Page:A History of the Pacific Northwest.djvu/317



quantities in plants representing heavy investments, employing a considerable number of mechanics and other labourers, and using the most modern equipment. The material used is certain varieties of soft woods, especially the so-called "balm-of-Gilead " which grows along the water courses and in some cases can be floated to the mills at a slight cost for transportation. The same material is used also in the manufacture of "excelsior "used in packing, for making cheap mattresses, etc. Excelsior mills, being cheap and simple in their construction and equipment, are distributed rather widely, as are also shingle mills for similar reasons.

Packing fish, especially salmon. The preparation and packing of fish, especially salmon, constitutes in Washington and Oregon a large and important though not a progressively expanding industry. The business began on the lower Columbia about the year 1866, prior to which time much salmon was taken and salted but not canned. There was a rapid increase during the first ten years. In 1866, the first year for which we have statistics, the pack amounted to only 4,000 cases.^ In 1876, it was 450,000 cases. By that time the interest in salmon packing had extended to Puget Sound, to Gray's Harbour in Washington, and to the coastal streams in Oregon, but the

1 All figures are reduced to a common basis of 48 one-pound cans to the case. The information relating to the salmon pack from 1866 to 1916 was furnished by the School of Commerce, University of Oregon.