Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1909-12-13
Retirement Plan Approved.


Retirement Plan Approved.
On the subject of the retirement of
superannuated employees the Secretary,
referring TO the fact that most civilized
countries provide some system of re-
trement for superannuated employees,
contends that humanitarianism may
nave suggested the idea, but 1t
gratifying to know that economy
mas Justified it, He continues: 1T
seems to me that this situation shouId
DS met by a lew which may at once
Protect the emIloye against the hard
(shlps or old age and the government
against the loss occasioned by super
The business of the department" he
declares, rs SERIOUSLY embarrassed by
the lack OF Structure large enough to
2.sccoinniouate lS varied services, and it
earnestly hoped that Congress will ap-
proprlete suhfient money for the cree
lon VI tne building contemplated by the
pIohc Duiidlnfs act OF May 30 1903"
interest the report contain. features Of
interest Many items are COW
ered In the broad scope Of the depart
,asn acI.v1ties and some of them con-
IAN hlerIhintng information gathered
IN the cou5se of the years work
socjal Life Among the Seals.
FoT>example, who in the world east OF
tn2Rocky Mountains would have suspected
lIhat some seals are married and some are
= bachelors. and SO recognized officially by
Uncle Sam? Yet Ii seems there are at
least 2.0oO bachelor seals on st. Paul
and St. George islands? Some 2.OOOI
Of the seals there are benedicts Of a
polygamous temperament and have
among them about 5000 wives, CLASH
ned by the government experts into
harems. and spoken of as such when
they are officially talked about
1t also appears there are only 10000
seals left now on the Pribiof Islands,
and the deduction must follow that at
the rate OF decrease in the last ten years
1t Is only question of time when the
seal will be memory. and another of
the mammal families will have become
extinct by the greed of man.
Up on the barren reefs of the Pribiliofs
there is band of men called the
Alaskan fur seal service" who counted
the married seals last year and found
there We're 1,o11 happy families on st.
Paul Island. where one pater familias
lives in serenity with a dozen wives
They found 1000 little bachelor seals
and promptly tagged them as immune
from the hunters, because Uncle Sam
wants TO encourage every bachelor to
get "harem'' of his own.
Mysteries of the Deep.
So much for the top of the seas The
bottoms dc not escape Investigation.
Down at Woods Hole, Mass, and at Beau
fort, y. c.. there are two seaside labora-
tories, where set of experts study the
mysteries of the deep. on the coast of
Florida a series OF experiments has
proved that We can produce our own
sponges. They have discovered that In
twenty-nine months sponge can be
eoaxed to grow so big it will weigh an
ounce and quarter. when II is empty
Somewhere between Hatteras and Labra-
dor there Is an expert for the govern
ment beating his way up the coast on a
wind5ammer looking for a very
elusive fish, the mackerel When he
learns his tricks the government will
tell the fishermen
Up on the cost OF Alaska at Afognak
there Is new salmon station which
has liberated more than 100000 young
red salmon TO the rivers and during the
year, all over the United States. the gov
eminent deposited in various waters more
than 3,O0OO00 fish.
MaW