74 U. S. BUREAU OF FISHERIES. 



pleteci, a concrete native dwellm<j was built, and two frame houses 

 for natives were completed. Some of this work had been started the 

 previous year. A garage to house the four tractors on St. Paul 

 Island was built. A concrete extension to the wharf was completed. 

 There is more work to be done along this line as soon as time and 

 funds permit. Various repairs to native dwellings, improvements 

 at the by-products plant, the construction of outhouses, and minor 

 matters were given attention. A road grader was sent to St. Paul 

 Island and some work in improving roads was undertaken. 



On St. George Island an extension to the wharf was completed 

 and the landing slip was enlarged, thus facilitating the discharge 

 of small boats lightering cargo ashore. Also some blasting was 

 done at East Landing, thus making possible the construction of a 

 short roadway for handling boats. Preliminary work, including 

 completion of excavation, was done toward the construction of a 

 combined shop and warehouse urgently necessary to provide storage 

 and handling space for the increased take of fox skins. The kenches 

 in the old salt house were transferred to the new salt house, thus 

 bringing sealskin work into a single building. Alterations were 

 made at the fox house to allow trapping, regardless of the direction 

 of the wind. 



USE OF TRACTORS. 



The four tractors which were forwarded to St. Paul Island on 

 the supply vessel late in 1919 were used during the season of 1920 

 with satisfactory results. They were employed, with trailers, for 

 genera] hauling" in and about the village, hauling sealskins from 

 the killing fields to the salt houses and moving carcasses to the 

 by-products plant. Also they were found to be of great value in 

 handling the large quantities of lumber, coal, and general cargo 

 landed from the supply shi]), and which, owing to the uncertainty 

 of weather conditions in Bering Sea, must be landed and stored 

 as rapidly as possible. In conjunction with a road grader and 

 trailers the tractors rendered good service in the construction of 

 roads. 



BY-PRODUCTS PLANT. 



The by-products plant on St. Paul Island was operated during a 

 part of the summer of 1920, A shortage of coal made it necessary 

 to close the plant much earlier than had been originally intended. 

 During the period the plant was in ojieration it produced approxi- 

 mately 19,000 pounds of fertilizer meal and 1,853 gallons of oil, of 

 which 361 gallons were No. 1, 1,299 gallons No. 2, and 193 gallons 

 No. 3. A shipment of 15,393 pounds of meal produced this season 

 was sold at Seattle for $68 per ton, bringing a total of $523.36; the 

 remainder of the meal is still at the island. The oil is in storage at 

 Seattle pending decision as to its most advantageous disposition ; the 

 market for this product was very poor at the close of the year. 



During the summer of 1920 an expeiiment was conducted to deter- 

 mine the comparative values of oil rendered from the carcasses of 

 seals which had been dead for different lengths of time. It was con- 

 sidered possible that in the cool climate of the PriJDilofs the factor 

 of decomposition might be of less consequence than is the case where 



