Lincoln County leader. [volume] (Toledo, Lincoln County, Or.) 1893-1987, 1905-03-10
WHAT THE SEA YIELDS.
Annual Value of the Aquatic Fur
Trade.

Trade.
The total value Of the annual prod
uct Of such things as furs and leath-
ers, bones and worries, glue and sea-
weeds, roughly approximates through
out the world $45,OOOOO0, to which
sum the United States contributes
$11, 100000 So Charles H. Stevenson
writes in two monographs published
by the fish commission.
1t is known that some twenty kinds
of products issue from crude petro-
leum, running all the way down from
benzine to chewing gum. But it may
be surprise to learn that in refining
sperm oil, the spermaceti which is OBJ
tained is used in candle making, as an
ointment for medicinal purposes, as a
polish on linen In laundering and for
lubricating cartridges.
Take ambergris, valuable SUBJ
stance, found at rare intervals but
sometimes in large quantities, in the
intestines of the whale or afloat or
cast upon the shore. A single whale
has yielded $4,000 worth Of amber
girls, which Is used as an incense, in
cookery, as medicine and as a per-
fume. The aquatic fertilizers pro-
duced in the United States approXi-
mate at present 100000 tons and are
worth about $2,210,OOO
Writing in general way, Mr.. Ste
venson says that 80 per cent of the
worlds stock of furs is obtained from
aquatic animals. He says this per
centage was formerly greater, but II
has been reduced by the decrease In
the product Of beaver, fur seal, Otter
and the large increase in quantity OF
certain land fur bearers. Yet 70 pei
cent Of all the furs produced in the
r United States comes from aquatic ami
mails and the value Of the annual out
put is close upon $25OO,OOO in the raw
or undressed state.
There is the leather, aside from th
p fur, and it is made from the skins o
nearly all the aquatic mammals ans
of many of the species Of fish. The
| u
in the form of shells, bones and scales
Almost 100000 tons are yearly sc
cured in the United States, the suppl
consisting of the shells of oysters
clans and mussels. A fair valuatio
Of these, with the pearls found,
: placed at about $2,OOO,OO0. The yiel
of whalebOne in our fisheries is les
by 5 per cent than it was half Gel
tury ago, but the value has correspond
ingly increased TO quote: The prot
uct in the American fisheries now al
proximates 10000 pounds each yea
worth 100000 and about Sl5OW
worth is obtained in all other par
of the world" The total value
whalebone secured in the Unite
States fisheries since 1850 is estimate
at about $200,OOO,OOO.
Again there is tortoise shell, of whi(
we produce annually about $12,O'
worth, as compared to the South Anne
lean, West and East Indian and +
j cific Island products valued at abo
S5OO,O00 year Elsewhere the prof
4 we derive from our aquatic anlma
4 are to be noted in a sentence or NV
y The annual yield in ivory, in the Tor
of walrus tuSks, sperm whale teet
IL etc, amounts to about $23,OOO; t
We sponge output of Florida approxima
"a $5OOOOO yearly. about a tenth OF t
ie- worlds product; commercial album
III Is made from the eggs or cod a
m other species; the uses OF seawee
lp- are numerous, not only for fertilizf
ng and chemicals, but for food; isingla
ac- made from the sounds or sw1mml
lie. bladders of sturgeon or hake, is M
proftably used for clarifying ferme
ed liquors, and glue manufacture p
vides an outlet for the economical I
of much waste in dressing goldfish.