240 ALASKA INDUSTRIES. 



absolutely required be furnished as soon as possible; also to request of 

 you, ill your report to the Secretary of the Treasury, to ask for $350 

 for repairs to the Government house and such other articles as I shall 

 mention in this report. 



In accordance with your letter of the 20th instant asking me to ship 

 the 030 food skins on the United States cutter liush, I Avill state that 

 I have complied with the same and inclose you a receipt signed by the 

 captain ; a duplicate of the same I have in this office on file. I will also 

 state there are 20 road skins here in the salt house. 



The killing of seals on this island was stopped on the 20th. A list 

 of each number killed out of each drive I inclose also to you, and you 

 will see that at the last drive from North and Starry Ateel rookeries, 

 and also from Zapadnie, that there was a larger number of seals killed 

 than from any other drive. This, I will assure you, was not owing to 

 the greater number of large seals being driven at this time, but to the 

 standard weight of skins being reduced on that day from 7 to 5 pounds, 

 and even less. 



The writer was surprised when he first visited the rookeries to find 

 no young bull seals upon tliem. This looked strange to him and he 

 began to look up the cause, and it occurred to him that by the con- 

 stant driving of young male seals and the killing of all the 2, 3, 4, and 5 

 year olds there were no young bulls left to go on the rookeries, and 

 without young blood the fur-seal industry will be something of the 

 past in a very few years. 



The Government should take absolute control of these islands and 

 permit no more seals to be killed than are needed by the natives for 

 food for the next six or seven years, and then all the male seals driven 

 should be killed, as it is my opinion that not over one-half ever go back 

 upon the rookeries again. In this way there would be killed upon this 

 island about 2,500 each year. These skins, sold in the market, would 

 pay all the expenses of the island and furnish such supplies to the 

 natives as to keep them from want, and they would be as well satisfied as 

 they are now under the management of the North American Commer- 

 cial Company. . Without something of this kind being done the natives 

 will soon have to move from these islands, for there will be nothing to 

 keej) them here. 



The North American Commercial Company has landed and turned 

 over to this office 30 gross tons of coal for the use of the natives, and 

 10 barrels of salt salmon, and also state that there are 10 tons of coal 

 in the coal shed for the Government house. 



Most all of the native houses need repairing; some need a new floor, 

 others a new roof, and I would recommend that at least four of these 

 houses be made larger by the addition of one more room. 



The Government or company, whichever has charge of this island 

 the next season, should send at least 10,000 feet of siding and 10,000 

 feet of flooring on the first steamer that comes up in the spring; also 

 35,000 shingles, and nails enough to do the work. 



The natives are in better health than they have been for the past 

 year. I am not aware of there being a sick person on the island. 

 Their sanitary condition is bad, and to each house there should be a 

 small outbuilding which they could use for a closet. Such a thing 

 seems to be unknown here. 



There])airs recpiired by the Government house are as follows : The 

 front platform needs rebuilding, and part of the roof needs shingling, 

 and the whole roof to be painted; also the house needs painting and 

 papering on the inside, and the fence repainting. 



