SEVEN MONTHS IN AMERICA.

Otago Witness, Issue 2685, 30 August 1905, Page 78

SEVEN MONTHS IN AMERICA.

Br Two Ot\go Eors.

11. The country rjpldly became inudi rougher ai we ascended, leefs ot quarts showing oil aiJ sides. Aftei s^omo An horns' driving we pulled up at a typical Western American mining town, such as Bret Harte v.rotu of so well. The town bonoted of one street, on one .-tide of which was the hotel run by the mine for the employees, and on the other side were tae offices, store, and the ever-present saloon, and extending for perhaps a quarter of a mile were cottages- and bunk-hous-ss for the men.

After presenting our papers at the office we were sent to the hotel for Mipjber. The food was very indifferent, and the room it was served in Avas none too clean, and swarmed with flies. The men seated at the table w-ere a rough-looking lot of all nationalities, Mexican "greasers" or half-breeds pic dominating. Very little notice was taken of us. We found afterwards that fresh men airiv-td every day, and that very few stayed any length 'oi time.

After supper we went to the store, and were provided with a lunch can. a miner's cap, and a lamp. This was charg£cl up against us, ?nd came to 1.2Cd01. We also purchased some necessary overalls, etc. We were then shown a bunkhouse, and in this we spent the rest of the evening cleaning up. Next morning we were aroused by the mine whistle and the night shift coming home at 5.30. Breakfast was worse lha.ii supper, consisting of mn&h — i.e., poiridge, — with very blue milk, and fried meat (by the way, we never got away from the fried meat : it was served up at every meal except that put in the lunch can), and some dough called "hot cakes." with a little maple eyrup. We were waited on by a very diminutive waitress, whose chief attraction consisted of solid gold front teeth and a lovely nasal twang. Arriving at the mine Ate were provided with a hras-s time check and a bag of miners' simshine or petroleum grease. 3 As there was still a little tima left we struck up an acquaintance with some of the- waiting men. One of these was a goodnatured Irishman, with funny twinkling eyes, and his mate was an ex-London Stock Exchange man. They were very anxious to know all about us, saying they could see -we were not -Americans, as we lacked the twang. We in turn wove anxious to know what the -work was like, and our hearts sank when we were told it was d d hard. It was hard, rs we were soon to find out. Wo were taken in hand by a Mexican foreman, and told to shovel loose gravel and quartz from the sides of an open pit, called the "Glory Hole," into a shoot at the bottom. The heat was intense, as not a breath of wind entered the hole. We struggled on with blistered hands and aching backs ; the only respite we got was when a shot was fired.

At dinner time we were allowed only half an hour, pur dinner consisted of several lumps (nob slices) of tough boiled meat and a piece of sodden pie. After dinner we were separated, one being sent down the mine to wheel ore, while the other was deputed to stack '"giant powder." Working underground was almost as bad as on the surface. The ore came down in great lumps, which had to be broken with a sledge hammer and wheeled down narrow planks laid in a tunnel so low that one could not stand upright. How the hours dragged as one toiled on, almost blinded by perspiration, necli and b.iek aching with the continual stooping, and hands blistered aud raw.

At the end of three days we decided to quit after having a few words with the Mexican foreman. While we were waiting for our time check the superintendent came, and asked our reason for leaving. We told him, also saying that the work was more than we could do. He said he was sorry, and suggested we lay off for a day, and promised to find us something easier next day. We gladly accepted, and next morning he .kept his word, one of us being told off to wheel the sulphides from the concentrator in the mill, the other going as trolley driver on the electric car, which drew the ore from the mine to the mill over a high trestle. The mill had 12 batteries, with 120 stamps, capable of putting through from 600 to 700 tons of ore per clay, at a cost of 47 cents per ton. Almost oil the power was derived from electricity generated at a, station some 10 miles away. The noie& in the mill was terrific, nothing; unusual, however, for a gold mine mill. At our new jobs wo got along much better, and everything went smoothly for some weeks. We did not like having to work on * Sundays, but there, was nothing else but to do it, as it- is the rule in all mines in America. On Sunday wa had at least the pleasure of ceasing wort al 5 p.m., instead of 5.30, and on that day we had preserved fruit for supper, a treat we always made the most of.

It "was rather amusing to study the different characters who arrived at the mine every day as muckers. One evening some nice-looking university students arrived. They were hoping to make enough money during their vacation to pay their fees for aeit term A but half a. daj[ in the "Glory,

Hole"' saw them in their bunkhotifc complett'Jy done, ar.d the next day they were on their way back to 'Frisco, sadder but \ii«or men. Stiffs — i.e., broken-dowji men of all ranks — were constantly coming and departing, but most of the new anivals weie Mexican greasers, and ugly crsfcomors they weie. On one occasion one of us remonstrated with one of them for swearing at the little woitrc-s. Without a word of warning he drew a knife, and but for the intervention of s-ome of his friends Mould probably have done some damage. By the time w e had begun to settle clow n one of us 31' , began to coin.plain of pain in his ii^ht hand. The pain incienscd, and finally he had to consult the mine doctor (for whoso upkeep the men had to contribute Idol per 1.101 th), and had to quit work. Poultices hwiag been applitd to the 1 and and no relief having been obtained, ihe doctor lanced it back and front, an operation w hlch caused the mo A interne agony. Every morning he would probe it to keep it open. After s-cvcial days of this the patient had to go to Stockton for a change of diet, as the hand .>• honed no signs of healing. Ho one morning we pmted company for the first time. After -deducting expenses iVT hrd 16.75d0l coming to him for wages. After a very dull week in Stock-« ton M" received a letter from the one of us who remained in Hodson (H -) stating that he was sick of the country end people, and expressing hie desire ta go bc.ck to British territory, where he said ho would sooner starve than live in luxmy under the ' Stars and Stripes." On n, F.'icla" afternoon he arrived by train. _ and we took the boat to 'Frisco, where we arrived Fafely eaily next morning.

After a hearty breakfast we redeemed our Loxes from the hotel storeroom, where we had lefb them at a charge of 50 cents per month. We then looked our friend up. and received some gocd advice about "rolling stones,'' etc. Finally, we bade him good-bye, and made our way to the wharf of the P.C.S.S. Company. The ship was crowded with people going to the races at Seattle. The voyage up was uneventful, and we arrived at Victoria ou Tuesday morning just ahead of the s.s. Manuka, which was making its first trip from .Australia.

There is little or no observance of Sunday in San Francisco. All the theatres are open, while the militia, hold their rifie matches, and in fact it is just a day of recreation as it is in France aud Italy. One feature of the town that strikes the viiiitor 35 the boycotting of shops by the unions. Should one of these Grms offend the union a sandwich livm is engaged to parade up and down in front of the offending store requesting people to deal with that particular place. Not that it has any effect — rather the reverse, in fact, «••& witness the Owl Drug Store and a restaurant in Market street, where people have often +0 be turned away unattended to. There is much vice of all kinds in the town, and it is quite open, little or no attempt at concealment being made. American women strike one as being but props upon- which to hang fine clothes, and on the street it is difficult to distinguish the shop girl or housemaid from the millionairess. They look upon men as mere machir.es to provide them with the wherewithal to gratify their inordinate vanity. On the way from Victoria to Vancouver, on board the'C.P.R- flyei Princess Victoria (which can do her 25 knots per hour), tvb made the acquaintance of any early-day Xcw Zealand and Australian miner, who has some mining property in Vancouver Island., He on learning our position said he might b& able to help us. But this was all we ever did get from him. After two weeks' fruitless search, for work in Vjij'couver, we settled for our board, and found that we had nnlv Idol 75e (7s) between us. We decided to "hump bluey," and this we did one morning. After partaking of a 15a breakfast and keeping to all the back sirens -until clear of the city, we set out for Lulu Island, at the mouth of the Fraser River.

No sooner were we clear of the town than we sat, down on a stump, eyeing each other and laughing heartily at our predicament. On the road, which lay through a forest of immense Douglas fir trees, some l oi them from Bft to 10ft in diameter, and about 200 ft high, ive feasted on salmon berries, a species of wild raspberries, which grow in profusion everywhere. A couple of hours'" walk brought us" to the first arm of the Fra?er River. The land here is all cat up into dairy farms, and 1 is very rich. We called at one of these and mad-o our -first application for work, but although we did not get it we were invited to stay for dinner, and we gladly accepted. After dinner we tried tie adjoining farm, and here we were more successful, one of us, H., being engaged. This, farm was owned by a Scotsman. Mr MR. , an<i from him we met true Canadian hospitality. The other, M" , spent the rest of the afternoon going round the adjoining faring but being unable to milk, was unsuccessful in obtaining work, and night found him mi the fishing town of Steveston, at the mouth of the main river.

The next day was equally fruitless, and he that evening airived back at Mr M' 3 place, tired out and disgusted with everything. Mr ME was kindness itself, and to him we owe. a deep debt of gratitude. Later on, through Mr MTv 's good. offices, the manager of a cannery promised v.« a bout and gear for the solmon fishiap: when it started on the Ist July, in the meantime offering to find grub for one of us, which, needless to say, was gladly accepted. After spending a week at the cannery, M' was employed as night watchman. 'Just before the fishing commenced H. left' Mr MR 's employ to get the boat in order, and on Sunday, July 10, in company, : with some hundreds of other boats, wa ! sailed out into the- Gulf of Georgia, in quest of the elusive sockeye salmon. It is a pretty sight on Sunday afternoon or Saturday morning to see the boats going out. or coming homo with a foil* breeze, hunJ dreds of white sails dotting the river an<i ! gulf, and all racing out o home. 1 Ou Sunday at 6 jp.m. all the boats ara

ready to drop their nets. On the stroke of 6 a rocket is fired from several canneries, and in an instant all is activity, the boatpullers straining at the oars, while the banging of the floats on this boat side is like irregular volleys of rifle-fire. The boats used are round-bottomed with centre board, from 20ft to 30ft lifiof, and Bit beam. Most of then carry a.^s£!?i,vy spread of eail. The whole centre of the boat is taken up by fish boxes. The net is piled in the stern, and in the bow is stored grub, blankets, etc. Neither of us had done any fishing of the kind before, nor sailed a boat, so we kept a close watch on the other boats to see wJiat they were doing. The wind dropped soon after we were clear of the river, and we had to row some distance out to get a good drift for th© night. To the south a perfect cloud of boats could be seen coming from the main river. We "dumped" the net overboard, after pulling out some distance, taking care to keep the boat to leeward of the net, and made things con?fortable for the night. The nets are made of cotton thread, t;he mesh for soukeye being S^-in, 55 to 50 mesh deep, and from 100 to 150 fathoms long. The bottom line is leaded, "and the floats are egg-shaped pine blocks. These nets must be allowed to drift, tb-s law does not allow their being anchored. About 2 a.m. n-ext morning a stiff breeze sprang up from the south-west, and this cfcrove the boat back on the net, and we had to tumble up, cold and miserable, to haul it in. A nasty choppy sea was running, and to make matters worse we were seasick. After no end of difficult}- we succeeded in getting the net in, and found we lad caught one salmon. By this time daylight began to appear, and we set sail for home, very nearly capsizing the boat in doing so. We had been warned not to ■cross th-e bar wlien a heavy south-west or ■westerly breeze was blowing; but thinking only of stopping the awful sickness we ■were suffering from, we went right at it, and almost before we were aware, v.-c "were broadside to the sea and narrowly escaped being swamped. As a fitting conclusion to our initiation into the mysteries of salmon, fishing, tbs rapidly receding tide leffc us high and dry on the mud flats which extend for some miles from the mouths of the river. On a later occasion ire found ourselves one morning close to Vancouver Island on the opposite side of the guli, with half a gale blowing, and avery heavy sea running. One of tis was horribly sick, and so weak that it took both of us to haul the neb in. As a rule, tie captain does this alone, pulling it in in handruls, and coiling it behind him, the boat puller backing the boat up. While the boat sank in the trough the net came in easily, then she was hurled up on the crest of a wave and the net was dragged out of our chilled! fingers, and we were drenched with cold spray. After getting the net in we lioisted the sail, close-reefed, and scudded for the main land. As it grew plainer we found we were off the main river, some miles south of our cannery. We decided to run into Stevestown. Too late we saw there was a frightful sea on the bar. How we got through it we never knew, but we often won-dered what the lighthouse keepers thought of us as we passed within a hundred yards of them. Again we were left on the bank for tbe day, and did not get home until late that night. We found "the cannery people getting rather anxious about us. Later on we heard that a boat worked by two negroes had capsized close to where we •- crossed the bar. One of the men was found entangk-d in his net aad dead, and the other was never found. Many times we swore we would never go out again, but somehow when night came it always found us putting our net out in company with the other boats. The last month we had beautiful weather, and the life was very pleasant. We became so hardened by the exposure "that we could sleep on the bare boards at any time, while our appetities were prodigious, except for salmon, which, after the first week or so, we would not touch. Tbe 'gulf in the height of i.he season is a remarkable sight. From 3000 to 5000 "boats arc- employed, and at night each boat carries a light, and these, shining on all sides, and as far «s the eye can see, make a fairy-like- scene. Steamers- passing j to and fro have an anxious time winding j in and out among the nets. Many of | them use searchlights. Occasionally they j Tun over a net, cutting it to ribbons, and causing the fishermen to use some lurid language-. When the fish are "rxxurang" well, if the right bs calm they can be heard leaping out of the water, but if the moon is shining or the water is at all phosphorescent it i? astonishing how they manage to evade the nets. When they do "strike" they struggle furiously, thrashing the water into foam, and leading high into the air, dragging the net with them, and bo tangling themselves up that it is hard j work to get them out. At the first signs

at dawn the nets are hauied in, and the Imats make for the rendezvous of the steam, tenders, usually a heavy-wooded ]>oms called Gray's Point. Boats finding themselves near the cannery go home; the othei'3 deliver into the steamers, whica. each cumieiy company runs fov the purpose.

No photograph could give an adequate Idea of the scene liere, more especially on a bi*eezy morning, -when sometimes 1000 boats lie close to the land for shelter. One nc-eds to see the smoke rising from tlte many fires as the men cook their ■breakfasts and to hear ths talk and laughter to appreciate it. The steamers ■come up whistling %1o% 1o theii boats, and no sooner are they at anchor than the fishing boats sail^oixt and surround them like a lot of chickens round their mothers. 'About 10 o'clock those who intend .to fish during the day make off to some favourite ground, usually the mud fiats, ps the v ater is dirty and the fish cannot see the nets. The others sleep during the day, and about 6 in the evening all leave for the night drift. Should it be dead calm, some of ihe steam tenders tow tlie boats to the

fishing grounds At the end of the season. Angust2s, we found we were 13.50c10l in debt, and many of the boats owed Ihree time? this amount. This wrs owing io the poor run of fish. The pa^-t wa^ the wcist reason known in the annals of the &:.lmon canning industry. The salmon are in greot danger of extinction, owing to the ruthless destruction that goes en in good years. The canneries get more fish than they can handle, and they limit the boat to 150 or 200 per day, nnd as many of the boats, will bring 500 or 600, or even more, the balance arc tin own overboard. Pome few ye?rs ago the cannery men became alarmed (as well tliey might) at tbe diminishing numbers of i-he salmon, and urged the Federal Government to make a c'r.:-e season, which it did. and all nets nuift now be out of the water from 6 a.m. Saturday to 6 p.m. cm Sunday. From August 25 to September 15 none but spiing salmon nets may be used, they having 7in mssh. The Americans are also largely to blame, as they have no close season, and use traps 3 which aie on the same principle as those used for kangaroo drives in Australia. The fish are in tens of thousands being driven into a small pocket by wings which extend sometimes for mile?, nnd hundreds of thousands, ar.d even millions, are caught during a big run. All tho?e not rsquiied can bs liberated. The pocket can bo clewed xtp u«ntil tho fish are struggling in a few feet of water, from which tbsy axe lifted by a hug^ clip net. and thrown into 0 scow or wooden punts. The Americans, hoAvever, axe also ieeling the glowing scarcity of the fish, and are more inclined to listen to the protestations of the Canadians, who for years have bsen uiging them to adopt a clc-ce season.

The Canadian Government is now erectIng 1 husre hatcheries on ihe Prassr and some of the northern rivers; but it will take some years for them to take any effect, as the fish take at least four years to develop in the 02>en ocean. The principal canning fish is the sockeye, probably the most handsome of all fishes. Its flesh is very oil j- , and of a deep red. Fishermen using cannery boats and nets ars charged ons-lhird of the price given per fhh. This varies every year; this year it was lOd, and was .considered very £/)O&

Onr last morning's fishing was very rough, and when we woke up we found the nefc tangled up in such a way with logs and sticks that we had to cut the greater part of it adrift. This is nothing unusual, however. After giving up our boat w«i set out to look for work. We got a iew odd jobs, and did some threshing, ana so earned enough money to keep us through the winter. British Columbia, as the Englishman said, is made of '" "igh and low places — mostly "igh.'' From October until March the rain is almost ceaseless. Ifevertiieiess the province, whose resources are scarcely t (niched, is destined to be one of the liehest in the Dominion. Capital is badly needed. The advent of the dramd Trunk' Pacific railway to the coast will act as a great stimulus.

In conclusion, one word of advice to New Zealanders who intend leaving for Canada.

If you have some capital, rot less than lOOOdol (£200), there is every possibility you will, with lnrd work, succeed. If you have no money, and are not i tradesman, better stay at home. Unskilled labour, except during the summer months, is in veiy little demand. Car penters can do well in Vancouver, and command high wages, and tiie supply is not equal to the demand. The cost of living is higher than in Xew Zealand, clothing especially baing very expensive compared with Nsw Zealand prices* Thy l.our« or labour for farm hands n^e from •5 a. m. until 7 p.m. Fiictorie-s ami workshops work 10 hours per day ; the mines work eight horns, including Sundays.