The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1899-10-29
SEA LIONS ARE HIS GAME.
Interesting Talk with a Wan whose
business Is Catching Mammals.


Capt J.. p. Mulletl, TIE ony man in the
| world who makes a business IF capturing
| sea lions, left Tiuslurg last evening for
Philadelphia 70 join he car load of Hons
| which he had sent on east after placing
three Of his cargo in the ZOO at II ghland
| park. Capt. Mulett is d small but rugged
! looaing man and ras lived a life Of adven-
ture. When asked what city he called his
| home he said:
7 have made the capture of sea lions
my business fer q most twenty-five years.
| Every seal or sea lion which belongs 10
| he family Of ais that YOU see IN cap
| uvi'y has heen captured by me. Sea .i.ns
| and wal es are not ing moe than b,g
| seals Al Of the sea lions on exhibition
| have caught on the coast of California.
| They arr ike the fruit Of the golden stGte
they grow farger on the California coast
| than anywh here else in the word
| 1t takes fifteen men to capture $50
| p7urd sea i n. We get between them and
| the sea, and when 4 ey run for the wafer
| we throw n lasso over ITEM. but as 'neir
necks are Ia ger than their heads the rope
! s IFS off. We Ike p on throwing and event
! uaiy ire T. a ] on. Then, while we al
hold him down with the ropes. another
man places a-crate over the brute and his
capture is effected.
Il have been bitten all along my legs
| and thighs and let me say right here that
| when a lion btss you he takes a piece
| OF flesh cut every time. My assistant, w.
| l.. Wemple. who is a veterinary surgeon,
| has lost part of a hand and has been Sc
| verely hit en- on several OCCASIONS. The
! little, ordinary seal. which is found al
over the wor d. VIII not i've over month
in captivity, but he 5 a Ion. like hose
VIII I have paced in he Highl7nd park
zoo, VIII live for years with careful atten-
Il n
while travelling with the sea lions we
keep them alive by spraying them wi h
water from tank in the roof of the soe-
cial car. We feed them on fish. Nothing
| that lives in the sea drinks water; there
fore it is not necessary to give them any
! drinking water. All fishes and seals and
whales and everything which lives in the
salt water has IT'S thirst satisfied by Lb-
sorhing water. Many human beings lose
their lives every year from an ignorance
of this fact If q sailor when he is ship
wrecked and out of fresh water, would
only drop over the side of the boat or raft
on which he is floating ard rest in the wa
ter for awhile his system would absorb
enough water to satisfy his thirst.
Il was a seafaring man fer many years
and the first sea lions l causht were on the
Chincha Islands, off the coast of South
America. I saved two of them, and the
late 2. T. BarnUm bought them from me
for the sum of $4,000 This gave me the
idea of making a business of catching
them and I have been following it up
with the exception of a few years ever
since.
This last summer the schooner which I
was using was wrecked off the coast of
Oregon. 1 had fifteen men with me. We
saw rookery on the rocks along The
coast and, leaving three men on board
to attend to the schooner, I took the bal
r-1.a and M .ach fr IN al n a
lures While we were on the rocks
storm came up and the men on board tne
boat were unable to handle her and she
was blown ont 10 sea. There was no set
tlemen within 100 miles of US, and for five
weeks we lived on fish and such raw herbs
as we were able to dig up. 1t was very
cold at night, and we had 10 sleep out
without fire or blankets, and we suffered
terribly l lost my hearing through eX-
posure, but gradually reganed it. The
schooner finally became water logged and
was a floating derelict. She was picked
up at last by government tug. TWO Of
the three men who Were on her died as a
result Of the hardships which they endur-
ed.
1T is an old saying that fish is good for
the brain and l firmly believe the adage.
Seals and sea lions live on fish entirely,
ond they can certninly do everything bur
folk They do converse in some manner
among themselves. They are mammals
/ and possess d great affection for then
young The sea lion is polygamous, and
the male guards his mates with the great
est care They are very jealous, and u
one male approaches the resting place IF
the females belonging to another it is n
sure sign that there is going 10 be a bloody
: fight. They are easily tanned and learn 10
know their keepers and appreciate any
kindness shown them quicker than any
other animal taken captive.
Even now these sea lions, which We
have only had in our possession few
weeks, seem 10 know US, and in a month
longer could hardly be driven away. We
sold ten Of them in Chicago, two in Co
lumbus, three here and will leave five in
Philadelphia. Three died during the trip
across the continent, SO that we will have
about twenty-five left The United States
government has bought these and we are
taking them 10 Paris for the government,
where they viii be placed on exhibition
during the Paris Exposition. l understand
that they will then be presented to the
French government by this country.
sea liens are very sportive, When in
wild state The males viii get off the rocks
into The water, and after they have caught
all the fish they want TO eat one will make
a dive, and, coming to the surface with
fish. will toss it TO another, which viii
in turn pass it along. and in this way
they seem to be playing baseball.
These which l have sold to the city, II
| a proper tank is constructed for them in
the Highland Park Zoo, will afford grea,
| amusement to the little visitors, as well
as be instructive to the grown people who
have never seen them in their wild state.
The tank in which we placed them yester-
day is entirely too small, and 1 doubt
whether they will long survive it if it is
not enlarged.
Those which have sold to the city OF
| Pittsburg will eat about sixty pounds of
fish a day. This should not be fed to them
at once, but should be dealt out in small
lots. Sea lions cost in this country about
$500 each. l am a native of Australia
Fitzsimmons and 1 came from the same
town. l have the honor to be a personal
friend of Andrew Carnegie, and it was ne
who advised me to go to Homestead some
years ago During the days Of the Old
roller skates owned and conducted three
Kinks in Pittsburg. I expect to stay m
Paris, taking care of the sea lions until
the exposition is over, when I shall return