76 U. S. BUREAU OF FISHERIES. 



ties of blubber and meat on the pelt when it is removed from the 

 animal. In addition to securing- more evenly cured skins, the new 

 method does away with the chances for cutting or flaying the skins 

 on the killing field as the subsequent removal of the blubber and 

 meat makes it unnecessary for the skinner to cut close to the pelt. 

 The following comments by the Gibbins & Lohn Dressing & Dyeing 

 Co., of St. Louis, in regard to the blubbered and washed skins of 

 1920, show some of the practical advantages of the new treatment : 



The benefit of the better curing and more uniform condition of the pelts is 

 apparent throughout the various dressing processes. The washing is rendered 

 easier, more etticacious, and safer than on ordinary slcins. The better condi- 

 tion of the pelts is also felt in the unhairing process. The hair on the yellow 

 spots is always quite difficult to remove. It is generally necessary on such pelts 

 to loosen the hair by a slight and controlled sweating action, which can not 

 be advantageous, for it has a tendency to loosen fur as well as hair. It was 

 found that in the white-blubbered pelts the hair could be loosened by the 

 unhairing process and the fur left firmer and set tighter when the process was 

 finished. In other words, the hair was easier to remove because the fur held 

 firm. Another result is that more of the tine hair is removed during the 

 unhairing. While this fine hair can be clipped out during the subsequent 

 machining process, a better finished product is obtained if it is removed during 

 the unhairing. 



In addition to the skins which were washed and blubbered, a por- 

 tion of the catch was handled in the usual manner and then cooled 

 by washing before salting; others were given no special treatment 

 beyond a stretching at the time of salting. Various small lots of 

 skins were treated in different ways, the entire efl'ort being toward 

 developing improved methods. 



It is probable that the blubbering, washing, stretching, and single 

 salting will be conducted on a larger scale in the season of 1921, as 

 there is every reason to believe that the new methods result in a 



superior finished product, 



\ 



NATIVES. 

 HEALTH CONDITIONS. 



The maintenance of good health among the natives on the Pribilof 

 Islands is not only one of the responsibilities resting upon the Bureau 

 in its administration of affairs there, but it is greatly to the interest of 

 the Government to give the best of care to the communities which 

 perform the bulk of the manual labor incidental to the valuable 

 and remunerative industries centering on the islands. 



A resident physician is stationed on each of the two islands pri- 

 marily for the purpose of attending to the health of the natives. 

 Well-stocked dispensaries are provided and a small hospital is avail- 

 able on St. Paul Island. A building to contain hospital facilities is 

 to be constructed on St. George Island in the near future. 



During the summer and fall of 1920 a dentist was employed to give 

 attention to the needs of the natives and others on the Pribilofs and 

 he was fully occupied during his entire stay. Another dentist will 

 be secured for the coming year to continue this important work. 



It is especially noteworthy that on St. George Island, with a popu- 

 lation of about 135 persons, no deaths occurred for a period of 15 

 months ending June 19, 1920. This is unprecedented in the history of 

 the Pribilofs. 



