El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1911-12-25

A FTER the fig leaf Of Eden, fur
"A was the first material used for
= a clothing humanity. The cave
man in the stone period had no other
clothing for himself and his family than
the skin Of the beast slain by his Prov
ess 7 While various otner materials
have been substituted for the bulk OF
human clothing throughout all the
centuries, there never mas been a time
in the history of tie world when Auf
was not in demand. In recent years,
largely because the progress IN manu-
features has placed other clothing ma
terial more easily within reacn OF man.
fur has become a luxury, and the de-
creasing number of animals producing
it render the supply inadequate TO the
Most Of the fur Of the world now
comes from North America and so
heavy has been the onslaught upon
the fur bearing animals OF TINS cohu-
nent that the most stringent reSlrlc-
tions are becoming necessary TO pre-
vent the extinction Of many species
The most notable example OF THIS IS the
Alaska seal, which Is now prolecttea oy
a treaty signed last summer between
the nations Of Russia, japan, England
and the United States
Exhaustfng the Seal supply.
When the United USates took posses
sion of Alaska in 1867, the seal herd at
PribilOf islands was estimated 10 num-
Der over 1000, 600. 1t has become 50
reduced that the estimate Of 1905
placed ii at less than 100000, and since
then the decrease has continued re-
lagic, or deep sea sealing. is largely re-
sponsible for this tremendous decrease,
so the terms of the new treaty VIII an
solutely prohibit this method OF seal
killing in the north PaclIlc ONedn,
north of the 50th parallel OF latitude
and including Bering, Kamchatka,
Okhotsk and Japan seas. Persons vio-
lating these laws viii be turned over
to the nation to which they belong and
the SeVerest penalty inflicted. NO seal
skin taken within this protected area
shall be permitted to be brought into
either of the four countries Included IN
the treaty.
The United States. Russia and Japan
viii contribute in skins 80 percent OF
the catch each year for a general Iund-
This fund will be divided between can
ada and Japan to indemnify them Tor
the loss sustained by reason Of the
prohibition of pelagic sealing. the
United States agrees to pay canada
$4,000 to reimburse the owners or pc
1sgic sealing vessels but the eQu1Ta-
lent of this sum shall be deducted from
the amount Of the skins which the Unit
ed States shall pay into the general
fund
Provides Restricted Season.
Under this treaty the seals may be
killed on land only between December
and April, and no females viii pc al
lowed to be taken The habits OF the
seal have been so well observed tlac
this rule can be enforced easily. The
seals will be driven from their rocker
les or nests and formed into lines. They
can thus be inspected and only those
coming within range OF the law viii
be killed by a blow on the head. Pc
lagic sealing means killing the animal
in the water. so that It is impossible TO
distinguish a female. Killing a fe-
male seal generally means the loss Of
mother. the young cub that follows her
and is unable to prepare its own food,
and the unborn young which would be
produced in two or three months.
The revenue received from sealing
from 1858 until 1905 amounted to So
311.O54 while the price of the skins
caDtured amounted TO s36.935.639. The
animals killed to produce these sums
numbered at least 2.5O0.000. The first
lease Of the sealing right from the