B. C. SEA-LION INVESTIGATION 21 



SESSIONAL PAPER No. 38a 



700 tons per annum. Samples are usually submitted before "we purchase, or 

 it is guaranteed to be the finest quality, and what is termed ' water white.' 

 Straw and coloured oil, which is much cheaper, we handle a small quantity of. 

 Oil from old harps is very much darker than what is produced from the young 

 ones. 



" There is a good market for seal oil in United Kingdom, and we have 

 no doubt whatever that, if the stuff can be produced on the Pacific coast, it 

 would be to our mutual advantage. If a small trial lot was sent home on con- 

 signment through us, it would enable our friends to judge of the character of 

 the oil, and if not suited for their purposes there would be no difficulty in dis- 

 posing of it in the open market. If, on the other hand, it did suit them, they 

 would doubtless be willing to make a contract for the quantity we have already 

 stated, under guarantee of quality equal to consignment parcel, of which sealed 

 samples could be retained here." 



As to guano obtained from fish, whales, and other sea animals, its price is in 

 the neighbourhood of $40 a ton. It is used as a fertilizer, and also manufactured into 

 chicken food. The demand is steady and growing. Similar guano, it is thought, 

 could be made from the carcasses of sea-lions. 



In relation to the manufacture of sea-lion hide products, the commission is 

 indebted to K. C Grinnell, British Columbia Glove Company, Ehurne, Point Grey, for 

 valuable information obtained during an interview on October 22. Mr. Grinnell 

 speaks from personal knowledge as in his factory he has made gloves, boots, and 

 moccasins from sea-lion hides. In fact, he has built up a small but substantial 

 business in leather goods made from sea-lion hides. Naturally, therefore, he is 

 emphatic in his declaration that sea-lions are of commercial value, especially for 

 their hides. 



In 1913 he took a hunting trip to Haycock islands and got 500 hides which, 

 when green and salted, weighed almost 200 pounds apiece. These hides he tanned 

 in the ordinary way and made into gloves in his factory which in the fall of that 

 year, was situated at Coquitlam. In tanning the hide reduces about 75 per cent, 

 and when tanned runs from an inch to a quarter of an inch in thickness. It is thin 

 under the flippers but it is thicker on the belly than on the back. In making the 

 hide into leather it may be split into three layers, and when thus split can he readily 

 manipulated. From this leather, chrome-tanned leather gloves are made. From the 

 hide of a fair-sized male, 2-^ to S dozen pairs of gloves may be made, but taking an 

 average of male, female and pup, only about 25 square feet of leather can be obtained, 

 enough to make one dozen pairs of gloves. The range of gloves made runs from the 

 fine automobile gloves or gauntlets to the heavy loggers' mittens, the former selling 

 at $24 a dozen pairs and the latter from $10.50 to $15. No better material can be 

 obtained for loggers' mittens, as the hide of the sea-lion by nature is of fine fibre, 

 tough, strong, flexible, and of close grain, enabling it to keep out water, while still 

 retaining its pliability. The other gloves as well are very durable and serviceable. 

 On the day following tlie interview, Mr. Grinnell brought into the secretary's office 

 two pairs of gloves made from sea-lion hide, tanned in his own factory and made 

 up in the interval. One pair was from the hide of a sea-lion pup, this selling at 

 $1.50 or, by the dozen, $12.50 ; the other was from an adult, selling at $1.75 a pair, or 

 $13.50 a dozen. The secretary bought the two pairs, and has them on exhibition in 

 his office at present. With eight or nine men working, twenty-five to fifty pairs of 

 gloves a day are made. More men are wanted, as the output could easily be increased. 

 Glove business from sea-lion hides is a good business. There is a ready market in 

 Canada for all the factory can turn out. 



The moccasins that Mr. Grinnell makes from the sea-lion hides give good satis- 

 faction. They are pliable and fit snugly to the foot. The price is $26 per dozen 



38a— 3 



