Evening Star Newspaper, January 19, 1930, Page 95

BY LUCY SALAMANCA. ERY few fair daughters of Eve, snugly and with chic encased in their wraps of sealskin, and few, perhaps, of those fathers and husbands whose checkbooks are dented thereby know the story back of the luxurious garments that enhance the loveliness of milady and protect her quite completely from the harsher blasts of Winter. If it be any consolation to these same fathers and husbands, let it be known that the garments in question can be worn for a quarter of a century, so hardy and durable is this lovely fur. But then who can find a daughter of Eve willing to wear the same wrap for a quarter of a century? We as Americans should be especially inter- ested in the fur of the seal, for we as Ameri- cans produce 90 per cent of the sealskins of the world. The remaining 10 per cent is the product of Russian and Japanese herds, the Russian herds- existing on Commander Islands, off the Siberian Coast, and the Japanese herd existing on Robben Island, in the eastern part of the Okhotsk Sea. And this tremendous output has only been made possible by the vigilant efforts of the United States Govern- ment to protect and perpetuate the herds. That these efforts have been rewarded one can= not question when one considers that during the 1928-9 season the United States Treasury was made richer by $500,000, proceeds of the auction of pelts taken on Government seal res- ervations, according to a statement issued by the Bureau of Fisheries of the Department of Commerce, in Washinzton. And the Bureau of Fisheries has a fascinating story to tell of this fur trade, a story which takes us back to those years when the Aleuts of Russia migrated to a group of little islands in the Bering Sea and began the ruthless slaughter of thousands of furred animals who had sought out this particular group of islands as a breeding ground. UP along the coast of Alaska, in the Bering Sea, lie five small islands—the two largest of which are named St. Paul and St. George. ‘These islands were discovered by Russia in 1786 and colonized by a race of people known as Aleuts. Here they set up their homes, estab- lished their families and set about the slaughter of the huge, ungainly animals that flopped from stone to stone or sunned themselves in the sand. It is estimated that at this particular period of the seal-industry history from two to five millions of the valuable animals made up the herd. From 1786 until the purchase of Alaska by the United States in 1867 the islands were under Russian control. Records of the sealing operations during this 100 years are ex- ceedingly fragmentary. Although the Russians seemed desirous of perpeluating the herds and the sealing industry on the Pribiloffs—as this group is called—knowledge of how to do this came only through costly experience, and the herd dwindled alarmingly with the continuance of ruthless methods of slaughter. For the first two seasons immediately follow-. ing the purchase of Alaska by the United States there were no restrictions on the killing of seals and large numbers of skins were secured by per- sons who took advantage of the situation at that time. For a period of 40 years, from May 1, 1870, to May 1, 1910, the right to take fur sealskins on the Pribiloff Islands was leased by the United States Government to private cor- porations. There were two leases, each for a period of 20 years. Under the first lease, and over a period of several years, about 100,000 skins were taken annually, and pelagic sealing operations, which had been carried on for some time in a small way, soon developed to such proportions as to threaten the existence of the herd from the standpoint of its being an economic resource, To understand just what is meant by “pelagic sealing” we must consider for a moment the life of the animal itself, its customs and habits. Like a veritable Sultan, the male seal, or “bull,” presides over his harem. During the menths of Summer, which are the breeding months of the animal, he establishes his family amidst the rocks of the Pribiloffs and watches over the various members of his harem with a vigiiant and jealous eye. Woe to the philander- ing male seal who would encroach on his do- mestic domain, for this great lion of the sea, weighing oftentimes as much as 500 pounds, battles the intruder to the death. What a glori- ous struggle that must be! One can imagine the powerful animals flopping this way and that, tearing and whacking and snarling in a murderous embrace up and down the sands and across the rocks of an island set amidst the cold blue waters of the Bering Sea. And the members of the harem reclining nearby, placing mental stakes, mayhap, on the winner in this mor al combat, preening themselves in the sun or barking at the puppy seals to get out of the way of the combatants! After the breeding season, when the “pups” have a'tained an age that no longer requires ithe constant presence of the mother seal, the seals begin their migration to southern waters In the Fall this migration starts. The animals proceed southward, some going as far as the latitude of Southern California. In the Spring and Summer they return again to the breeding ground. And since, as we stated before, the United States herd comprises 90 per cent of the fur seals of the world, this migration trend is to the Pribiloff Islands. ‘The nationals who engaged in pelagic sealing killed the seals while at sea during these migra- tory excursions south and north to the breeding grounds. Such sealing operations were econom- ically wasteful in the extreme, for they were destructive alike to males and females, and no discrimination could be made in the victim of the pelagic sealer’s rifle. Also a large propor- tion of the seals oftentimes wounded and escaped to die in other waters; many that were killed were never secured. Aside from these phases of the pelagic sealing operations, such indiscriminate killing of the animals meant that each mother seal killed while at sea resulted in the loss of its pup, left alone on the Pribiloff . PR THE SUNDAY STAR, WASHINGTON, D. C, JANUARY 19, 1930. rotecting the Sealskin Harvest in Alaska 17 Efforts of the United States Government to Perpetuate Seal Herds of Pribiloff Islands and Other American Fur Lands Through Conservation Methods of the Bureau of Fisheries and Coast Guard Patrols Yield Rich Rewards in Annual Fur Crop. Among the rocks are hundreds of valuable fur seals. Photograph snapped in the Pribilof Islands. Islands to starve. Thousands of pups starved to death on these islands in a single season. In the latter part of the nineteenth century pelagic sealing grew to such proportions that the Pribiliff Islands herd was seriously threat- ened, and from several millions of animals in 1867 the herd dwindled to about 132,00 in 1910. As this manner of sealing was not con- fined, in the North Pacific Ocean, to the nation- als of any one government, it was realized that only by an international agreement could the herd of the Pribiloffs be conserved. Diplomatic negotiations in regard to the matter extended over a period of years, but it was not until July 7, 1911, that effective protection was afforde the Pribiloff Islands herd. : The United States, Great Britain, Japan and Russia concluded, on that day, a convention which became effective on December 15, which prohibited pelagic sealing in the waters of the North Pacific Ocean mnorth of the thirtieth parallel of north latitude, except for the small numbers that might be taken by primitive methods of capture by Indians and other aborigines dwelling on the coast of the protect- ed waters. This convention was known as th» North Pacific Sealing Convention and also af- forded protection to the Japanese fur seal herd. at Robben Island, numbering about 25,000 ani- mals, and the Russian herd at Commander Islands, containing about 20,000 animals. The convention also provided for- the maintenance of a suitable patrol in the protected waters and prohibited the importation of fur-seal skins un- lawfully taken. TBE methods used by the Unit:d States in protecting and utilizinz the fur seals of the Pribiloff Islands are, thanks to our Bureau of Fisheries and Coast Guard, most effective. Ves= sels of the Coast Guard and Fisheries Bureau patrol the waters frequently by the seals dur- ing those seasons of the year when the animals are migrating south or ncrthward again to the breeding grounds. Fur-seal skins that are un- lawfully taken in the protected waters are seized by the patrols and sold later for the ac- count of the Government. Due to the vigilance of the patrol and the penalties involved, the number of skins thus taken is very small. Fur- seal skins taken by Indians subject to the juris- diction of the United States, are marked and certified by an agent of the Government as having been lawfully taken in occardance with the provisions of the convention. Skins thus marked are then allowed to be shipped to mar- ket. But the efforts of Uncle Sam to guard this valuable crop do not stop here. The Pribiloff Islands are guarded most carefully from the in- roads of raiders. Annually a careful computa- tion is made of the number of animals in the herd, as a whole and in various classes. Be- cause the fur-seal is highly polygamous, one male mating with 70 females or more, a large number of the superflous males are marked for killing without interfering with the perpetua- tion of the herd in the slightest degree. The seals to be killed are selected from among the young males, confined at present almost en- tirely to the 3-year olds. These young males do not associate with the breeding animals, but while on land keep to themselves in bands or droves. Considering the size of the skin and the quality of the fur at this age, the 3-year- old animal yields a pelt of maximum commer- cial value, and because of his isolation is easily marked for killing. Based on the annual com- putation of fur seals a reserve of 3-year-old males is made each year for breeding stock. A patch of fur is sheared from each rved ani- mal. This protects it from slaughtér in the current scason and by next season it has at- tained a size which assures it immunity. The actual reserve is greater than the number of animals marked, for not all the 3-year-olds are taken up in either the drives made for killing or for reserving operations. In 1928 31,099 fur- seal skins were taken on the Pribiloffs. In the years from 1912 to 1928, inclusive, 302,284 skins have been taken on these same islands. The annual computation of the number of each class of animal provides the basis for determining how many animals may properly be killed in the following year. The last computation show- ed 871,513 animals in the herd as of August 10, 1928—a remarkable increase over the 132,- 000 estimated to exist in the herd of 1910 and a splendid tribute to the effort® of our Govern- ment. One naturally wants to know who lives on these islands, or if the fur seal is just left to shift for himself during his residence ashore. None other than the hardy descendants of that first band of Russian colonists—the Aleuts— make their homes here under Government pro- tection. This colony, now Americans by birth, enjoys a tranquil - and placid existence. The Pribiloffs are a Government reservation and it is unlawful for persons to land on them or re- main on any one of them, unless unavoidably, through stress of weather, forced to go ashore. The Secretary of Commerce alone has power to issue permission to land or live on the islands. Here the Aleuts, some four hundred of them, live as wards of the Government. They are fur- nished with food, medicine, schools, and are given modern medical attention. Besides these attentions, the colonists are paid wages for the work they contribute to the sealing industry. It is they who sally forth, club in hand, to slaughter the marked males of the seal colony, and it is they who skin and salt and pack the pelts in barrels for shipment to the factory which converts them into finished furs. They are a contented people, with their orthodox Russian churches and their Russian traditions, enough of which—in spite of the modern schools. and hospitals—are kept alive to main- tain the picturesqueness of the settlement. The Aleuts, assisted by such manual labor as it be- comes necessary to introduce at the height of the season, make annual shipments of barrels of these salted furs to the Fouke Fur Co. of St. Louis, Mo., which is at present under con- tract to dress, dye and machine the fur-seal skins and to scll them at public auction. PRIOR to 1913 the skins taken on the Pribiloff Islands were shipped to London for sale. London at that time, aside from being the world’s chief sealskin market, was the principal center for dressing and dyeing furs. Pribiloff Island furs sent there for such treat- ment were returned to the United States for use. At the expiration of the lease to private corporations in 1910 the United States Govern- ment assumed the work of dressing and dyeing and otherwise preparing for the American mar- ket the sealskins taken on the Pribiloffs and the Department of Commerce took steps to market the Government scalskins in this country and - to bring about the establishment of a com- mercial plant in the United States where such skins could be dressed and dyed before beiffg” sold. The result of these endeavors on the paru of the Government led to the present contract with the Missouri house, where extensive facili- ties and men specially trained in the technique of dressing and dyeing fur skins are available. The preparation of these skins for market is an interesteing story in itself, for there are many intricate processes necessary to convert ihe gleaming back of that animal asleep on the rocks of the Pribiloffs into the silky, warm mantle that milady wraps luxuriously about her slender body. When the skins are removed from the sesls at the islands, there is attached to them a layer of blubber or fat. Some of the skins are freed of this blubber prior to being salted for shipment from the Pribiloffs. They are them salted and packed in barrels or casks and ship- ped to the Misouri plant. The first step at the plant is the removal of the blubber from all skins not thus treated before shipment. The skins are then washed thoroughly in ma- chines similar to those used in large laundries. They are passed through a wringer, so that most of the water is removed. Each skin is then suspended in an oval-shaped iron hoop in which it is stretched to its normal size and shape and hung in a heated room to dry. Thus they dry evenly, without wrinkling or contract- ing. The coarse guard hair which stands out from the smooth fur next to the body, protecting it, must next be removed. Before this unhairing process is undertaken the skins are soaked sev- eral hours in cold water, to loosen the hairs and make pliable the fibers of the hide, so that the guard hair can be pulled out without dis- lodging the fur. During the process the skins are subjected at intervals to considerable dry heat which, in conjunction with the moisture, aids in loosening the hair, making possible its removal without damage to the fur. In unhairing the skins are laid over beam- ing boards and the hair pulled out with a downward scraping movement of a two- handled, cyrved knife, the edge of which is just dull enough to prevent cutting the hair and fur. After they are unhaired the skins are again booped and dried and inspected Continued on Twenty-second Page.