Branksome Hall - Slogan Yearbook (Toronto, Ontario Canada)

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THE BRANKSOME SLOGAN 27 Salman QDanit rg in lltctoria During my trip to the Coast this summer, one of the most interesting and enjoyable days was spent in Victoria. We were anxious to go through a salmon cannery while there, and a iriend of ours who was verv kind in showing us the .sights of the town, drove us out early in the morning to withinl half a mile of one of the canneries. This half-mile we had to walk, along a railway track in the pouring rain. (Victoria, we were told on good authority, has very little wet weather, and we just hap- pened on an unfortunate day.) On entering the cannery we found the atmosphere extremely fishy, so much so that we were doubtful as to whether our strength of mind would prove sufficient to keep us there for the appointed time. Fortunately we became more or less used to the overwhelming fragrance, and were able to follow the foreman around and see pretty well what was going on. That morning they had had what they called a small catch, something like twenty-seven hundred fish, but to our unsophisticated eyes it seemed an immense quantity. When the fish are brought in they are left in a big pile on the floor at one end of the building and are taken up, a few at a time, and held in a machine which cuts off the heads and tails, and splits open the bodies. The insides are taken out and then the fish are sent along a moving belt, past a number of large tubs, where Indians wash them. When one of the workers is ready for more fish, he just opens a little wooden door at the top of his tub and this blocks the progress of the fish on the belt and turns them off into his tub. When he has enough he shuts the door again. After being washed, the salmon are passed on to another row of workers, who cut them up. Then the pieces are taken to tables, where they are put into cans with the skin laid next to the tin. The tins are taken on large trays to a machine that has little brushes for cleaning off the grease and then they travel along, single file, on a belt to another machine, where the tops are placed on and soldered. Next they are put in ovens and steamed for half an hour. After that the cans are dropped in boiling water to find out if there is any air inside. If there is air a little hole is punched in the top of the tin to let it out, and then it is soldered up again. The cans are now put back in the oven and steamed for an hour at a temperature of 240 degrees Fahrenheit.

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26 THE BRANKSOME SLOGAN One is struck with amazement as one walks through the wrecked portion of the town to-day, that many, many more were not killed. How miraculous must have been the escapes from death ! It will take only a few years to make the place itself look as it was, indeed much improved; but a lifetime will not serve to blot out the sorrow which many sustained by the loss of loved ones ; and the experiences of some of the survivors will never be forgotten. BEATRICE BAKER.

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28 THE BRA NKSOME SLOGAN When they are cool a little Japanese man shakes each tin, and can tell very quickly which are full and which are under- weight. The full ones are all put together and sold as first-class. All the tins are piled up, brick fashion, to within a few feet of the ceiling, and in the winter they are lacquered and labelled. The cans are made, too, in the same building, during the winter time. The emploj ees in this cannery are of mixed nationality, Indians, Chinamen and Japanese. Quite a number of Indian women were at work, and they sometimes work, we were told, with papooses strapped on their backs. We were surprised to see a number of Indian children playing around on the floor, apparently happy in spite of the prevailing fishiness. It seems they have machinery which can do the work the women would do, as satisfactorily and more quickly, but they have to employ the women in order to keep the men. We left the cannery to wend our way back along the rail- way track, still in the teeming rain, feeling considerably en- lightened and moderately curious as to whether we should relish canned salmon at our next encounter quite so much as on previous occasions. The whole process was conducted in a very cleanly manner, but sometimes these glances behind the scenes are anything but appetizing. I, for one, I am glad to say, find myself quite able to enjoy the product still without being haunted b} mem- ories of raw and mutilated fish. ETHEL M, AMES.