The St. Johns herald., 1892-10-06
SKINNING SEALS.
The Cruel Manner ia Z-kich t--o
 Operation I5 Pc -ormed.
Description of Scene Which E Duoli- cated --any Times in a Eear-So-1o- thin. for T1ind-izeartesi Young
 Ladies to Ponder Over,

ralSed all over the i3EQ ar-s.i1SJ J--c cruelty of sl1ln1iny birds ;.,Ivc to E4--e feather ornaments for Lc%s.
 It is rot generally lacva C,ct ?t-oc- ities fully as cruel afe<eoTn.ai-ted bz the fur seal huat115 E. Z--ogI>.c Tlc peltr1es from which 1.ia Cloar are made to cnvslop tho l-- fo-ra5 aaa the tender hearts of A-a,ric-l Tlvez and daughters.
 E. II. Wells thus describes an incl dent which he witnessed I1st spriao while crossing the North Pacific from Kadiak island to Sit.la, Alaska. - 2 sealing schoonc-.
 ''VVe were drifting slowly eastward one warm April evening, the light breaths of air which famed the nail1 causing scarcely ripple on the surface of the ocean. Fur seals were lyia1 asleep on every side Of Us, tlleir ac- tionless, dark bodies half out of water, appearing like pieces of drift wood. + was the time of the annual seal migra- tion to the Prybilo1f islands, the ani mals coming northward from the vast expanse of soutacrn waters. :. ''The captain and his alert crew were provided with heavy rifles and shot guns for killing seals, and it was not long before l had an opportunity to wit- ness the operation of taking seals i'll the Pacifc-a method totally different frolD that employed on the shores of the Prybiloffs, in Behring sea.
 Standing with an Alcut native in the bow of oul-little vessel, Isrotted seal asleep several hundred yards ahead. IL seemed prohabse that VIC would run over the creature if nothing occurred to disturb it's slumber.
 "I hastened back to the cabin, and picking up a heavy four-borc shotTHn loaded with bucl1shot returned to the bow intent on getting that seal Then noticing the Aleut hunter still stand-ng there, concluded that he could dou5r- less do better shooting than I could on the deceptive ocean, and I tlIrncd the weapon over to him with the advice to shoot that seal.
 "As he slowly poised the ponderous weapon containing unknown quantities of volcanic energy I stepped briallly be- hind to be out of range of possibilities. My experience with pot-metal Indian guns had been sufficient to make me skeptical as to their cohesiveness.
 ''The Aleut pulled the trigger and Q mighty boom rolled out over the sea, while the shot went whistliag over it's surface, and with a dull 'plunL' entered the body of the sleeping seal.
 "There was wild thrashing of the waters.
 "'We've hit seal exclaimed some body, and there was q rush for the life boat towing astern of the schooner. The seal must be reached quickly be- fore it sank. Several men jumped iuto the boat, seized the oars and padaled desperately away for the seal, whica still lay noundering on the water, not a hundred yards from the vessels bow.
 ''They reached it in time and cn Aleut, by dexterous manipulation born of long experience, 1ooped the slippery animal into the boat
 "A few moments later we all gath cred round the gasping creature as it lay upon the deck, while one of the hunters, gn experienced hand at sIin> ming seals, barred bis long, sharp knife and prepared to remove the pclt.
 ''Je Eaade several cuts about the flip pers, waen I interfered. The seal was breathing hoarsely, its chest rising and falling spasmodically. Kill that beast, l exclaimed, before you skin itr
 'He obeyed, or attempted to, by cut ting long gash across the creature's throat.
 Blood flowed forth in torrents and covered the deck. The struggling ceased and 1 thought that death had en- sued. The hunter proceeded with his skinning operations and the pelt was about one-third removed when 1 was mortified by another loud gasp from the seal and renewal of the heavings of the chest. Evidently it was not dead and was undergoing torture!
 Kill itr cried, and the man with one long, slashing cut ripped the ani- nal open and partially disembowled it. Then, with dexterous movements of the knife, he rapidly continued to re- move the pelt and had almost separated it from the body when another noise came from the seal. Its mouth opened and it breathed hoarsely once more.
 ''I could scarcely believe my eyes! There lay a creature alive, yet skinned, and its blood lying in pools on the deck.
 "'Cut its heart outr calculated, un- able longer to bear the sight of the ap- parent suffering.
 ''The hunter reached his hand inside of the carcass and plucked forth the heart. It was warm and throbbed Cut loose from the body and held out in the hand it continued to pulsate, the valves opening and closing for fully three minutes with unfailing 1t was a grewsome sight.
 But the seal was now dead. He no longer breathed nor moved 4 feeling of relief swept over me.
 "'Do they usually die that hard? I 
 "'oh, yes replied the hunter, eoolIy 'They always act that way when we skin them
 "Thousands of seals are taken every