The Republican journal. [volume] (Belfast, Me.) 1829-current, 1873-06-19
Curious Facts About Seals,
ST. Johns Correspondence Montreal Gazet

Curious Facts About Seals.
ST. Johns Correspondence Montreal Gazette
Our Legislature will pass an act this
session prohibiting steamers from leaving
port for the seal fishery before the 10th of
March and sealing vessels before the 9TH
of March. The object is to prevent the
destruction of seals when too young, and
the disturbance of the mother seals when
bringing forth their young. The evidence
furnished lately by some of the sealing
captains to committee OF the Legislative
Council, brought out some remarkable
facts about seals which We're not previ-
ously known. 1t appears that the dispro
portion of the sexes among seals is very
considerable. Captain Graham gave it
as his opinion, founded on careful person
al observations as we'll as that of numer-
ous crews carried by him to the ice, that
the number of male seals exceeds that of
females by three to one, and that this
holds good of the old as well rs Young
seals. Captain White, a most intelligent
and experienced sealing master, goes far
beyond this, and declares that among old
seals there are twenty males tor every
one female, and that this is true a.sO of
young seals. He states that he has re
peatedly tested the matter, and. after =
close investigation, has arrived AZ this
conclusion. Captain Delaney considers
that two males are born for every female
In a case where there is such difference Of
opinion, it is difficult to arrive at the
Truth, but it is clear the disproportlon OF
the sexes Is very gre;t | should be in
clined TO accept Captain Whites testimony
as nearest the truth If it be true, then,
that there are twenty males for each
female, il is clear that The lady seals must
be at a premium, ard we do not wonder
at the fierce combats that take place
among the males in the matrimonial sea-
son. It is also evident that old maids
among this interesting family must be
unknown. while there are probably many
who are old bachelors against their will,
more especially as the males practice
polygamy, Notwithstanding the scarcity
of the opposite sex The claw Of battle"
determines which shall wed-the strong
est win and keep the largest harems.
These are curious facts; but we have no
| right to criticise the arrangements of
nature. In tie struggle no doubt the
! tttest survive. The mother seals suckle
their young, it seems, very much rs the
female pig her offspring, and they have
the power of extending ul Withdrawing
their teats at pleasure. Much remains yet
| to be known regarding seals. 1t is not
known as yet at what age they become
reproductive, or how long they continue
50, or to what age they live. As rule,
they produce but one young ut birth,
| but one of our captains is of opinion that
one III three Of the females yields twins.
A lady but lately settled III Concord, n.
| H., relates the Patriot Of that city-went
into 4 drug store and innocently asked
for a pint Of alcohol to be used in a spirit
lamp. "Have you a prescription?' in
quired the clerk, politely. "A what ?"
asked the lady, in surprise, "a prescrip
ton from a physician y explained the
| clerk, "we are not allowed to sell alcohol
unless it is ordered by q physician. :"
mot even alcohol ?" said the astonished
customer "Well. that is strange. | was
not aware that any one ever drank pure
alcohol as a beverage" Every true.
think myself that such regulation is
ridiculous, but we must obey it. ! am
sorry if you are inconvenienced, but can
not sell you any alcohol unless you bring
Il prescription.' The lady left the drug
store, and when last seen, in the middle
! OF the afternoon, was circulating around
looking for a physician who would be
willing to certify that her spirit lamp was
seriously ill-with some disease OF other
! peculiar to lamps at this season OF the
| year-and that its ease was one requiring
| treatment with stmulants
| b, L. n
include horseback riding and rowing
among their many other accomplishments
| On the bosom of the little lake at the foot
Of the college hill there is quite t cluster
Of boats, and the tair-browed, sauuy-eyed
| girls make themselves much at home ON
the water They pull an easy oar, and in
the boats look the pictures OF grace and
| beauty. There is common sense in the
management of Vassar. In teaching the
girls to take an interest in physical pas
times, the professors do much to counter
act the effects of tight lacing and close
confinement in the study room. The girls
who practice rowing will make stronger
better, and purer women than those who
are reared after the fashion Of hothouse
plants.
The LAST BYRON A correspondent,
writing from New York to the Chicago
Tribune, repeats the story that pretended
son of Byron has recently appeared here.
! He calls himself Captain George Gordon
DeLuna Byron; is about torty-tive years
of age; rather below the medium size ;
and has Il German look and accent, though
he speaks English remarkably we'll His
story is, that his mother, whose family
| Dol ,,f Snapicb oTl
noble blood that the poet was clan
destinely married TO her while travelling
| beyond the Pyrenees. A good many men
born on the Continent at the proper time
might have reasons for supposing them
selves to be Byron's sons; the moral latl-
tude which the bard ever gave himself
would render the hypothesis at least
plausible; but that he could have been
secretly married to a feminine representa-
tive of an illustrous line. whom nobody
ever heard of, is altogether improbable.
Captain Byron seems, however, to believe
his own story-perhaps he has become
convinced of it by telling it so often-and
relates it with such circumstantality of
detail as to make it interesting He does
not appear to be a swindler or trickster
of any sort, but quiet, good-natured
| person, VINO Is Il Vlctl,4 or deep deluSlOn.
He obtained Il commission as Captain
early in the war, with the expectation and
promise Of serving on General Fremont's
staff, in the Southwest; but he never saw
any service, and was soon mustered out;
and has since wandered over the country
and Europe, engaged in the laudable un-
dertaking Of earning his own bread. He
talks of certain suits that have been
brought, orare to be brought, in his name,
against the Byron estate; but these are
imaginings.
SUNKEN TREASURES In various local
tiles about the lakes, says the Detroit
Free Press, there are lying on the bottom
Il number OF vessels, many of them of the