El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1917-03-17

, the size OF billiard table. They have
an area, all told, of less than 90 square
miles. and, by and large, they are
about the most forbidding places on
earth The islands are volcanic in
origin: they are composed of alternate
stretches of sand and broken rock.
which in some cases are backed by
cliffs rising to height foUr-fifths that
of the Washington monument.
The islands are situated in the heart
of Bering sea The nearest land TO
them is the Aleutians. which are over
200 miles to the southwark. and their
distance from the mainland of Alaska
rs about as far from Philadelphia to
Boston. They are in one of the gloom
lest parts of the ocean. in the winter
they are surrounded by foes and
icebergs. ana in the summer are clad
IN an almost perpetual fog. The sun
seldom shines upon them. and IL Is
only BY means OF the compass and chart
that ships are able to make their way
there.
Are Five In Number.
The islands are five in number: the
most important are St Paul and st.
George. which lie 30 miles apart The
others are otter island. Walrus island
and Sea Lion Rock, close to the shores
Of St Paul St. Paul is about g miles
long and seven miles wide. ST George
IS L miles long and four files wide
The other islands are little more than
rocky patches on the face Of the sea
From time immemorial the Pribilofs
have been one Of the chief breeding
places Of the fur seal, and since their
discovery they have supplied most Of
the sealskins of the world. For many
years the fur markets got their seal
skins from different parts OF the south
ern ocean In the latter part of the
18th century. the chief source Of supply
was the herguelen island. which lies
south OF the Cape Of Good Hope and
Australia, and about midway between
the two.
Within so years that island produced
more than million skins. and at about
the same time another million came
from little island off the coast of
chile, close to Juan Fernandez. where
Robinson Crusoe is supposed to have
lived. Other seal islands were the
Georgian group. and others those Of
South Shetland Thirteen hundred
thousand skins were taken from the
Georgian islands. and hundreds Of
thousands came from the South Shet-
lands Others were taken from an
island of the coast OF New South
All OF these great seal rookeries are
practically exhausted. and today there
are only three OF any Importance
known to the world One OF these be
longs to Uruguay. one to the Russians
and one to the United States
The Pribilof Islands were discovered
by the Russians just ten years after
our Declaration of Independence was
signed They heard from the natives
OF the Aleutian Islands a tradition
that'the fur seals came from the north.
and they secuted about over BerinE
sea for is years before they found
just where the breeding place was The
man who made the discovery was sea
captain named Pribilof. and the Islands
were called after him. Pribilof spent
three years searching for them. and he
cruised for weeks near the islands
without being able 70 find them One
story relates how he heard the seals
barking. and then ran in to the island
OF St George, which was covered with
the animals. 4 few weeks later he
discovered St Paul. and a half million
skins were taken that year
The chief market for the furs was
China and the Russians grew rich
from their sales At one time they
took so many skins that the killing
was stopped for some years. the females
being spared This was the case at