The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1892-06-25
THE PASSING THRONG.

special agent of the treasury department al St.
George island, arrived in the city yesterday, and
he is now the guest of his son, Clark NJ. Nettle-
ton. Mr.. Neitleton left ST. George on June 10
by the Albatross, the steamer of the United
States FISH commission, and he reached Port
Townsend on Thursday. This is his second sea-
son the seal islanis-his first having been
spent a. st. Paul-and he has many
Interesting things to tell OF the
life among the sealers. "The weather." said he,
last evening, "is not severe III winter, but it is
unpleasant because heavy fog prevails most of
the time. During year there are hardly thirty
days of sunshine. The frat winter, when was
in St Paul island, the thermometer went down
TO 9 above zero, but last winter we had moro
snow, and the temperature fell to II below
There is no disgusting the fact that the seal are
rapidly disappearing The Alaska Commercial
Company used TO be allowed to kill 10000
annually: but two years ago the North Amer-
can Commercial Company, which has a lease of
the business, was restricted to 5000. But the
truth was that the company could get but 30, 900
seals. Last year, according to agreement with
Great Britain, but 75o) seals were killed as food
for the natives How many there will be
at the rookeries this year I cannot tell,
as left little too early in the sea-
son. The only way I account for
the disappearance of the animals is their
destruction by the seslers in the Boring sea and
the North Pacific. During the last year or two
the rookeries have not been raided very
cessiully, but the sealing fleet has followed the
seals along up the coast from California, across
to Unimak pass and into Der ing sea, killing
thousands of them. An unfortunate part of the
business has been that the females heavy with
| young are slower than the males, and SO are
mora likely to fall prey to the sealers.
| When the pups are born at the
| rookeries, the mothers go off to the fishing
| banks. Ii a female is killed while on one of
! these trips, that means pup will starve on the
rocks. Ii the United States can stop the sealing
in Berfng sea l know of no way by which it can
| be prevented in the ocean, except by inter.
| national agreement And I fear that before
| such an agreement is reached the seal will all
be killed. The 122 sealing vessels now
in the Pacific are doing the work eff
| fectively There are now about 30
natives, Aleuts, on st. Paul, and 100 on st.
| George. They are very peaceful and inoffensive.
| Though as special agent of the treasury depart
mens have been the sole representative OF civil
| authority, have had no trouble whatever"
II. W. Fairweather who is interested in sew
eral Of the leading banks of Spokane, was at the
| Northern hotel yesterday, having come to Seat
| tie 10 attend the bankers convention. Mr.
Fairweather is a native OF ST. Johns, n. b. where
he was born in 1SJ2 Thirteen years later he
came to the United States, and when he had
reached the age of 10 he was engaged In rail-
reading i'll Wyoming. In ISL he moved to
Washington territory, and for the
next twelve years he was engaged
in railroading and steamboating. He
has been general freight and passenger agent
for the Northern Pacific and for the Oregon
Railway * Navigation Company, and in 1879 he
relieved DR.. ID. 5 Baker as manager of the Walla
Walla K Columbia River railroad. Then for
three years during the period of construction
he was superintendent of the Idaho division of
the Northern Pacific He was also engaged at
time and another n iisi,,
ing, mining and numbering. While he lived at
sprague he was president Of the First National
bank there. and lie was mayor of the town.
While Miles c. Moore was governor Mr.. Fair
weather was on his staff rs chief of ordnance
with the rank OF colonel. In the constitutional
convention and the first state senate he was one
OF the distinguished members.
The publication of the story of how F. A.
Alien showed Edward Warner the wreck OF the
old warsllp MISSISSIPPI i, on which Mr.. Warner
served in the South, has called forth a letter TO
the observation-disclosures stating that the wreck
OF iho old ~arship lies not on the beach of Seat
Tie harbor but down around New Dreams some
where, rs Mr.. Warner suppOsei. The writer OF
this letter halls from Maury. King county, and
signs himself: zone who was on board of her
that night" and says: "Mr. Warner was right
when lie insisted that 'the old Mississi ppi was
down around New Orleans somewhere for she
is there somewhere, snd / can tell you some
where near where that somewhere is. On the
night o. the IAN OF March, ie63. the old warship
Mississippi with Others o. Farragut's fleet, at
tempted - Ass the batteries OF Port Hudson on
tae river after which she was named, when She
grounded directly IN front of the guns OF said
batteries, and. as he was not able TO float
her oil, she WAS set on fire by order of her COM
maude- and abandoned Some time after she
foajed OF anu driited down the river 10 point
about n q Jay between Port Hudson snd Baton
Rouge, where she exploded (ihe FIRE having
reached here mHEaZ.usl, and she lies in the
RIVER somew here around New Orleans"
state Senator }. J. EIeus, of Guemes. Wa. at
ths bu.or hotel yesterday. Mr.. Edens who is
an ardent Republican, Is q native OF Kentucky,
bat while tie was boy he moved first into ILL.,
nos Aad terward TO Missouri He in the
Tenth Missouri cavalry and served TIL the close
@, tie war, when he came 20 Denver. From
there he eEnisratad t. Washington territory, in
ISL, and settled Ell his PRESENT home n Sksgtt
county. Tie people Of his county elected hin,
20 seyera. local Offices, and Tor term Re was
lin; representative of Skagit ana Sa0aorntsh
Counties II the territorial legislature In the
t-st stake legs allure he represented skas.t and
IN the fall II 1870 he was chosen senator from
eAaE.t and san Juan counties.
1T is 10 easy matter" said County Assessor
Frank Paa3 yesterday, ''to take tae census in tho
country .strJcts The entire county nss been
reported except the Botaeu district aud tho
deputy thinks he VIII have full returns from
;.s-e ty the first OF the week He hss had a
s--at deal oi trouble IN getting information
ats3gt msa Who are working IN TWO or three
.pgs.aS camps, a. 'aey are generally scattered