Omaha daily bee., 1883-02-12
HUNTING THE FU a q A
rhe Creature Which Fashion so Much
Favore.

fur.trimmed clothing as In any pre-
vious year. In viewing the procession
OF well dressed women In Broad way
or Fifth venue one Is impressed with
q thought of the vast number OF AMI.
mails slain annually to meet the de-
mand for the favorlte furs. IL Is In
teresting to calculate how many play
full seals, sharp. eyed lynxes, sly
foxes, spry sqnirrels, timid rabbits.
and other interesting creatures have
been denuded Of their pelts to warm
or adorn the throng of the women
passing by. It takes three
fur sealskins to make q sacque
and about 70 squirrel.skins to
make a lining for q silk
or satin dolman. The wearer of the
furs has scarcely any conception of the
hardships and dangers incurred In the
hunting Of the animals and the col
Letting Of their skins, or the great
work In preparing the pelts for use.
When they are dried and received by
the dealer they are first assorted and
graded into different colors and quail.
ties. A skin In Its rough state Is not
an attractive article. II must be care.
fully cleaned and dressed by processes
which take q long time before 1t
assumes the handsome appearances
which 1t presents In fur stores. Most
furs have to be dyed, the maj Of
people preferring dark colors. Seal
fur Is always dyed (seal brown, as the
color Is KNOWN and the bulk OF II In
London. Our American dyers, with
one exception, have not been as sue
cessful In the preparation of dye the
manufacture of which is Q trade secret
AS the European dyers.
The chief source of supply for
choice sealskins Is Alaska. There are
two Islands in that region, st. Paul
and st. George, leased to q company,
but under strict control of our gov.
eminent, from whence the greater por,
ton Of fur sealskins comes. These
islands, situated in Behripg sea, are,
80 to speak, seal stock yards, and
yield the larger portion Of The revenue
from Alaska to this government, every
skin taken being taxed. Near these
islands are Behring and Cooper
islands, under the control of the Rus.
sian government, which are also leased
to a company. The seals are more
abundant on the American islands
The animal Is also found in other
quarters of the globe. In the south
ern hemisphere are the Galapagos
Islands, the islands of Juan Fernandes
and st Felix, off the coast of Chilli
and Bolivia, and the west coast of
Patagonia. The number Of sealskins
collected In these places Is small.
Formerly the Falkland Islands, near
the Straits Of Magellan, abounded with
seals. Among other places frequented
by the fur seal is the Georgia island
and Sandwich group, the Shet.
land islands, the Auckland group,
Csmpbell's island, Emerald island,
aud . few islets south Of New Zsa.
land. In the eastern hemisphere, In
the Antartic ocean, the chief breed
Ing place of the fur seal has been
Desolation Island. Without extend,
ing the list, 1t may be said that in ali
these quarters of the world the fur
seal has been Unfortunately slaugh-
tered In past years, and where mil.
lions were once to be found there
are now only thousands and hun.
dreds.
Under the administration Of the
American government In Alaska, the
killing of fur seals Is limited. Only
70 000 animals are allowed to be
killed annually on the island of St.
Paul and 5000 on the island of ST.
George. The seals come FROG, the
the ocean to these islands, from no.
body knows where, every year, and,
climbing on to them, rest OIL breed
their young. The COW seals, when
they land, are protected by old bull
seals, who, like roosters In a barn
yard, have e multiplicity of wives
All the 'bsohelor" seals, male ami
mails below six years of age, r driven
away from the breeding ground
or "rookeriss," as they are
termed, by the bulls, and are
forced to take up their quarters on the
land some distance away, The
'bachelor' sesls only are allowed to
be killed for their skins, by the gov
eminent, and the regulations OF the
company who lease the breeding
grounds enforce it's command, it being
to Its interest. A certain quantity OF
young pups, under restrictions, are
allowed to be killed for food for the
islanders, but only enough for Their
necessities. The females and the
bulls generally are unmolested. Every
thing possible 10 done to coax the
shoals of animals who traverse the Pa
ci6c Ocean to make the Islands theil
home. The "bschelor'' seals are only
killed In the months OF June, July
September and October, Natives Of
the islands, employed by the company,
90 the ground where the '.oschelor'
seals are resting, and, getting between
them and the water, brighten them by
noises, (uo firearms being allowed,
and the seals are driven to slaughter
ing grounds, where they are brainee
with clubs and stripped to their skins
These are then sailed and shipped u
the markets Of the world to be dressed
Macy writer's have COMPOUNDED the
hair seal with the fur seal. The ski'
Of the former is only serviceaSle foi
leather, snd 1t ia killed for this and 10
OIL. A feet of 60 sailing vessels snC
steamers go every year from St. john
Newfoundland, and elsewhere to cap
ture the hair seal, and take about 800,
OO0 every ssson The quantity o.
fur seslskins received IN the worlds
markets from Alaska every year |
100, 900. and from other quarter
about 80 900. AS the supply IL lin
tied now by nearly all countries which
have seal fisheries by various ~restric
H.. a. a.. 49, ltLaIu that the artiol