Seward daily gateway., 1926-03-10
PRESENTS CLAIM
 FOR $39,O00
 TO GOVERNMENT
CAPT. AxEL OLSEN, VETERAN SEAEER AND ALASKA NAV
 iGATOR, IN SEWARD
LICENSE IS TED
Was Halted 29 Years Ago by Cutter Off the Coast of
 Sitka

The subject of the fur-seal indus try and it's commercial and physical aspects has been fully discussed since the United States took charge of the business over a. quarter of century ago, thoroughly worked it up and so systematized it as to bring it to a par with a well-con- ducted cattle ranch on large scale with this difference, perhaps, that greater caution with reference to their comfort than is generally be- slowed by farmers upon their cattle.
 Hundreds of romantic stories have been weaved about the sealing ground off the rock pinnacle coast of Alaska when thousands of sealing vessels were engaged in hunting fur seal; about the poachers from for eign lands, and the battles that en- sued but little has been said since in late years, when, by the order of the United States, all sealers were stripped of their licenses prhibiting them thereafter from following their chosen line of endeavor. Captains of revenue cutters and coast guard ves- sels, boarding sealers, as they were overhauled, put an end to an offshore industry in which tens of thousands of men were engaged, created a loss to the sealers which has been estim- ated as between four and five mill lion dollars.
 A few years ago, in 1905, old claims presented by British sealers against the United States government, am- bunting to one and one-half millions of dollars, were settled. The courts have decided those who were law fully engaged in the industry and who sustained losses at the time of the issuing of the order prohibiting the hunting and killing of fur-seal, are entitled to reimbursement.
 Capt. A. Olsen, whose last con- mand was the schooner Olive, but who was one of the thousands en- gagged in the seal industry in the early days, is in Seward today for the purpose of making preliminary arrangements for the presentation of his claim, which amounts to 5000, to the government. Capt. Olsen ar- rived in town last Saturday from Matanuska where he conducts one of the most modern of Alaskan farms. He plans returning to the valley Thursday.
 Computing interest at the rate of six per cent, Capt. Olsen and his attorney, have figured his claim will total about $7O,OO0, for it was 2S years ago when he was boarded and his license confiscated. "The Amer ican sealers were painted with the same brush as the British sealers, so see no reason why our claim should not be paid", Capt. Olsen stated yesterday to the Gateway rep resentative. He still retains his ships papers and several witnesses. who remember the incident One of these is Capt. o. A. Johansen, of the steam CT Starr.
 On his last voyage to the grounds, his vessel, the Ethel, of 32 tons and crew of IA, became disabled a short distance out of Kodiak, so he pro- ceeded to San Francisco for repairs. Two months later, he cleared once again for the fishing banks. While 25 to 30 miles off-shore from Sitka, one day, he was stopped by the cutter Corwin, whose captain boarded him, declared he was unlawfully sealing, and confscated his license and or dered him to return to his home port, which Capt. Olsen did. It is on the basis of the expense created at that time and the probable loss he sustained, that he is now basing his claims. That his claim will be paid, Capt. Olsen has not the slight est doubt in the world.