The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1895-05-03
CUTTERS IN BER|NG SEA.
An Efficient Fleet to Guard the
Sealing-GroundS This
Season.
Rough Weather Causes the Failure
of the Hunting Vessels to
Secure Skins.

PORT TOWNSEND, WASH, May 2.-The
Boring Sea fleet, which is now concentrat-
ing here, will proceed north at an early
date, as orders to the c,ltter Rush, the flag
ship of the feet, received to-day instruct
that vessel to proceed tomorrow to What
com to coal and thence to proceed direct to
Sitka, which place will be the central
point of operations from where all move
ments will be directed. 1t is expected the
present will be the banner year in the
matter of seizures, owing partly to the large
number of vessels to go north and also to
the fact that Captain Calvin Hooper, COM
handing the cutter Rush and entire feet,
is the best-posted man in the service,
knowing every nook and inlet which will
possibly offer protection to sealers in chase.
The Rush will be followed north at an
early date by the Corwin, now chandlering
in Seattle, and the Bear, which is now
taking fuel at Whatcom. These, with the
Perry or Grant, will complete the makeup
of the fleet, which expects to be absent I'M
til the late fall or early winter. The in
structions this year do not differ mate
rally from those heretofore, although
more explicit owing to increased facilities
for guarding the rookeries. owing to the
light draft of the vessels of the patrol. All
seizures will be taken with prize crews to
Sitka and there turned over to the United
States court for trial. 1t is not yet known
whether the Grant, on duty here, or the
Perry, recently arrived from San Fran
cisco, will join the feet. In the event OF
the former vessel going, the Perry will be
left on the sound to guard the great inland
sea and help suppress the smuggling
which, though at present dormant, will
Immediately revive were no cutter here to
prevent it.
With the beginning of the closed season
of sealing the return commences of the
vessels which went out to intercept the
herd on their way to the breeding grounds
on the Pribyloff Islands, in the Boring Sea.
The first vessel to arrive at this port is the
schooner Elsie, with 219 skins. Captain
Oliver, commanding the Elsie, is the au-
thority that few, if any, schooners which
were out approached paying expenses.
Despite the fact that the herd was very nu-
merous, the weather was so bad at times
as to be almost impossible to take seals.
To this alone is attributable most the en-
tire lack of fatality among the men of the
feet. The native as well as the American
vessels all lost money on the cruise, and
will require phenomenal luck after the
closed season to save many schooners from
the auctioneer's hammer.
An Indian sealer from Boring Sea which
arrived late this evening confirms the re-
port of bad luck of all vessels spoken dur
ing a cruise of three months. The captain,
who is native, says nearly the entire lot
of $50 skins he has aboard were taken at a
risk to the hunters and boat-pullers' lives,
as the weather was the worst known for
years, and there were entire days when the
hunters boats tossed about on the tumult-
uous seas without even sighting a seal.
He says, further, that the Indian hunters
are heartily discouraged, and he is doubt
full if enough men can be secured to man
the vessels when the time comes to go to
Bering Sea-