The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1891-06-21
cEAt poAcHEPS

| WASHINGTON, June 20.-Twenty thou
| sand fur seals are said to have been al
ready taken in the outside catch of the
Victoria feet. which is gathered off Sand
| Point at the Shumagin islands. This was
! done TO a great extent while Great Britain
Was considering whether she would con-
sent to the taking of z, 800 seals Dy tne
United States lessees from the Pribylott
| islands as a condition Of the agreement
| just proclaimed by the president.
On Friday a steamer sailed as usual
from Victoria to bring back the early June
| catch of skins from the Sand Point rem
devious, so that the fleet may at once
enter Bering sea and begin operations
there This steamer will be OF furtner
use to the busy vessels by informing them
that parliament has passed the bill pro-
viding for the issue of an order prohibiting
them from killing seals in Berlng sea. but
it will also say that up to the moment OF
its departure that order in council had not
been issued by the British government,
and that the authorities at Washington
were still confabbing about the matter.
Perhaps it will add that it had taken the
precaution to hurry off before the pro-
hibitory order should be issued.
With this friendly warning to guide
them the forty-nine Victoria vessels would
lose no time in following the seals into
Behring'S sea or going ahead TO walt for
and keep a good watch for any smoke APP
pearing on the horizon, lest they should
be boarded either by an American or Brit
ish government vessel, with the formal
notification to leave Behring'S sea, before
they have made good haul, it will be
their own fault. But government vessels
will soon follow the Victoria and there
will now be little seal-killing in Behring'S
sea this year.
Still il is not unlikely that for the 1900
seal taken by the Pribylof lessees there
will be $4,000 taken by other persons. The
British Columbia people have gone into
the business this year with full knowledge
that they may be Interrupted at any mo-
ment by their own government, through
the conclusion of the long-pending .nego-
tiations for q close season. Accordingly
they have sent out very large number of
vessels and have got to work at the earl
lest possible moment, while, if the reports
Just received are true, they have been re-
markablv successful outside of Behring'S
sea.
In previous year the Wanderer arrived
at Victoria from Sand Point on the 23d of
July with the early catch of the British
schooners, and it consisted of only $3.50
skins. She reported that the total catch
of twenty-one British and American
schooners at Sand Point had amounted to
s,S12 skins. Now we find more than double
that number Of vessels engaged in the
work, so that 10000 skins may have been
taken outside of Behring'S sea. The Mis-
chief, which last year left Victoria on the
18th OF June for Shumagin islands, reach
ed the home port on July % with the
catch of the Victoria feet. That of nine
teen vessels had amounted to II, $50 skins
and five other vessels reported catch of
1900 skins. CAPTAIN Erskine of the
steamer ST. Paul. gave an aggregate of
5,747 as the catch of twenty-three British
Columbian vessels up to Jaly of last
year. and that is about the date when they
usually enter Behring'S sea. The catch at
the Russian islands in that sea was $1,000
last year. Assuming that Russia should
decline to interfere with its leSSees during
the present season, the probabilities are
that over Is, 900 skins will be taken in the
North Pacific and Behring'S sea during the
present year, in spite Of the modus vivendi.
One point relating to the outside catch
now so briskiy going on deserves attention.
There is no question that this is the most
disastrous to the seals of all the methods
of hunting 1t occurs during May and
June. when the herds are moving north to
the breeding places on the Pribylof and
Commander Islands, and just at the time
when there should be no killing at all.
Again, the hunting is done by shooting
the animals in the open sea, so that there
is no opportunity of distinguishing sex,
and thus the females are slaughtered as
&ell as the males, which is thing never
allowed at the government islands.
Finally great part of them sink and are
not recovered, so that for 80, 600 skins there
may be $4,000 of the animals destroyed.
It was for this reason that even Sir
Julian Pauncefote proposed that pelagic
sealing should be prohibited not only in
Bering sea, but in the Sea of Okhotsk
and in adjoining waters throughout the
months OF May and June, when the
animals move north to the islands, and
also during the months of October,
November and December, when they
move south. The object of such provi-
sional regulation would be. as Sir Julian
expressed it, Ito put stop to the
slaughter of female seals with young
during the migration period, especially
in the narrow passes of the Aleutian is
lands" There is no doubt as to the merit
of this proposal, and it should be the
subject OF mutual agreement for another
season.