| Show canini CANi Xi achon AL hON alio as Vivi illy seen by jacc aies of the dearly eveia grocery store in utah carries canned salmon but not every consumer and seller knows where fc comes irom and how it ib put up the following may cast a shadow of light on the subject along the columbia river is found the salmon producing region of the world in the morning and evening its waters are literally covered with fishing smacks the salmon weigh from twenty to thirty pounds and are sold to tho canneries at if I 1 remember correctly three cents a pound sometimes the fishermen catch a bugo sturgeon weighing pounds which makes lively work to lose him before he plays havoc with their net from the cascade to the mouth of the columbia the banks of that river are dotted with numerous salmon canneries I 1 visited five or six at I 1 astoria a place very interesting to those who have read irvings history of astoria and other points but in seeing one you see them all so I 1 will give a short description of the first I 1 visited it was most interesting as its trade mark is seen throughout utah and a young lady who became quite shocked at the process happened to accompany me we tripped lightly up the board shute down which the boxed salmon is slid to the wharf and directly found ourselves in the midst of a little mountain of empty and filled salmon cans and based salmon large vats of steaming water into which the canned fish were being lowered by the hundred to be boiled the chattering of the clanking of cans and the dull thud of the hammer in the bosma department and above all that is in interest surrounded by some of the greasiest gr easiest and sure to take your ap petite imaginable they all look as if they had just been dipped in a sheep vat and were not quite dry the air seemed with a thin oil and tho floor was covered with grease making walking very dangerous for to fall meant another suit of clothes my lady companion was perfectly disgusted then drew her skirts closer and with a firm ni see through or die expression followed mo over the slippery floor to where the first stage of the work is carried on the first man chinaman severs the heads of the fish from the body and passes it to the next who with a two foot cowboys tooth pick of knife whips off the fins and tail then iran eft coral lin machine of six knives worked by a crank and these pieces cut still smaller by a fourth man and carried to several dozen dexterous balays malays who chuck them into the cans and cram and squeeze them down with their bare hands m such au indelicate manner that my friend all but fainted the thought of the floor only kept her up think of who appeared to be coated with a quarter mch of dirt and oil squeezing the fish into the cans like jelly felt behind for a support but touching something slimy recoiled whew it must be seen in order to be appreciated I 1 was quickly urged on past this corps of zealous workers who slashed around so that the atmosphere tasted of salmon to the filling the warm water placing on the tops soldering testing boiling the vats la belling boxing and then sending them down the shute each man having his particular part of the work making him very dexterous in time the cans are made here also this hougo can turn out forty eight thousand cans per day or one thousand cases A chinaman superintends super intends his brethren having taken the contract and hired them at a low figure while watching them dip a lot of cans one chain broke and the lot fell with a splash into the hot water scalding one poor fellow till he howled As we left the building my friend drew a deep sigh of relief saying that ahr never never would touch that dread fill salmon again and that she thought sho would nob go down to dinner today the gong had previously portland is a city of beauty having a great many handsome residences public buildings and an evergreen ever green forest on its very borders in the midst of this wood which covers rolling hills numerous homes of beauty are being erected which overlook the city and river vegetation grows very here the climate being very moist A house does not stand long before moss will be found growing on its top this is no place for idle men unless moss commands a kigh price I 1 saw lewis morrison in A jmark secret at the new park theatre he had very poor support but the scenery was fine I 1 expected to soe a more elaborate theatre for a city of fifty thousand people astoria is quite a busy fishing centre with u population of some six thousand it is scattered along the river for several miles having the beautiful green tree on bills which skirt tho town on tho south JAEE MILES SAN FRANCISCO aua |
