, 1877-03-15

affairs.
TIE ALASKA COMMERCIAL
COMPANY.
IT'S NOT oxAEHALLy Kxowa
TINT san Francisco, or moro properly tho great
corporation named above, supplies tic world
four diths OF nil The seal fur pow 80 highly
esteemed by fashion IN every civilized country
Oil tho glote. Nor Is tho dtG.eutty Ut obtntni,,E
these m,,cli coveted fFs sufficiently appreciated,
fear by tho Inc lalics wisosn they prttcct from
cntl and invest with grace beyond tho opwcr
Ut any other garment In the w1lu1c rangc Of
fashion to equal. But the bclcsts Of TIC radiant
goddess must bc obrycd. Firklu Fushton acems
to set tho greatest store by that Witch Is tho
most difficult to obtain, In whicl, datl m addt
t.onal rcasnn for tho seal fur becoming 80 popu-
lar tho world over.
Beforc speaking at length Of the ALASKA COM
mcrrial Company, In order to give yuur readers
an Intelligent idea OF the whole subject, will
state that
THE ONLY LOCALITIES WHERE FUR SEAL CAS-
HE FOUND
In considerable numbers arc tho 1elands Of St.
Paul and st. George, In our neutrality-suspicious.
possessions Of Alasia, situated abo,,t 1,40Q
mi'es west Of sltka, aud l,ehrlng, Copper, and
Kobben Islands, In the llussian Possessions, OIL
tho coast Of Knmichatka, ol nj! which islands
tic Alaska Commercial Company has leases
from the American and Russian Governments,
granting them the exclusive Right to cateh seals
there for long term Of years. Some few seals
arc taken by fEr-slunters IN other Islands and
OIL tho coast, but they do not resort in largo
numbers except at the Islands named. Tit
only other soufre Of supply Is tho South Sea-
1sfanda, which, llowcvcs. aru now nearly depopu.
lated Ut seals OH account uf their longrun.
tlnucl, inuiacEimnatc slaughter. From Other
sourccs-otllcr tlIah those Under tho contr0l of
this Compapy-pcrhaps 20 per cent I'M morc) OF
tho total VI scal-yklns consumed by tho market
VI tho world urc brought. i
ON THE FIRST plsCovEHy or THE 1sLANDs or
st. rAuL Aap ST. GEORGE,
they were found 10 he Inhabited during summer
by innutncrab!c fur seal, which were taken in
great numbers ty carly auvc,,turcrs, and by
lullscrimlnatc slaughter tl,cso nnlmals were al
must c1terminatctl. The Russian Government,
with remarkable precedence, tl'eu established q
systctn Of protection, through tho 1tussian-
American Company, Which took charge Of tlluse
fisheries more tl,an eighty years ago, and BY
careful nursing and Intelligent management
Increased tho number of sca1s 10 millions, aud
In 1867, upuu tho acquisition OF Alaska by tho
oH'ts* o'@'est '"~s '''1~s''' @'s S
tcnsiVe upon Inc e'ooc' ~ tho sout" oea ~,
ands aud other haun1s Of taeae animals tacy had
been almost c=tcrlninatcd, betug ulElcr no t}oY
ctnthent pFolcctlof' Ffo"t1ha W ta' c@a"p1c
OF tllo Russian Government,
coNaREss IN 1870
passed law entitled " An net TO prevent tho
determination Of fItr-bcasing antmalsin AIaska."
which ,ns resulted to the bencat not only Of tho
scas hut To the Datrc Inhabitants OF tho is1ns s
una to INC to'efa'nent' Whereby revenue has
been 1cce'Vea a'scaay l1o"i t"c Two ls.ahus o.
u. faal aaa s'' heosee aIo"e e9uat u ABOUT
o'ic'tnlra OF tno s''@o0'ooo pafenaso money pail
Ios MI Alaska.
40 above stated. at thc time TUG Territory was
cct.etl to the United States, tho Russan.Amerl-
can Company had lease ot tie Islands Of St.
Paul md 81, George, giving them tho exclusive
rt1ht -, ~, sso,. ~, shnso ,.I,ni. v,ho,t =,
flsht 10 'akc sea's un t'o'e ls'auus "'t"o"t r.
str1ctioia ae u numpct. Or ulFcst'oa as 10 tle
method OF taGlng. Will tho transfer OF tho
Islands tue franchise Of tIlIs COMPANY ceased A
slf A' ~; !1l'.et''lison Q. .ns esly' ."eIeunoa
proceeded To Alaska and purchased Of ttlc nus
ean'AneFica1' Company all It's eoods' chnltels.
houses, vessels, ctc., wl,ct, they had employed
III 'ea''N'S. 'V;.rc.,'.sns m s+a r"a, Nv 80 ~" -
HoseA'"'1S' NonA ~.
who obtained special permit from the sccrcta.
ry Of the Treasury aud continued the business
o,rn,ont ,,n.,1 Courrc,s nhou1h nroyalc ann,
ct!"''''t ~. ,'st.Hs, ~" p."" s'n''
othef ano oe1tcs me'uoo VI projecting sno III
uustry.
saint f;rorrr and Saint PM ahall hn 1n,xcf1 n
ea"s "soss a.'u ss ' o"a .s "
nFo;,eF anu tesponshe tsne paft'cs ~ rental hot
'ess than s50,ooo per at'nu'l'' aua revenue tux
OF not less than ~ u,lun each fur scal+s KIT,
..,a', 5 .,,s.,n.,, t-,,, a.. ,eton,s ,..t..,..