396 ORAL ARGUMENT OF FREDERICK R. COUDERT, ESQ. 



one, occupies four hours to seven hours a clay in counting them, and he 

 furnishes this estimate which agrees with the estimates we have already 

 given. He makes the percentage about 82. Mr. Grebnitzky goes as 

 high as 92 per cent. The fact is they are all females — that would be 

 the popular and true way of expressing it — practically they are all 

 females. 

 The next is 



William Wiepert, sorter of siciiis. 



(Case of tlie U. *9. Apiievdlx, vol. IT, p. 535.) 



He is 47 years old ; liocjinie fonnuan ot'Asch and Jaeckel (one of the leadins^ fnr 

 honses of New- York) in 1886, and since tliat time has been snperintendent of tlie 

 manutactnrin.c; dc})artnient of that liouse. 



I have handled, assorted and closely inspected at least 100,000 di'essed and dyed 

 fnr-seal skins. 



Unring the ])ast two years I have handled large nnmbers of North west Coast skins 

 (;. e. skins of animals taken in the Pacific Ocean or in Behring .Seaj. I have assorted 

 all of them, and in doing so have sjiecially noticed the fact that a very large propor- 

 tion were skins of female animals. To determine this fact in the case of dressed 

 skins I see whether there are any teat holes. I never call a skin a female skin unless I 

 can lind two snch holes on either side. These holes can generally be distingnished 

 from bullet or buckshot holes, of which there are generally a great number in North- 

 west Const skins. In the Case of a shot hole it is always evident that the surrounding 

 fur has been abruptly cut off. while around the edge of a teat hole the fiir gradnally 

 shortens as it reaches the edge, and naturally ceases to grow at the edge. 



I have just looked over an original case of ninety dressed and dyed Northwest 

 Coast fnr-seal skins, which have been lately received from London, and were still 

 under seals placed on them in London. I found that of these ninety skins only nine 

 were those of male animals. 



This mode of telling dressed skins is in accord with what the British Commission- 

 ers say, sec. 653 of their re])ort: 



It is also easy, espe( ially after the skins are prepared, to recogni/e the four teats 

 of the female. Bnt, more especially in the smaller skins, the marks oi sex are 

 extremely difticnlt to trace. For instance, in one parcel examined in London which 

 was marked "laulty", all the skins, with the excei)tion of three, were female, and 

 most of them badly shot-marked. But the great majority were young females, giv- 

 ing but little or no evidence of having suckled any young. 



For further evidence by furriers upon this point, see A2)pendix to Argument of the U. S. 

 pp. 410-419. 



We ask no better corroboration than this given by the British Com- 

 missioners. So that, after all the only difference is that the furriers 

 cross-examined by the British Counsel — tlie fiuriers whose cross-exam- 

 ination is deemed of sufHcient value, as minimising the value of our 

 evidence, to find a. place in the British Counter Case — these gentlemen 

 do not place tbe percentage of females at less than 75 per cent; so that, 

 upon this evidence that you thus far have, you must lind that the per- 

 centage of females runs between 75 and 90 i)er cent. As I said before, 

 the difference between us is a matter of very small consequence. 



I now read something from Mr. Grebnitzky's testimony. I am pass- 

 lug to a different order of evidence — the examination of the catches of 

 the seized vessels. This of course, is evideiu'c of the highest value. 

 There nobody has an opportunity to deceive, if so inclined, unless it 

 should be charged that the oflicers of the United States have made 

 misstatements. 



The President. — Do you know whether Mr. Grebnitzky was author- 

 ized by the Kussian Government to be a witness'? 



jMr. CouDi']KT. — General Foster says that he was. 



The President. — His position may be considered official in a certain 

 measure. 



Mr. Coudert. — Yes, you will find he is a gentleman of high charac- 

 ter and that our friends on the other side speak of him as a reliable 



