The star. (Reynoldsville, Pa.) 1892-1946, 1895-07-31

to kill seals with shotguns, and the
fact that sealing craft caught in Ber-
ing Sea has skins on board which give
evidence OF having been taken by
shooting the animals is sufficient to
insure the seizure of the vessel by the
United States revenue cutter which
comes up with her.
Every craft in Bering Sea will be
overhauled during the present sum-
mer by the officers of the revenue cut
ter fleet, and thorough examination
will be made of all vessels boarded. If
the craft overhauled be an English
vessel, and it is evident that the seal
ing regulations have been violated,
the vessel making the seizure, il she
be a United States revenue cutter, will
turn the offender over to the senior
British warship of the English feet
patroling Bering Sea. The British
naval commander will send the offend
ing sealer to Victoria, b. c.. to be
dealt with there by the courts having
jurisdiction.
Up to the present time one Cana
dian sealer has been seized, the Uni
ted States revenue cutter Corwin max
ing the capture.
The Chinese appear to have taught
the methods of curing sealskins. 1t
was the Chinese who first impressed
upon the Russians of Eastern Siberia
the value of the skin, ahd it is said
that years ago, when Chinese mer-
chants traded along the Siberian coast,
they ould take in exchange for their
wares nothing except sealskins The
English apear to have learned the art
of curing during the first half of the
nineteenth century.
The killing of the limited number
of seals by the lessees OF the seal isis
ands is done entirely on land, and
only on damp and cloudy days. The
young males are usually found
grouped by themselves, while the
older males generally surround them
selves with number of females, Otter
fifty. There is always a general fgh
going on among the older males as t.
which shall have in its particulal
group certain of the female seals. Th,
latter are actually whipped into
group by a male, if there is evidenc
of any sign of bolting to some NOR
attractive set.
The seal killers on a killing da,
crawl along the shore, and, getting
between the young males, who are.lef
undisturbed, and the males and thei
respective groups, drive the latter in
: land, often to the number of 1000 t.
) 5000. The objective point OF the driv
is the killing ground and Mr.. Seal j
: made to carry his own pelt to the vi
| cinity of the storehouse. The drivin
: has to be conducted with great care
. otherwise the seals will reach tn
: killing ground in an overheated con
dition, and with consequent injuri
l GUS effect upon the skins. Arrived i
, the vicinity OF the storehouse, tn
5 seals are divided off into groups @
D twenty or thirty, and in these group
I are surrounded by their executionert
I There is sharp rap over the nos
with club, the seal is stunned, and
a second later isdispatched with a knife
s The killing is done entirely by Aleu-
Q Indians, the descendants OF thos
t Aleuts whom the Russians, many year
s ago, brought to the Pribilofs frol
, the Aleutian Islands for this yer
o work. The Aleut killers al
s very proud of their skill
r They are expert killers, and do the
! work in an astonishingly rapid maj
Q ner. While number of them kill th
4 seals others follow and remove th