The daily morning journal and courier., 1902-03-17
KILLING OFF ALASKA GAME.
SOURCE THAT WILL FAIL IF THE
 SLAUGHTER GOES ON.
Deer are Practically Extinct, Sea Otters Extremely Scarce and Moose Vanish ing RapidIy-Waste tn the Fisheries.

Extremely Scarce and Moose Vanish ing RapidIy-Wnste in the Fisherie, Ten years ago Alaska was fur coun try beyond all else, with trade annu ally in excess of $2,0000OO This yea the fur crop, exclusive of the seals, vii not exceed $5OOOOO In the judgment O
 c. F. Periolat, recently returned iron
 a fourth trip of four months in tha
 country, the slaughter of the fur bear
 ing animals, with the exception of the
 seals, is such as to make the life of the
 fur trade short indeed.
 The sea otter one of the most valu-
 able of all animals, is practically eX'
 tinct Wolves have killed all the deer
 spared by the hunter or have driven
 them to the islands off the coast. The
 moose are fast going and yet MT, Pe-
 riolat has brought with him the largest
 moose head in the world, stretching
 seventy-t three inches from tip to tip of
 the antlers and weighing with empty
 skull 11O pounds Only the seals are
 more numerous than they have been
 for years. But these are at the mercy
 of United States monopoly and of the
 British hunters, who come openly with
 in three miles of the American coast
 and kill seals in open water. Yet 200
 American seal hunters sit idly on the
 coast, not daring to do what the Brit
 ish- and the North American Trading
 and Transportation company are doing | unhindered.
 Not only are the bearing animals
 threatened, but MT. Periolat says that
 the caneres of the San Francisco Can ming company are raiding the salmon
 supply of the country in such a way
 that Indians receiving only five cents
 apiece for salmon weighing above eight ! pounds are making S15 to $20 a day at
 fishing Tn the Columbia River country
 years ago the canneries worked havoc
 with this magnificent game fish, throw l ing them out of the coast rivers by ma | chinery, taking the big fish and leav- | ing the smaller ones to rot in the sun. 1 With the eight pound limit of the San Francisco company there ars evidences 1 that the slaughter already has begun when it is said that this company for | 1902 will pack 9S0,000 cases at Kadiak Island.
 'The seal fisheries are the greatest of the fur bearing possibilities of this great country" said MT. Perioat. "The impression has been given out that these animals are rapidly becoming eX- tinct. But it is not so. have my own eyes as evidence in this state, and any where along the Alaskan coast natives and those long resident there will tell you that more seals have been seen this season than ever before. Returning from Alaska on the steamer to Seattle we passed herd of seals almost un- believabe in number It was summer and there was no night and the steamer was q. day and half passing the ami mals. There were countless thousands of them.
 "The United States government has got the little end of the sea bargan with Great Britain. Vessels flying the Union Jack come within few miles of the shore and take seals with idle American sealers looking on helpless ly The North American Trading and Transportation company, with stations all over Alaska has government lease of seal grounds To show what a mo- nopoly 1t has, it may be pointed out THdI DPIbTt Itlt Stbl dEittllltlll DtlWttI Great Britain and the United States the prices of sealskins were from $20 to $25' apiece Now, arbitrarily the mo- nopoiy is asking $65 to $75 apiece for the same skins with the seals, as I have said more numerous than ever before.
 According to law the Alaskan h. dian may kill seals for food, but in sell ing the skins he must make affidavit that the animals were killed for food purposes and he must not kill too many for that purpose, either.
 "The most valuable and most nearly extinct animal now in Alaska is the sea otter Ten or fifteen years ago a hunt ing party could go out and kill perhaps twenty of these splendid animals in one hunt. Now the same party may go out and get one, or it may come back without any.
 owing to the scarcity of the ami mals. too, the hunting of the few left is becoming more and more difficult A skin now brings from $200 to $500 tu the Indian hunters, and in London they sell for S35O to s1, 200. Most of these skins are bought in London by the l Russians. a hunter, are necessary in the killing of l hunter. are necessary in the killing of 1 sea otters They can be hunted only when the water is glassy smooth, as their habits are such that they are in- ! visible on a ripping surface.
 ''They are a strangely human sort of | creature The mother otter nurses her babe in her arms, and they sleep on their backs in the water. When fright ened or suspicious they keep only their noses and eyes out of the water.
 "When the hunters start out each is armed with q rife, and each man uses marked bullets, that they may be iden- tified after they are fired. When the nose of an otter is sighted the man man finding it gives a signal to the nearest boa tman and in a few moments the little fleet is surrounding the creat- ure. When the great circle is complete as may be the nose of the animal may be thousand yards from the nearest A shot is fired at the black spot on the water and it disappears. 'eet under water, and it may not come up for many minutes, but if the cir ,le is well formed it is not likely to break the line. "The instant the nose apears again mother shot or two is sent after it, Ind the boats close in on the circle. Time and again It comes up, only to be