THE ORPHANAGE NEWS LETTER.
THE COLD STORAGE
INDUSTRY
W. J. Ekskixk
l he cold storage industry which
was started at Kodiak, last year, on
an experimental basis, is being con
tinued ag*in this season.
i.arly in Mae the “Melba Nelson”
arrived from San Francisco, where
stie had been laid up during the win
ter months, undergoing some chang
es in her cold storage apparatus
which the experience of her previous
seasons work had proven necessary.
\^iih these alterations, the vessel is
able to freeze about three times the
quantity of rish that she could have
cared for with last years equipment.
e*p*rlmentinjj with various
Wind* of bait last year, it was shown
that fresh herring is far superior to
any other, so the first thing to be done
after the "Metha Nelson" reached
here, was to secure a sufficient quan
tity of herring for the seasons supply.
About twenty tons of these little fish
es were secured in fganik 13ay and
frozen on boatd the "Metha Nelson."
While hulibut, salmon and trout
were frozen last year, it was decided,
to confine this years operations to the
deep sea fishing, and consequently
only halibut are being caught.
The little schooner “Hunter,” a
gasoline powered vessel of about 65
tons, is being used for doing the fish
ing. and the results of her operations
thus far have been very encouraging.
1 be "Hunter" carries four dories
and when she reaches the fishing
grounds, Uese are launched'and two
fishermen get into each one. The
fishing is all done by trawl which
consists of a ground line,” a cotton
rope about a quarter of an inch in
diameter, to which are attached short
pieces of smaller line at intervals of
nine feet, and on the end of each
short line, or “gangeon” is a halibut
hook.
Each dory will handle about 12,600
feet of ground line with 1400 hooks
a day. The trawl is stretched out in
a straight line, both ends anchored
and allowed to sink to the bottom for
several hours. It Is hard work to
haul a trawl especially if it is hesvily
loaded with fish and their is much of
a sea. Often six or seven hours are
consumed in getting the trawls back,
and when unexpected storms come
up it is sometimes necessary to a!
anilon them.
An idea of the enormous quantities
of bait required to carry oil the hali
but fishing business can be had from
the fact that one large herring will
bait only two hooks, therefore it re
quires 700 herring a day to keep one
dory going.
It is hoped that this experimental
work will prove sufficiently profit
able to w.'rrant the establishment of
a permanent plant. Such an indus
try would furnish work during the
entire year and thereby add very ma
teiicily to the prosperity of the com
munity.
Alexandra I.owell
In the early morning of Aug. 29th
Alexandra I.owell quietly passed
away She had been ill for many
'months with tuberculosis. The end
came as a happy release from her suf
ferings.
Alexandra was born in Seward Feb.
22, 1898. She came to the mission
shoitly after the death of her mother
in the summer of 1907. together with
her little sister Kva, who died two
years ago, and her brothers John and
Frank who are still with us.
She was an earnest Christian; faith
fu in her studies at School and her
work at home. She had a genial
sunny disposition, and will be great
ly missed.