The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1886-05-07
AT THE HOME OF THE SEAL.
How the Slaughtering Industry in the
Seas Furred Animals Is Conducted.
The Story of an Indiana Man Who Spent
Eleven Months in AIaska-The Natives
and Their Way of Living.

eyes, said that fluent talker. George Hazard,
IT was in Alaska eleven months, most of that
time with Tom T. Ryan, on the seal island of
ST. George, though I spent some time on the
island of St Paul. Those two islands, you I'M
derstand. belong to the Alaska Commercial Com
pany, under franchise from the United States
government, and, with the two islands, Behring
and Copper, of the Kamchatka group, near
the Asatic coast, which they have leased from
the Russian government furnish nearly the
tire supply of sealskins for the whole world"
How did you come to go there's" inquired the
reporter.
Il met Senator Miller in San Francisco one
day. He always had a warm corner in his heart
for lndianians and gave me note to the secre-
tary of the company. which resulted in my en-
ployment Few people have an idea of the dis
lance of these seal islands. St. George is
2,700 miles from San Francisco. Mr.. Ryan's
position is that of special treasury agent and
his pay is SO day and expenses. AS he has no
opportunity to spend money, every cent of his
salary is saved. The government allows six
months vacation out of every twenty -four, with
pay to continue and when Ryan takes his vaca-
ton, which will be next October, he will have
about Sc, 600 cash in hand. I was employed by
the company to oversee the sailing of the seal
skins. The native Aleuts do the work. but they
so peculiarly constituted that they are dis
inclined to labor unless they have white man
to urge them when necessary. There are dozen
white men on the Island of St George, and 800
natives, men, women and children. Mr.. Ryan
is governor of the island. Like Robinson Crusoe,
he is monarch of all he surveys, and
his power is absolute. On this island $1,000
seals are permitted to be killed by the company
annually, and on the island of St Paul So, 900 an
nually. The company pays each skin a duty
to the government of So. III, and the killing is
restricted to the number have given you. The
lease will expire Aug. 3, 1885, but there is little
doubt it will be extended. as the company has
held its contract with the government scrupu-
lousy to the letter These islands are OF the
Pribaloff group. and north of the Aleutian
islands. Another geographical fact: When you
are at San Francisco you are nearer Sitka than
when you are at st. George.
IA seal skin laid down in the salt house repre-
sents cash outlay of $40. The company has to
support school for the native children eight
months in the year; keep physician, and
as part OF their oil legation with the govern
| ment, is bound to sell goods at st. George at no
higher price than they are sold at San Francisco
and all these obligations, as | said, are most
faithfully carried out. They have also to furnish
the natives with fuel and houses to live ia each
family being provided frame house of five
rooms and they also furnished salmon.
There now eleven ships engaged exclusively
in the company's business. 1t takes about nine-
teen days in the spring to go by steamer from
San Francisco to St George, the water among
the Aleutiaps being then very rough, the ship
standing about half the time on her
stern and the other half on her head
1t took me only eleven days to return,
l..k 49, Il Al.
is required to cross the Atlantic. The Alaska
companys vessels. however, are not built for
speed, but for capacity. On account of the
shoal water at st. George the vessels have to lie
out about three miles, and are unloaded by light
ers and such lighters, perhaps. as are seen in no
other part of the world. This lighter is called
bidarau never mind the speipg), and will hold
ten tons of freight They are made of walrus
hides stretched over wooden framework
made in San Francisco 1t takes prob
ably fifty warus hides to cover the
frame. There is no difficulty in finding a
supply oe hides There is an island called Wal
rus island where those animals congregate in
great numbers, and there is little other use for
them.
II was greatly surprised at the immense mum
bers of Goldfish in those waters particularly off
Oonalaska island. There are more cod acre
than off the banks of Newfoundland / believe
transferred to the Behring sea- Natives will 90
out and catch bcatful for you for $3.50, and
then would cheerfully give that amount for
pound Of sugar"
The reporter began to exhibit symptoms of
incredulity.
cpl explain, scontnued Mr. Hazard. "The
government allows neither sugar whisky to
be sold to the natives and anyone caught doing so
would be severely dealt with and made
to leave the islands. Yes. any native would give
two hogsheads of Goldfish for pound of sugar or
a pound of candy. He would take quart of any
kind of grain, or OF vegetables, rice dried apples
dried peaches, corn meal or green coffee, and
with that pound of sugar he would in twelve
hours distill gallon of liquor he calls 'kvass,'
a spoonful Of which would make a white man
drunk. The oldest agent has been unable to dis
cover the native secret Of making this liquor.
"The seals begin to arrive on the islands on the
first of May, apd by the first of June there are
millions on the two islands of ST. Paul and ST.
George; more than three times as many on the
first named island as on the last. ST. George has
thirty-two square miles, and St Paul forty
three square miles. At St. George there is a
shore line of fifteen miles of rookery and breed
ing ground; at ST. Paul thirty seven miles. The
killing of the seals begins the 10Th of June,
and in forty DAYS the season is over. Only the
Observation-Disclosures is, the three-year-old male
SEALS allowed to be killed. The seals begin to
leave the islands in September, and by the lst
of October not a seal is to be seen. The ques-
tion is, where do they go; and nobody is quite
able to answer. Owing to the care of the COM
pany they are getting more numerous upon the
islands every season. / believe in the Snet
lands and in the Northern Atlantic, about three
thousand seals are annually killed, but they are
of inferior quality, chiefly because the seals are
killed out of season, and the ami
mails are not selected, as by the
Alaska Commercial Company. A few seals arc
killed in the northern Pacific by schooners-we
call them pirates. They kill by shooting. while
the seals killed by the company struck on the
head with long and heavy stick by profess
sional killer The three-year-olds are driven
from the shore inland three miles or more.
There is no more romance about it than there is
about killing hogs. They are timd. and the ma
tives drive them by means of bells and tin
pans--anything that makes a noise White men
usually do the killing and the natives the skin
ming and sailing. Three hours of sunshine will
kill a seal. They have about four inches of
blnbber between the meat and the skin, and