34 ' ALASKA INDUSTRIES. 



ances of the routine belonging to the Greek Catholic Church. The 

 teachings, pomp, and circumstance of the religious observances of 

 this faith alone preserve these people from absolute stagnation. In 

 obedience to its teachings they gladly attend church very regularly. 

 They also make and receive calls on their saints' days, and these 

 days are vevy numerous. I think some 290 days of the whole year's 

 calendar must be given up to the ceremonies attendant upon the 

 celebration of some holy man's or woman's birth or death. 



In early times the same disgraceful beer-drinking orgies, which 

 prevailed to so great an extent and still cause so much misery and 

 confusion seen elsewhere in the Territory, prevailed here, and I remem- 

 ber very well the dilficulty which I had in initiating the first steps* 

 taken bj^ the Treasury Department to suppress this abominable nui- 

 sance. During the last four or five yeai'S, it gives me pleasure to say, 

 since the new order of things was inaugurated, the iDresent agents of 

 the Department have faithfullj^ executed the law. 



The natives add to these entertainments of their saints' day and 

 birth festivals, or " emannimiks," the music of accordians and violins. 

 Upon the former, and its variation the concertina, they play a num- 

 ber of airs, and are very fond of the noise. A great many of the 

 women, in particular, can render indifferently a limited selection of 

 tunes, many of which are the old battle songs, so popular during the 

 rebellion, woven into weird Russian waltzes and love ditties, which 

 they have jointly gathered from their former masters and our soldiers 

 who were quartered here in 1869. From the Russians and the troops 

 also they have learned to dance various figures and have been taught 

 to waltz. These dances, however, the old folks do not enjoy very 

 much. They will come in and sit around and look at the young per- 

 formers with stolid indifference ; but if they manage to get a strong 

 current of tea setting in their direction, nieelj' sugared and toned up, 

 they revive and join in the mirth. In old times they never danced 

 here unless they were drunk, and it was the principal occupation of 

 the amiable and mischievous Treasury agents and others in the early 

 days to open up this beery fun. Happily that nuisance is abated. 



As an illustration of their working ability on the seal grounds I 

 offer the follo\ving, which shows the actual time occui)ied by them in 

 finishing up the three seasons' work which I personally supervised : 



On St. Paul Island: In 1872, fifty days' work of 71 men secured 

 75,000 seal skins; in 1873, forty days' work of 71 men secured 75,000 

 seal skins; in 1874, thirty-nine days' work of 81 men secured 90,000 

 seal skins. 



This exhibit plainly presents the increased ability and consequent 

 celerity of action among the natives, and furnishes also at the same 

 time abundant proof of the statement which I make of the full and 

 undiminished supply of killable seals, or "holluschickie," from year 

 to year. 



The influence of the Alaska Commercial Company. — Before 

 leaving the consideration of these people, who are so intimately asso- 

 ciated with and blended into the business on these islands, it may be 

 well to clearly define the relation existing between them, the Govern- 

 ment, and the company leasing the islands. When Congress granted 

 to the Alaska Commercial Companj- of San Francisco the exclusive 

 right of taking a certain number of fur seals every year for a period 

 of twenty years on these islands, it did so with several reservations 

 and conditions which were confided in their detail to the Secretary of 

 the Treasury. This ofiicer and the president of the Alaska Commer- 



