are taken to land. The camps de-
scribed possess thirty.six boats, and five
men constitute crew. Each boat con-
tains from twelve to fifteen nets, and
twenty baskets of shrimps at a single
catch is fair average. These baskets
will hold about $50 pounds each.


After landing, the shrimps are placed
in vats of boiling water, with fire un-
derneath, and boiled for about half an
hour, being frequently sprinkled with
coarse salt. They are then spread out
on hard, dry ground, and left to dry and
bleach for three or four days, being fre-
quently turned. At the expiration of
this time the shells, spawn and dirt are
either detached or il such dry and
cracked condition as to- be easily re.
moved. A force of Cinnamon is then
got to work tramping the beds of dry
shrimps with their heavy wooden shoes.
They 60 over and over the mass, sliding
their feet as does dancer when he is
shuff1ing over the stage. The tramping
process concluded, the miscellaneous
mixture is put into a winnowing ma
chine, where the shells are separated
from the meat as perfectly as chaff is
from grain. There are three spouts to
the separator, through one of which the
whole shrimps are shot into q basket.
The other spouts are used respectively
for the shrimps crushed by the tramp
ing and the detached hulls. Thus dried
and skinned, the shrimps are put into
bags and sent to the city. A few of them
are shipped to China, but owing to the
high rate of transportation the export
trade has not proved profitable. The
first price of dried shrimps in San Fran
| cisco is from five to eight cents per
pound. A sack containing $50 pounds
Of the undried article will produce from
eight to ten pounds after the drying
process. Before curing, the spot price
of shrimps is from two to three and q
half cents per pound. Delivered to
restaurants, the price is five cents per
pound. The principal camps OF China
men are in the interior towns, where the
shrimps command high figure, and
when made into soup are esteemed a
dainty dish.


The broken shrimps are ground into a
coarse -four, which retails at three to
four cents per pound. A use has also
been discovered for the shells, and they
are shipped exclusively to China. There
they are valuable as manure and as q
poison to the worm which works such
destruction to the tea plant of that
country. There is nearly as much profit
from the sale of the crushed shells as
from that of the shrimps themselves.


The extent to which the business OF
shrimp-catching in the Bay of San Fran
cisco has advanced is most remarkable.
The amount of business at first hands
will reach $15, 900 per month, and new
markets are constantly opening. At Ger.
tain periods the demand is so great that
two trips into the bay are made daily,
which nearly doubles the amount OF
ordinary supply, and necessitates the
employment of large force Of extra
men. The most serious disadvantage oi
the trade ia that it can at present be
prosecuted only during the dry season,
the rain forbidding the exposure of the
shrimps for drying purposes. - San
Francisco Bulletin.


A Reckless Man.


While q nurse girl was yesterday
drawing a babe along Alfred street she
was approached by queer-looking ole