Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1890-07-19

Che islands the females give birth 10 young
weight and jet black. Not until they are aboat
. month old do they try to learn 70 swim. and
what IN to Be thsir chosen element ut hrst sur
Prises them strangely. Many lessons do they
70 find themselves at home In tAe water. Dur
ing all the season Of breeding the seals lie in
crowds upon the shore, roaring and whistiing
a. they fght 50 that the sound 10 a Of NiagsrA
itself, heard at . short distance. The females
swim out to sea and catch fish for food ct inter-
walls, but the males eat nothing for three
months or mOre. When tho female returns TO
the shore she bleats for her offspring, and
recognizing its cry among those OF Thousands
OF others she goes back to IL and suokles it
seals which are unable 10 obtain any wives at
all. being beaten in fight, and they either loaf
about in the waters near the island or sulk in
groups upon the shore away from the rest
About October Is the puppy seals put On
ss snd 70
the depths, and nothing il seen Of the animals
until the following spring.
TIE BACHELORS.
The seals which are killed for commercial
purposes are not Of the breeding sort at all
They are the bachelor SEALS" which, not be-
ing - much % six years old. are unable 10 con-
tend with the full-grown bull seals, and there
fore make no attempt to secure mates ON tho
islands. No contest between them and the
full-grown bulls occurs, unless they themselves
exhibit an undue and reprehensIble precoaity.
Paths for their use are left BY the full-grown
seals, by which they can make their way TO the
interior Of the island, and they are not inter
fered with unless they attempt TO make id
vances toward q female seal-in which case
the polygamic family concerned The bachelor
seals herd by hundreds of thousands on parts
of the islands where the breeding colonies are
not, and whenever few thousand are wanted
for killing they are driven like 20 many sheep
to the native village two or three miles away
by the clspping OF bones together and the
waving Of cotton cloths Terrified in this way,
the seals are driven along the road, being par
mitted to stop at intervals and cool OF, lest
heat injure the fur, and when they arrive at
the butchering grounds they are Knocked on
the heads by gangs Of natives with hickory clubs
five feet long. Their skulls are very thin and
the blows render them insensibie, 20 that they
may be easily dispatched with butcher knives.
As quickly as they are killed they are skinned
and the pelts are sailed down, after which the
skins are shipped in bundles Of two in kegs TO
England. II should not be omitted to state
that there are no reptiles Of any sort musqui-
toes or house flies on the Pribylov Islands, al
though those Objectionable creatures are found
There are not even rats there, though mice
have been brought in ships and have propa-
gated enormously. Cats, too, have been i'm
ported and have increased TO Q most astonish-
ing extent. Feeding upon seal fesh they have
grown much shorter and thicker Of body than
Gets in tins part OF the world; their tails have
become abbreviated and they have multiplied
beyond counting. So serious has the night con-
cert problem become on the Pribylov Islands
that periodically the natives make raids upon
the cats, with the result Of temporarily dimin-
lshing their numbers. It In said that q night
upon St Georges or st. Paul's is one Of inces-
SAINT and inexpressible caterwsul.
THE KILLING AND sKINNrNo
Of the seals is altogether performed by native
Aleuts, who are paid 40 cents . skin for their
work. From the fat Of the seal An oil il
obtained which affords . most brilliant and
beautiful light The seal skins are taken to
London in their sailed state and are there
delivered at an establishment which IL one of
the two great fur markets of the world, the
other being at Leipsic. To these two emporiums
all the furs OF the world are brought by the
producers and sorted out by experts according
to quality and colors. Once year each of the
two great establishments has an auction sale,
to which fur buyers come from everywhere.
All the furs are cstalogued, so that merchant
can procure any number Of any sort of skins,
perfectly matched, without seeing them at all
before he makes the purchase. All the seal
skins Of the world 60 to the London emporium
because nowhere else thsn in England is the
art OF preparing them understood. In the
British metropolis there are many big fac
tories, employing thousands of workmen,
devoted to this industry.
TREATMENT OF SKINS.
To begin with, the crude dry-salted seal skin
ia taken and cleansed of salt and dirt, after
which IL is stretched perfectly smooth upon q
marble slab with the skin side up. Then q
planning machine is used to pare down the skin
to one-third of its original thickness As the
skin comes from the animal it 10 covered with
long gray and white hairs These hairs have
their roots deep in the skin, and the plane cuts
of the roots, that the long hairs are readily re-
moved with stiff brush, leaving the under coat
OF downy fur which 10 SO beautiful Next the skin
is tanned in the ordinary way, and finally il has
TO be dyed. For this latter purpose the brown
ish fur ID covered with layer or rather LIQUID
paste, which contains the dye. Several sue
cessive applications of this paste have to be
made before the desired shade is obtained, and
the greatest skill il required in the process II
pays better for q dealer to send seal skin to
London to be dyed than to have il done here,
because of the risk of spelling it. The art is a
trade secret most carefully kept and handed
down in the craft from father to son generation
after generation Last of all the skin is
cleansed from the dye paste and IL then ready
for market
The seal is a very tamable and affectionate
animal; in Intelligence it is nearly il not quito
equal to the dog. Its cousin, the sea lion, is
most useful 70 the natives of Behring sea, who
make boats from its skin, waterproof clothing
from its intestines and oil pouches from its
stomach walls. Its whiskers they send to San
Francisco, where they are sold for a cent apiece
to the Chinese, who use them to pick their
opium pipes and in certain mysterious reliR-
ious ceremoniais.
WORK OF THE JAW.