The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1913-10-12
ST. LOUIS FUR
Continued from First Page)

Kurii herd, owned by Japan, comes
third. During the first year of I'm
Gle Sans possession. the catch was
about two hundred to 100000 seals.
but the herd has diminished so con-
siderahly that as result laws have
been enacted by which the herds will
be conserved and future catches in
creased.
The Greatest Evil.
This great diminution of the herds
has been the result of pelagic sealing
the killing of seals in the open sea.
Whole fleets would sometimes lay of
the seal islands while their crews kill
ed the female seals which swan out
to sea seeking food
At sea the sexes cannot be dis
tinguished. and the females predomi-
mating the pelagic catch is made up
largely of this class. the percentage
being from IS to IS per cent. of fe-
males. The death of female seal
was not the only evil. She out
seeking food for her pup which she
had left on shore, so that her death
meant also the death of the young one.
The United States. Russia. Spain and
Great Britain have made pact which
stipulates that no longer shall the
fur seal be killed on the high seas.
ming Oh taF haEtm.
The seal is a polygamist. The larger
and stronger males have harems, rang
ing from 20 to 40 In number. accord
ing TO the fighting strength of the
King of the Harem. One bull
has been known to have 200 cows in
his harem.
Naturally there Is a larger surplus
of mateless males whose one object
in life is to get a "harem of their own,
entaiiing continuous warfare and blood
shed. in which often the female Is
torn to pieces or MANNED in the strug
gle for ownership. To kill off a
Roodly number OF these disturbing
bachelors of the herd is therefore nee
sary--not only for the good OF the
herd itself. but also for the good of
the Skins. for naturally mutilated
skin or an old one has but very lit
tie market value.
Nearly two years ago congress made
n law stopping the killing of seals
entirely on United States islands. for
FIVE years, except seals needed for
food by natives on the islands While
from the usual standpoint OF game
preservation this seemed good thing.
biologists and experts on seal life are
not in favor of IT. They say that the
ruling regarding the preservation Of
deer or grouse does not apply to the
seal. They claim that If the num-
Der of male seals is not kept down
they Will continue to fight and kill
each other, and the pups and fe-
males Of the harem as well-~that only
small percentage OF male seals is
needed TO increase the herd But he
sides this If the killing is closed for
five years thousands of skins will be
lost, because a skin older than four
a t4ul fe n G~ga
tific men say that killing rightly gov
erned. with none on the open sea. will
mean a quick growth Of the herd.
However. congress decided the other
way, and closed the season for five
years The skins Of the several thou
sand seals Killed under the law as
food for natives are not to be sent
10 London as formerly. Secretary
Redfield has ordered otherwise At
ter thorough investigation he has
ordered that the entire quantity be
sold in the United States After a
Close study OF the fur market ~ the
world he selected Funston Bros &
Co, II So. Louis. to act as agents Of
the government In their disposal.
In 1897 a seal skin fetched from So
10 SO. in 1880. SIT 10 $40: while In
1893 the price reached the $40 mark
The prices on seal garments however
have indicated q fictitious value, due
TO the heavy duty entailed by London
shipments. and fur dealers have had
To demand an exorhitant figure for an
article which is home product and
should. and could have been, bought
for much less
So that naturally this signal recog-
milton by the United States govern
ment of the commanding position held
by ST. Louis in the fur markets of the
world cannot fail To have its effect on
the fur business in this country as
well as In time reduce the price 10
the consumer. AT the present time
st. Louis is the largest primary fur
market in the world. and IL Is esti-
mated that three fourths of all the
furs trapped on the North American
continent are shipped to ST. Louis
houses To be sold
The books published by the United
States government on this interesting
subject can he obtained free by writ
ing the department Of commerce. bu-
reau of fisheries. and will afford en-
3oyahle and instructive reading. Deal
ing as they do with the purchase oil
Alaska by the United States from
Russia, and comprising veritable
natural history of the fur bearing
seal as we'll as setting forth the
economics of the sealing industry
these books cannot fail to be source
of real instruction to any good Ameri-
ran cttlxaD