The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1891-06-06
THELIFEOF SEALERS.
Either Very Easy or Very Hard
Work for Them.
TROUBLES OF THE OWNERS.
Sailors Get Advance Money and Then
Desert-Almost . Sure Thing
Against the Seals.

The failure OF the grand jury in the
United States district court, for lack of ev-
idence. to find true bill against thirty
seamen. of the sealing schooners Lille l..
and Emma and Louise charged with will
full disobedience to orders, is the last chap
ter in one of the numerous interesting ex-
perienees OF men engaged in the seal trade.
Z. II. Laid, the travelling agent of San
Francisco firm that sends out the Lille l..
and the Emma and Louise, is in the city
looking after the interests of his employ
ers, and to OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES reporter
he gave the following interesting talk on
the vicissitudes of sealing voyage:
There are lots of people who think it is q
very rough and hard voyage. This de-
ponds great deal on the weather. If the
weather won't admit of lowering small
boats, then the sailors and hunters amuse
themselves by playing cards or reading.
There is a considerable number of men on
a schooner, and the watch on deck is
divided up SO that they only work about
two hours out of every ten, and that work
is very light. The time when the work is
hardest is in fine weather when there is
no wind. Then they may have to row
their boats for several days to distance of
thirty or forty miles a day. When the
weather continues fine, there are usually
only one or two men on deck at time,
while the others are resting for the work
ahead of them.
by genuine sportsmen this would be
considered an easy time, and those who
go on voyage once are anxious to
go again, for seal hunting is great sport.
The seal is game to the last, and will make
a desperate fight when he is only wounded
by shot from hunters gun. A great
many people think that of those that are
shot at or wounded only about one out of
eight or ten are killed. This is not the
case, for if the hunters first shot does not
kill he runs the seal down. OF course
there are exceptions where the animal
escapes in the case of slight flesh wounds
"The greatest difficulties of the business
are with the sailors. Whenever a vessel
goes into port in distress or to replenish
supplies, they will use every means they
can think of to get ashore and desert, so
that after having big time they can re-
ship on some other vessel. When they
ship they receive $50 advance money. A
part of this is usually owing to the board
lighthouses where they have been stopping,
and the rest goes for other purposes.
When they come on board they generally
buy what they need out of the stock that
the vessel carries, such as blankets, oil
skins and rubber boots. When they have
been out a month, they are often
still in debt to the vessel especially
if the weather has been stormy and seals
have not been plenty. In cases of this
kind they are the more determined to de-
sert when they get near port. On the high
seas they usually do their duty, for there
the law is more severe with them in case
they rebel. In port, as last resort, be-
fore sailing they sometimes notify the cap
tain that they refuse to work and would
rather stand the consequences of the law
than go on with the voyage.
whenever sealing vessel wishes to sign
crew for voyage there are always
plenty of idle sailors anxious to go. Some
crews are paid by the month; others. SO
much skin, or, as it is called, they 60 'on
lay When a sailor goes on lay he
makes, as rule, from $50 to $50 month,
as he takes more interest in the work, and
vessel often kills as many as 800 seals a
month. The crew that gets fixed amount,
work.
1.-THE business has been profitable one
for nearly all that have engaged in it for
the last four years, and it gives employ
men to several hundred men. There are
between sixty-fve and seventy vessels on
this coast engaged in the sealing trade.
Forty-nine of these are sent out from Vic
toria, and the rest are American. Four of
them hail from Seattle. The sealing sea-
son begins early in the spring, when the
seals seem to cross over to this coast from
Japan. Even should Boring sea be closed
there would still be at least one-half as
many seals taken as at present. The seals
start in as far south as the Catalina islands,
off San Diego, and are found from there
north along the Coast.
"The trouble with our men happened at
Port Townsend. On the 18th of last April
the crew of the Lille L., who had been de-
MED permission to go ashore, refused to 60
to work. happened to be there at the
time and, in company with the United
States shipping commissioner, tried to
persuade them to do their duty, but they
said they would rather take the conse-
quences of the law. We borrowed irons
from the United States revenue cutter
Wolcott and put them all in irons. Dur
ing the night they knocked off the
irons, and the next day we had
them arrested and taken before Com
missioner Swan. They were bound
over to court and sent to McNeips island
until they were brought to Seattle few
days ago. The same thing happened
month later with the crew of the Emma
and Louise at Port Townsend. The own
ers os fishing vessels are practically at the
mercy of the sailors, and we thought that
if we made an example of our crews IL
might serve as a warning to Others The
grand jury didn't find a true bill against
them because of insufficient evidence The
officers of the vessels didn't come on 10
testify, as they could not be spared from,
their duty"