Daily globe. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1878-1884, 1878-12-27
ALASKA LIFE,

The Way i,s Which the Russo american
Lfces-1He Seal Fisheries and Their Han
0Jssnent-4 Government Protected No.
ssopo1y.
According to the statement of Mr.. John
NJ. Morton, an eight-year resident of Alaska,
that country is hard place, even for seals.
he says that there are not more than 300
people on the whole Aleutian group of islands,
| the principal points being St. Paul's with
2SO natives. and st. George, 100 natives, and
| that those who live upon these two islands
| are unquestionably much better off and in
higher condition of civilization than anv of
their neighbors. There has been a marked
| improvement in their condition dnr
ing the last seven years. All the
| men are employed in the seal fisheries, which
occupy less than two months in the wear.
| They drive the seals in shore, kill and skin
| them, and salt and otherwise prepare the
| skins for shipment to San Francisco. For
this work, which rarely lasts more thar,
| about SIX weeks, each man receives 800 or
95oO, and all tho rest of the year they have
| nothing In the world to do. The company
IS also compelled to furnish the people with
| fuel, salt fish for the winter, and sufficient
SAT- IN barrels with which. they preserve the
l AAS''AA "
this being their principle article of diet.
All the money the people have to spend is in
| the purchase of bread and such other things
as they may desire to purchase from the
companys store.
1t rests with the people themselves whether
they will save money or waste it on finery
and trinkets. The company's store keeps a
good assortment, and they have plenty of OPP
pcrtunity to spend money there if they are
SO inclined. But many of them are getting
quite rich. Some have as much as $4,000 in
the savings banks at San Francisco: and
there are no class of laborers getting more
money with less work than these Aleut en-
gagged in the seal fishery. The company
provides school eight months in the year,
and has built each family comfol table frame
house, thus lettering their condition TO
very great extent. Last year new church
was erected at a cost of $4,000, for which
the people contributed ont of their earnings.
and have paid off the whole amount. They
are all devout members of the Greek church.
and attend to their religious duties with
great regularity.
One stipulation of the lease is that not
more than 100000 seals shall be killed in
any one year, and as the lease extends over
twenty years, and the company expects to
renew 1t at the end of that term, it is as
much to their interest as that of the govern
ment to observe this condition. This pres
emit year the full number has been killed,
but IN 1876 and 1877 only $4,000 were
caught each year, the reason being that the
price OF seal skin sacks had become some
what reduced. This year both the demand
and the price improved. There is no dan
ger of killing off the seals under the syste m
at present adopted, as care is taken only to
catch the young males from two to four
years of age. They never kill q female seal,
nor yet an old male, and as there are sew
eral million seals around these two islands
more than in all other parts of the world
COMMUNICATING reproduction is mere than
enough to perpetuate the stock. The COM
pany pays to the government yearly about
po2o,ooo, ana this amount may be said to
represent about all that Alaska contributes
to the United States.