ALASKA INDUSTRIES. 411 



day of slii])ment, yet the division of the community fund was made 

 upon the basis of the number as counted into the salt house, 5,500. 

 This count, at 50 cents each, made a total of $2,750, and was divided 

 among the natives in first, second, third, and fourth classes, as shown 

 by report of division hereto attached and marked Exhibit G. The 

 division on the island of St. George was made upon the basis of the 

 count of skins taken by the lessees from the islands. The number of 

 skins, 2,007, at 50 cents each, amounted to 11,003.50, which was divided 

 into four classes, as shown by report marked Exhibit H. These divi- 

 sions were made by the superintendent of the lessees' company, the 

 chiefs of the respective islands, and myself. 



BLUE FOX SKINS— CATCH OF 1892 AND 1893. 



On the island of St. George during the winter of 1892 and 1893 there 

 was caught by the natives 928 blue foxes, 7 of which were rejected by 

 the lessees, leaving 921 prime skins, which were disposed of by the agent 

 in charge to the lessees for $2 apiece, making a total of $1,842, to be 

 distributed among the natives making the catch, as shown by report 

 marked Exhibit I. On St. Paul Island there were 374 foxes taken by 

 the natives, 337 of whicli were blue and 37 white. These were disposed 

 of by Lieutenant Ainsworth for the natives to the lessees for $2 each 

 for the 337 blue foxes and $1 each for the white ones, making a total of 

 $711, which was credited to the parties making the catch in the same 

 manner as is shown by the report of fox-fund distribution on St. George 

 Island. (See Exhibit I.) 



I have ordered that the catch of blue foxes be limited to the month 

 of December, 1893, and that the price fixed for the skins taken be $5 

 apiece. The cause for limiting the time for one month for trapping 

 was, in my judgment, necessary for the preservation of the foxes. It is 

 suggested in my instructions in connection with the blue fox trapping 

 that if a trap could be contrived in such a way as to prevent injury to 

 the fox, and all females so caught turned loose, such a course would 

 tend to increase the supply of these valuable animals. Such a method 

 would certainly be an advantage if it were possible to carry it into 

 effect; but at least two obstacles will be in the way of making this 

 method a success. First, to invent a trap sufficiently large to hold a 

 fox without doing him some bodily injury, and devising a plan to induce 

 the wary fox into it; second, to take chances on the native trapper, who 

 has probably tramped across the island from five to seven times a week 

 through cold and snow knee deep, having convictions of honesty and 

 courage enough, when he comes to his trap and finds the only fox he 

 has caught that week to be a female, to turn it loose. I advised, how- 

 ever, that this sort of a box trap be tried as an experiment. To avoid 

 the wholesale slaughter of foxes, the better plan would be to adopt the 

 rule of only trapping foxes every alternate winter until they have 

 increased sufficiently to warrant a more frequent limited catch. 



As to the mortality among the natives on the islands, I herewith 

 submit copies of reports made by the physicians employed by the 

 North American Commercial Company under their lease. It is marked 

 Exhibit J. 



During the months June, July, and August, while I was upon the 

 islands, the health of the native inhabitants was good. The native 

 sealers were ever ready and able to perform any and all such labors as 

 they were called upon to perform, whether it was to drive and kill 

 seals, work upon streets and roads, or to stand guard upon the rook- 



