The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1884-01-01

! English but even after the children learned o
read and have left school, they have refused to
read or speak word of English. In cons3-
quence of their dirty way of living and their
generally diseased condition, they die young.
| The men seldom live to be fifty years old; the
women live somewhat longer. There is, howev-
| er no crime among them except adultery ard
that IS not considered a crime there. They are
married in the Greek Church but the mar
riage tie is hardly observed at all. We keep them
all together upon the island and in frame huts,
| their underground houses having been
destroyed on account of their filth
mess. and to get rid of the 90
All the guns on the island in charge of the
| government agent, and never more than three
natives at a time are allowed to have guns
SEAL FISHING AND FURs.
There are five seal rookeries places where
| that valuable animal congregate, on the island.
Last season the first seals came to the rookeries
about May Z, many of them over floating ice.
The old males, or ''bull" seals come first, taking
up their quarters on the shore and fighting for
position. The weaker are forced further back
| inland. The females and young males arrive
| about the lst of June 1t is then that the bulls
select their harems, for they are polygamous
to degree to shock q Turk whether it would
have any effect upon Mormon or not The
strongest bulls select about twenty five females
and the weaker take what are left. Terrible
fighting takes place between the old fellows
when two OF more of them have set their eyes on
the same female seal They fight with teeth and
hippers and death is no unusual termination to
these wild cOmbats. The female seals take no
part in these fights, and their wishes, seemingly,
are not consulted The fighting over, they 90
with the victors. The bull seal usually sits on a
rock with his harem surrounding him. He
keeps jealous eye his household, allows no
gadd1ng, and if a female attempts to 90 away he
catches her with his teeth by the neck and pun
ishes her by beating her with his fippers. The
young bulls who have been driven to the rear
can go between the harems to the water, along
the pathways that have been left, but no flirting
is allowed. and any gay young fellow who at
tempts it is apt to lose fpper
sometimes his life, at the teeth
of the outraged head of the harem.
About the 10th of June the females begin to give
birth to their young and the births continne
until about the 4th of July. As a rule the seal
has but one offspring at birth, twins being as
exceptional as in the human family. The moth
ers begin to give their puppies swimming lessons
when they are month old, and it is interesting
to watch them at such times and when they are
at play. The seals leave the island during thaa
latter part Of August and early in September
The killing takes place from June 10 to July
20 Only two year old bull seals are killed never
any female seals, and the seals, instead of de-
creasng in number, constantly increasing
because of this wise regulation The old male
seals and their harems and the puppies
are not disturbed. The killing is overseem
by the government officer, and the Aleut
chief points out those to be killed to the sayerS
who are armed with clubs six feet in length and
long knives. The chief is wonderfully quick
and accurate in pointing out the seals to be
slaughtered Nearly everybody on the island
takes part in these drives, not only the men and
women but the children, the latter carrying of
the seal meat and fat. Seal meat is disagreeabiv
strong 1t is black in color and l never could
screw my courage up to- the point of tasting it
In driving the seals large amount of noise is
made use of to astonish and confuse them. They
are driven back different distances at the differ
ent rooxeries the closest drive being mile and
and half to the killing ground. This year, at
tn the o different rookeres $1,000 seals We're killed,
they are early in the season in droves
of 10000 and then from l,5OO to
1000 may be killed in day Toward the
close of the killing season those that have been
allowed to escape at previous killings are saugh-
tered Of course there not many killed
at the last drives during the first drives of the
season. The Aleuts become very expert in kill
ing and skinning, a minute and half being all
the time required to skin seal. They arc
knocked in the head and then stabbed $
breast under the forehipper. Thy = y
during a drive, but native is ha1dlS;
The stick is held out, and the poor tlh
their rage upon that, biting it savagels lTV
would fare badly for one to fall among thePd y |
armed with stick. The natives get for DlJOl
for each skin, for killing, skinning, sal
curing. Some of the most expert max
$500 during the two months of the kill
The United States government gets s NJ
skin from the Alaska Commercial IN e4gr,
which also pays $4,000 annually f11N F-ri
lege.
'.The rookeries on theisands of st
St Paul are the largest in the world -
two other seal islands ON the AsiatTnJ ITER
not visited as these are The AlaN H d EIG.
cial Company has leased these MA R1sssa,s-
though under different name there's a Russian
in the second company, so that virtually ths
Alaska Commercial Company controls the seal
trade of the world. There were other small fur
companies in Alaska dealing in furs of various
kinds but the Alaska company bought them out,
vessels and equipments, and every
thing.
These seal skins are all sent to London from
San Francisco. 1t is estimated that they cost
the company, delivered at San Francisco, about
SO each. have no idea what they get for them
The coloring is a secret. 1t was tried to do this
work in this country-tred at San Fran
cisco, Chicago, New York, Albany and
Rochester but without success. As
much as $4,000 was offered prize to the dis
coverer of dye that would be as good as tho
British, one that would not fade. The natural
color of the seal is gray and turning to yellowish
gray. When the seals first arrive at the rookie
ries fat with high feeding, they are glossy and
beautiful. While at the rookeiies they do not
eat but live upon their accumulation of fat
''The life of a government treasury agent at
st. George is rather lonely and mOnotonous
arrived there the 28th of May, and the next
vessel that visited the island came there on the
Sd of October and the next on the 31st of May,
1888. All that time, between the arrivals OF
these vessels, was utterly without communica-
ton with the outside world.'
The Last Member of a Noted Gang.