New-York tribune., 1910-07-24
KILL SUPERFLU0US BULLS
Only Way to Preserve Herd, Say
DR.. Jordan and DR.. Lucas.

STANFORD JUNIOR University, VINO has very
soft spot in his heart for the fur seal, has
hobnobbed with him intimate terms for
years and knows whereof he speaks, is not
one of those who think the killing of the
su7erfuous young male seals on the Pry-
bilov Islands is In any way detrimental to
| Uncle Sans precious herd. DR.. Jordan vas
commissioner in charge of the fur seal iii
vestigation Cor the government in 1S96-'97
| when I was on the Prybilov Islands for
the first time In 1885, said he yesterday
there were in the rookeries two hundred
| thousand female seals. This year there are
| only fifty thousand. But this depletion is
| due entirely to the depredationS of the
| Japanese and Canadian pelagic sealers.
more particularly to the japanese The
| Canadian sealers are forbidden by the Paris
| convention from approaching within sixty
miles of the islands. But the Japanese,
with their fleet of thirty or forty fast
schooners and hundreds of small boats. not
| being bound by this convention, can come
up to the three-mile limit of United States
| Jurisdiction
There, around the first of August, when
the female seals seek the open ocean for
| food these Japanese seaIers form a Gordon
of boats through which the breeding seals
must pass to get to their feeding banks.
Naturally large numbers of them are killed.
and the death of every female seal means
the daath of her unborn young, and the
starvation of her pup on shore, thereby
| trebling the destruction. The male seals
| stick to the Islands in the summer, so prac-
| tic lily the entire catch of the pelagic seal
ers consists of females 1t is this, and this
al one. which threatens the extinction of the
| herd.
..On the other hand, the killing off of
! ,irrr-cC
the herd. In fact, when the number of
males is too great the fierce fighting on the
outer border of the rookeries disturbs the
breeding. In 1896 l saw four thousand young
males lighting to get into the rookeries
every day Some of the older males which
| barred their way weighed four hundred or
five hundred pounds apiece and were as
strong as grizzly bears. The lighting was
often very fierce, indeed"
Stopped the Killing Of Males.
Congress passed a law last March re-
pealing the privilege of the North American
Commercial Company to renew for another
twenty years with the government its lease
OF the sea fishing rights on the Prybllov ISL
ands. From 1890 to April 80 of the present
wear this company had the right to kill
superffuous male seals of two and three
wears of age on the islands of st. George
and ST Paul, under the supervision of fed
eral agents. 1t had to abstain carefully
from killing any female seals and had to
pay the government $40 % " for each seal
skin taken and shipped. In addition it had
to provide dwellings. schools. medical at
tendance and food for the native inhabitants
of the islands. Under the new law the gov
ernment. through the Department of Com
! Is 70
| of the killing of the young male seals and
| the care of the native inhabitants of the
| islands.
This however. is no great step in ad-
vance. so far as the protection of the seal
! rookeries is concerned, according to Presi-
! dent Jordan, although it is an improvement
he thinks, in SO far as it does away with
dual government of the islands
..rhe North American Commercial Com
nanv." he declared, lived up TO its obliga-
tions absolutely both with regard 10 the
killing of seals and the care of the natives.
II couldn't avoid doing so. because it was
working in the open. No animals were
killed except under the supervision of d
government Inspector and there were four
in the islands. all fine. competent men.
..rrhe recent attack on Walter l. Lenlbkey,
one of these agents. by W. T. Hornaday, of
tbe Camp Fire Club OF America. is that Of
a man who can have no knowledge of the
facts The statement has been made that
fe,.,sie seals were killed with the knowledge
of this agent The following incident is the
foundation for ali the rumors and stories Of
the kind af1oat
"A Congressional committee visited the
! islands out of season, and one OF the Send
tors in the party wanted TO see a drive OF
| seals The drive made for his benefit.
/ and among the young males driven UP there
| was one female which was killed by lis
| take Such a thing is likely TO happen
whenever a killing is made out OF season.