Reporter and farmer. [volume] (Webster, Day County, Dakota [S.D.]) 188?-1946, 1893-06-15

WORLDS FAIR. June 49, Especial. :
One of the most surprising features of the
exposition is the fisheries building and
| the exhibit which it houses. In a former
letter ] described the beauties Of the salt
and fresh water aquarla and the charm
their countless Inhabitants exercise ovei
/ many thousands of visitors every day. One
can understand that, for the privilege OF
seeing all varieties Of live fish disport liz
their native element is ono which people
do not often enjoy. But I confess I was
surprised at the interest manifested by
I the throngs of exposition visitors in the
main building of the fisheries, where nc
live fish are to be seen. Every day + saw
streams of people going in and out of this
structure, and finally I determined to see
what it was that exercised such fascina
1 tion over them within.
After q tour of the building I am nc
longer amazed at the popular interest IL
its contents. / never before realized the
important part which fisheries play in the
commerce of the world, never understood,
as / do now, the almost infinite variety OF
l fish products and their value as food, in
the arts, and in medicine. Above and be-
yond all this there is a glamour of ro-
nance about The fishing industry. 1t must
go to see in boats, must bear the dangers
of the deep, has in it that which develops
character and feeling, with now and then
O tragedy in real life. and is, withal, con.
~tinuously aud inevitably picturesque.
1 Everything that industry and science
have rescued from the depths of lake,
river and sea Is shown here; inhabitants Of
deep sea grottoes, the coral animal-sea
anemones tfst blossom miles below the
isurface of the ocean; specimens of sub
aqueous plant life SO maryelloUsly delicate
and richly beautiful that the microscope
galone Is able to reveal all the charms OF
their flm-like tracery. Very interesting
is the exhibit of the United States Fish
scommission of the methods employed by
1t In deep sea work, in propagating fish
and stocking cur rivers and lakes.
Afeature of the show which every one
stops to look at Is m extensive model OF
THE seal fisheries Of Alaska over which the
ggreat lawyers are now ~contending before
1.-THE international tribunal at Paris. The
lseal-catching trade is classed with the fish
ieries, though the seal, strictly
speaking, ia not a fish. This strange
Screatura, whose skin represents
about the highest type of comfort and
elegance in the winter garments of civili-
~zation, Is an amphibian. He lives princi-
ipally in the water, but uses the land for
breeding purposes, forming thereon at
scertaiE seasons of the year vast settle
sments called '.rookeries." 1t happens that
1.-THE seal of the north Pacific ocean make
ttheir rookeries on the Pribylov islands,
(which belong to the United States, and
lCanaaian fishermen insist upon
Capturing the animals while they
iare en- route to and from the breeding
lplaces. That is what all the trouble is
Sabout between the United States and Eng
Hand. The models, prepared under the
sdircction of Professor Elliott, ofthe Smith.
s~Sonian, are of papier mache, colored, and
accurate, for Professor Elliott is the great
iest authority in the world on seal life.
They show the queer habits of the seal and
1.-THE method of killing them. One model
lis that Of a seal .'driye," and includes hum
ldreds OF mimic seals which the natives are
4driving along over the ground to the in
tterior of the island, or killing place, by
/ dint OF shouting and waving of cloths.
M AAOtAGI lAAacllhtNo "a AOoAOLJ NLCAC
1the full-grown seals, thu males believing
and fighting, have hauled up out Of the
surf to the dry land. At the Pribylov
islands years ago one could see acres and
4 acres black with the forms of these ami.
mails, but the herds are now much reduced
lin size. A third model is not a very pleas
1ant one to look upon. 1t shows the Aleuta
lin the act Of killing the poor creatures by
the hundreds, smashing them in the head
with big clubs a. they lie helpless upon
the ground.
The great Fisheries building is filled
with just such illustrations. From almost
every country in the world come the boats,
tackle and appliances of fishermen, with
Figures of the fishermen themselves,
models showing methods employed, pict-
lures OF fishing scenes and stations, n an
Infinite variety of fisk products.
Norway makes what is probably the
most interesting of these displays. Thn
mortimer are famous fishermen. The
ltheater of their operations extends fum
.Christiana in the south TO the limjT OF the
polar ice pack north OF Spitzbersec. These
.Ncrwe-.ans start early in the year for the
Arctic ocean, driving their little schooners
ante the ice with an intrepidity which
astonishes the Arctic explorers who, fitted
with steam vessels and ell appliances 10,
Fighting ice, nre afraid to follow. Fisher.
men fro:n Tromsoe and Hammerfest every
bear accomplish feats in the northern
which would add TO the fame of
Arctic explorers, but the Norwcgians are
after fish, seal. walrus, eiderdown, whales,
Dot glory. Almost every year some OF
these little craft go north OF Spitzhcrgcn
sand rrach Il lis.itaae that Is within $50 gee
graphical miles of the north Pole. Occn-
.~iorally one is nipped in the ice up there,
{and the master and crew, unless rescued
33y other fisherman, must pass the long
Arctic winter in i~nprovised huts and Sob
list apon such game al they may be aale
lo take before darkness sets in abcu. the
ilirst &C D1oc5ar. sometimes they do this
successfully, others, their bones are found
In the spring where starvation or scurvy
seft them.
1 The Norwcgians show here specimens Of
The craft and the weapons with Which
hey assault hi ~sTalrus, theseal andthe polar
@ear. They show also the pasaphernaiia
II the meat wonderful dshlng