Wichita eagle., 1889-06-30

Russia alone of the nations has for a long
time maintained a policy of protection, and
st is in the desire of the United States to fol-
low Russia's example in the territory bought
from her by Secretary Seward that has led
to the present complications with England.
During the winter the thousands on thousands
OF seals live in the shallow waters of the North
Pacific ocean. In the spring they move north
ward to their breeding grounds to bring
forth young The United States prohibits
the Alaska Commercial company, which en-
Joys a monopoly Of sealing privileges under
government license, killing female seals, and
male seals must be taken only III certain sea-
sons, and not to exceed 100,000 in number.
The trouble with Great Britain, or, rather,
with her American colonies, crises from the
determination of the seal catching vessel
owners Of British Columbia to take seal in
discriminatory in the ocean while the ami
mails are swimmingt to their breeding grounds.
And after their arrival there the British YES
sci masters claim the right to take all the
animals they can find in the ocean three
marine leagues from the United States pos
sessions As the animalswhich at this season
OF the year venture far from land are all
females seeking fish food for sustenance Of
sheir young, it fellows that four-ffths of the
catch of the British sealers are mothers,
whose destruction means rapid extinction of
their race.
1.-The seal, says Mr. Williams, sis the most
interesting anirnali in The world. say animal,
because he is an animal, rather than a fish.
Probably few of the hundreds of thousands
Of women who wear seaIsiins know anything
of the strange life and habits of the creature
from which the soft, rich fur was taken. The
seal is q queer combination of instinct amount
ing almost TO intelligence and gross stupidity,
OF ferocity and gentleness. H. the family
life OF these animals there are customs which,
so fur as my knowledge goes, are unknown
among any other creatures of the earth.
''tor study of natural history in its popu-
lar aspects know OF no place superior TO the
Seal or PiIbylov islands, and l predict that
ere many years have passed regular excur-
sion steamers viii annually carry many thou
sands of travellers thither. 1t sounds incred-
ible, but is true, TO say that these islands are
1900 miles west of San Francisco. They are
farther west from San Francisco than San
francisco itself is west of Chicago. During
the summer this small group of islands is in
vested in a fog SO thick that it can be almost
cut up in chunks Aside from the fogs the
summers are rather pleasant.
Out IOA luo lOe, IL 10 uOGDl1ul IL Tue seals
would live there. The COOL moist air is Just
to their liking. There is no spring or autumn
up Increasingly summer and winter The
winters are about nine months long, and ter
rible winters they are. During this long,
cold, gloomy season the natives hibernate,
sleeping most of the time and passing the re-
mninder eating or gambling. They are great
gamblers, chiefly at Russian games of cards,
but American poker is now becoming well
known to them.
1.-The boys have a passion for pitching half
dollars at pegs, and may be seen engaged in
that form of gambling from morning till
night. They also Know how TO play base
ball, and think it fine sport. The inhabitants
of these islands are among tho few peoples in
the world who are not troubled with mos
quitoes or house flies. They have no rats,
either, probably because there are no harbors,
and the ships never touch the shore But
mice are numerous and pestiferous, and Of
course there are plenty of cats. Such cats
you never saw. They are half wild. and in
lest the villages in surprising numbers.