52 REPORTS OF THE DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE. 



ping was conducted for five days in December on St. Paul Island, 

 and 119 blue-fox and 25 white-fox pelts were obtained. On St. 

 George Island trapping was done during parts of December, January, 

 and February, and 548 blue and 5 white pelts were taken. Efforts 

 are being directed to the improvement of the breed of foxes on St. 

 Paul Island. 



The reindeer, of which 40 were introduced on the Pribilofs in 1911, 

 have flourished and increased, and the surplus males are now furnish- 

 ing a limited amount of fresh meat. It is believed that in a short 

 time, with the present rate of increase, these animals will become a 

 much more important factor in the food supply. In the summer of 

 1918 there were on St. Paul Island 160 reindeer, including 40 fawns, 

 while St. George Island reported 114 reindeer of all ages at the end 

 of the calendar year. Twenty animals were used for food on both 

 islands in 1918. 



RECEIPTS FROM SALE OF PRODUCTS. 



During the calendar year 1918 two public auction sales of fur-seal 

 skins were held at St. Louis by Funsten Bros. & Co., agents of the 

 Government. The skins, numbering 8,100 and representing seals 

 taken during 1917, were offered in a dressed, dyed, and machined 

 condition, ready to be made into garments; the gross price received 

 was S375,385, an average of $46.34 per skin. The net proceeds were 

 $257,333.21. A feature of each sale was a small lot of "wigs" — 

 skins of the largest size, taken from old bulls — which brought the 

 highest prices, although in former years, when ''wi^s" were disposed 

 of abroad in a raw state, they were in little demand and were sold at 

 only $6 to $10. The demonstration by Funsten Bros. & Co. that the 

 skins of old bulls have an excellent fur and that they can be made 

 available for all the purposes for which the pelts of younger males 

 are used is one of the most interesting and important developments 

 of the American sealskin industry. 



In the calendar year 1919 there have been two auction sales of 

 sealskins taken in tne previous calendar year. The skins numbered 

 15,275, and the net proceeds therefrom amounted to $1,026,728.84. 

 At the last sale, held in September, the average price of sealskins was 

 $91.35, an advance of 30 per cent over the first sale, in April. The 

 estimated net value of all the seals taken in 1918, allowing for the 

 unsold skins at the prices received at the September sale, is 

 $2,467,334.45. 



The fox pelts resulting from the previous season's trapping were 

 sold at public auction in wSt. Louis on October 7, 1918. Tliey num- 

 bered 692 blues and 19 whites, and brought $57,099.50 and $1,080, 

 respectively, gross, and $51,898.64 net for the two grades. The 

 average gross price for blues was $82.51. The fox pelts taken dur- 

 ing the fiscal year 1919 were sold on September 10, 1919, and brought 

 the highest prices ever obtained, averaging $195.90 for blues, an 

 advance of 135 per cent over the previous year's sale. The approxi- 

 mate not revenue from this sale is $123,285. 



The seal-island natives have been encouraged to collect old seal 

 bones when their other duties permit, and are paid for such collec- 

 tions. During 1918 they obtained about 300,000 pounds, which 

 were shipped to Seattle and San Francisco on Government vessels 

 and sold under contract, netting $3,891.03. 



