Orange County observer. [volume] (Hillsborough, N.C.) 1880-1918, 1894-11-10
THE VALUABLE FUR sEALq REV. DIR. TALMAGE
AN ANIMAL OVER WHICH GOVERN.
MENTs HAVE ARBITRATED.
Princely Royalty Derived by the
United states From Seals Killed
A Remarkable Creature.

'THE fur seal tits name should
be furry sea lion is the most
celebrated OF all our fur
bearers, and the United States
Government has been as active in pro-
tecting it from destruction as it WAS
Indifferent to- the fate Of the buffalo
millions. If our great international
dispute with England and Canada
over the fur seal had arisen seventy
years ago, before the days Of peaceful
arbitration, there wonld surely have
been q war over II. Nor is our inter-
est in onr fur seal to be wondered at
when we stop to consider that from
1870 to 1890 our National Treasury
received Sc, 900, 900 from the Alaska
Commercial Company as royalty on
the animals killed f~six-sevenths Of tie
purchase price OF Alaska. When to
this we add the amount received in q
twenty per cent. import duty on the
dressed skins as they came back to us
from the English dyers, the total
revenue derived from the fur seal in
twenty years amounts 10 the enor-
nous sum of s.. 800. 900. Snch mn
animal was worth saving from destruc-
ton. No other Q%uadruped ever be-
came such n bone of contention be-
tween two great nations for a long
period, the discussion winding up
with a high and mighty conference Of
arbitration.
As usual, the whole trouble arose
through the greatness Of a few ire
sponsible and lawless individuals. The
sealcrs OF the Pacific coast insisted
upon taking fur seals by shooting
them IN the open sea, by which waste
mi process seven were lost for every
three secured. But if it were not for
the loss Of money revenue derived
rom this animal, 1t is quite certain
the Government would have allowed
the wastefnl SLAUGHTER to go on until
the last sea- was dead.
The fur seal Is not q true seal by
IN means, but n sea lion, with naked,
pallle-shaped fippers aud tiny ears
It is about two-thirls the size Of the
Zilophus, and is therefore the small
est member OF the sea-lion family.
Mr.. Elliott gives the average length
Of the fnll-Srown male animal as six
feet from nose TO tail, and weight
rom $50 to 800 pounds. The average
length OF the adult female is n trlte
over four feet, and weight from sixty
two to seventy-ive pounds. Wien
dry, tho coat is of n dark, steel gray
color, and only the coarse, stiff outer
hair is visible. Underneath this lies
u dense coat of very fine and soft
light-brown fur, III which lies oil the
value of the skin. In preparing the
pelt, the coarse outer hair is entirely
removed, and the underlying fur is
dyel II shiny, lustrous black, and
sheared down very evenly. For some
mysterious reason, we, the people Of
Yankee ingenuity" are actually un-
abletodye seal fur successfully and this
work IS from sheer necessity sent to
England. When it comes back, there
Is a high rate Of duty to pay, which in
addition to the original royalty Of
S10.22 paid 70 the Government by the
North American Commercial Company
for every skin taken, the very long
bill Of transportation charges, labor,
and profits oil along the line, from the
back of the seal to that of the fortu-
nate wearer, accounts for the price Of
from $3.50 to 5000 on a seal skin
cloak.
In its habits the fur seal Is q re-
markable creature. With 5000 miles
Of coast to land upon if it chose. this
strang e and perverse animal now re-
fuses to set hipper upon any portion
Of the whole North American CONT
nent, island or mainland, say the
two little dots Of land in Boring Sea,
st. Paul, and. St. George Islands,
known to the world collectively as the
Pribilof Islands. St. Paul is seven
miles by fourteen, and st. George is
only five and a half by thirteen.
And yet, when Mr.. Elliott made his
careful and elaborate surveys of al
the "rookeries." or herding grounds
on those islands, in July, 1873. anC
laDorlunsly calculated the number o
their fin footed inhabitants, be found
there the astonishing number of B.,
1913, 420 fur seals. Like sheep in
PEN, they actually crowded one anothe
on the sloping shores OF sand, or waite.
worn boulders. or tables of slaty blue
basalt. Each burly old male appears
a giant beside the females and youns
males gathered around him. st. Mich
olas.