The Nome nugget., 1901-11-27
One That Formerly glourished
 in Alaskan Waters.
SEAL HOOKER RES
One of the Grandest Possessions of Alaska Are the Seal RoOkeries on tine Islands of the PribilOff Group History of fhe Fclagic Sealing.

As a rule the congress of the United States has treated Alaska like the il provident farmer, who, having no thought of his sons inheritance, takes and forces his soil to produce for the sake of quick and present revenue. Nearly every new country or territory in time has to pass through similar period of rapacious exploitation, until it acquired home population. who, thrifty and public spirited, got together, persevered and built for the coming generations, and likewise it has now become the duty of ,he pioneers and settlers of Alaska to inform themselves upon and take stock of the manifold resources and possessions of this, their new country, and together raise their voices and protect them from further harmful and uni ust usage.
 One of the grandest possessions of Alaska are the famous fur seal rook- cries on the islands of the Pribilott group in the Boring sea. Discovered by the Russians in the middle of the 18th century, they formed for over one hundred years a large source of wealth, not to them alone but as well to poachers of all nationalities, from whom Russia was then not in a position to protect them. Russia therefore en- tered willingly into negotiations with some San Francisco merchants for their purchase. These negotiations, together with the pressure brought to bear by these same people in Washington, D. C., ultimately led to the purchase of Alaska by the United States. Upon the consummation of this purchase. the original promoters, who had formed the Alaska Commercial Company, re- ceived from Congress twenty years lease of the fur seal rookeries. This lease expired in 1890, when congress leased them again to another com bination of San Francisco capitalists, who supposedly had made the most ad- vantageous bid, and who styled them selves the North American Commercial Company. No matter with what safe guards congress surrounded these leases, they are an obvious in 1 justice to Alaska. But then during all the famous fur seal controversy, which lasted for years between the United States and England in behalf of Canada and which was finally settled by arbitration in Paris in 1893, nobody ever got up and argued the case from the standpoint of Alaska: nobody ever seemed to take into consideration that some day there would live on the shores of Bering sea and intelligent popu- lation, who, by the act Of settling there. would acquire rights, and whose sub sistence might depend on the proper preservation of the fur seals.
 No other animal ever has had it's habits studied as closely as the fur seal. Reports upon reports have been written upon them by both American and English commissions, and all facts concerning them were gathered by both sides, to be used before the Paris tribunal. The main points, which are all we can here touch upon, were as follows:
 The fur seals generally enter Bering sea between the middle of June and the first of July and proceed to the rook- cries on St. Paul and St. George islands, where they breed and the young ones are born and raised. When these have become old and strong enough to accompany the herds, gen. erally toward the end of September, they all leave together. Leisurely fol- lowing either the American or Asiatic coast their trip extends nearly to the tropics, when.they turn around short and slowly work back again to their northern home.
 On the acquisition of Alaska the United States proceeded vigorously to suppress seal poaching. It was easy enough to protect the rookeries, and mo- body ever disputed their right to do so. But large fleet of vessels, to the great est part fitted from Canadian ports, were engaged in hunting the seals while migrating back and forth, and principally while disporting themselves in the waters surrounding the rock cries. This pelagic sealing, as it has been termed, was exceedingly harm full and wasteful. As the seals were shot while in the water, large per- centage would simply be wounded, to die in the distance or to sink to the bottom before the hunter could re- cover them Especially pernicious was