Litchfield enquirer., 1877-09-13
[Ct rrespondsnce of the N. Y. Evening Pest.l LIFE M THE FUR couRTRY.
. WISS1pra. British America.
lstK a .Aupust l. 1S

s2stssiSas6 5si August l, 1877. -
 Just now, when your readers are striv- inQ Go escape the heats of tine summer solstice,, ,Ne are beginning preparations for, winter For days the prairie trails leading from the border settlements to the plains have been alive with the cart trains of plainIhuntefs on the way to their winter quarters; and very picturesque speesaeleB the movements of these winter traders present. Their long winding col- unins sparkle with life and gaiety. Cart tilts of evey hue fash brightly in the sun; hosts of woifish dogs run in Hand out among. the vehicles. troops of loose horses gaIlop alongside. The smartly dressed men ride their showiest steeds, their wives and daughters travelling in the carfs en- throned on high heaps of baggage.
 Many of the women are singularly hand some! dnsky maidens of mixed French and Iudian aescent. Their ceuntenances gerieraily bearaa hslf shy, half-disdainful expression; ss if they could be amiable to a few persons, ill tempered to most, but true to the death to husband or lover.
 The, hunters are still in their usual novel summer apparel. wearing brass ,buttcned blue icapQtes, with moleskln or corduroy trousers nandr calIc0 shirts Wide-awake hats, or cloth caps with peaks, are the fa- vor1te heati-covering. Gaiiy embroidered saddle cloths aud bolts are evidently pre-. ferted to those of a less showy appearance; red, white and blue beading on a black ground iscun1n1ou. .HanMauH .. .H
 The greater peEt efgthese. wintefers. are fre6Israders; obtaining advances of goods uponEcredit in Uhg autumn, they repair, to soma fayorite place upon the plains, and winter out with their families, bartering their goods with the Indians for furs. They return lthe following spring, sell their furs to the highest bidder, then do g little nainiat1re3 farming until autumn brings the trading season again ss
 Phe life is a hard one in many respects yet it seems to be admirably suited to these nomadic z half-breeds, who have shown a patient endurance of every hard ship and privation in the fur trade. In- deed, no other branch of commerce has tended more to bring ont mans energy and courage 3 10 the pursuit of far wel may 1tfaee etne sources from which the knowledge of three fourths of the contin-. ent'of North America has been derived. Three-fourths also, of the fursa annually consumed in theo civilized world come from this territory. and are collected by the Hudson's Bay Company. sz-g.-zsa5
 The area of country over which these furs are gleaned is about four and a half million square miles. divided into four de- paftments, ffty.three districts, with one hundred and fifty-two trading posts. The most southerly station is at Georgetown, in Minnesota, and the most northerly is on the Mackenzie River, within the Arctic Cirele.aaaSos terribly intense is the cold at this point that axes tempered specially can alone be used in cutting wood, the ordin- ary hatchet breaking as if made of glass
 Until comparatively recent date the system of trading at all the companys posts, was entirely one of barter, money values being unknown. Latterly. hoWev. or, the all-potent dollar is becoming a re- cognissd medium of exchange, especially at the forts nearest the borders of civiliza- tioiYbnt the standard of values through. out the territories of the company is still the beaver skin, by which the prices of &lh aotheFs furs are governed. @ Every service rendered, or purchase made, is paid for in skins, the beaver being the unit of computation. Thus, one beaver IS equal,to two martens, one marten to twen- ty muskrats, four beavers to one silver-fox skin, and SO on. In like manner one OF any other article of merchandise, accord
 
 Indian wishes to buy blanket or gun from the company: he will have to give, say,i three silver foxes, or twenty beavers, or two hundred muskrats, or other fur, in accordance with their relative positions in the tariff. ~.-2 ~..r.~~~4
 The company have one fixed, inYariable price for all goods at each post, and there is no deviation from the schedule The margin of profit is low, so. low that on some articles there is positive loss, and yet their total profits are enormous. In the hostilities between the French and English from 1882 to 1888 they lost G118,- 014, yet in 1864 dividend of fifty per centum were paid. The capture of for tresses by the French at intervals between 1862 and 1897 cost them e97. .000 Yet soon after the peace of Utrecht they had trebled their capital, with call of only ten per centum on tue stockholders. No wonder that in those days, and for long after, Hudson's Bay share was never long in the market.
 For very evident reason-that of the goose and golden eggs-the price paid for furs is not in strict accordance with their intrinsic value. If it was. all the valuable fur bearing animals would soon become extinct, as no Indian would bother himself tO bEdH CuOdP 1uE Wuou ul&u-p pTlCOu one remained alive. The hunter may possibly, in the remote northern regions. have to pay five silyer.fox skins for his pair ofthree point blankets, worth about $15, the value of the skins paid represent ing $2O0; but he can, if he likes, buy the same article by paying for it in muskrat, ed-fox, or skunk-skins of inferior worth. In the early days of the trade, before the facilities for transportation were as per- feet as now, the price of merchadise far exceeded that of the present day.
 I have been credibly informed that when Fort Dunvegan, on Peace River near the Rocky Mountains, was first es- tablished, the regular price of trade musket was Rocky Mountain sables piled up on each side of it until they were level with the muzzle. The sables were worth in England at least fifteen dollars apiece, and the musket cost in all not more than five dollars. The prices of six.shilling blanket was in 8 like manner thirteen bea- vers of the bestsquality, and twenty of a less excellent description. All that time beaver was worth eight dollars 8 pound, and a good beaver wonld weighiffon one to ono and three-quarter pounds. Grad. ually the Indians began to know better the value of musket and of their furs. and to object most decidedly to the one being piled along side the other, which, report goes, was heightened every year by two inches. Finally fa apestilent fellow discovered silk as a substitute for the nap- ing of beaver hats, and that branch of the trade declined. s - sA e. es D,
 Lest an erroneous impression of the profit made on the trade mnsket, by the company may be gained hy the reader. it may be we'll to state that because that flint gun and the sable possess so widely different values in the worlds market, it does not necessarily follow that they should also possess the came relative values in the far North. Seven years elapse after the trade musket leaves the company's ware houses in London before itreturns to the same place in tie shape cf sable. It leaves England in the oompany's. ship in June. and for one year lies within the walls of York Factory, on Hudson's Bay: One year later it reaches Red River; twelve months later again it reaches Fort Simp-