52 FUR-SEAL HEED OF ALASKA. 



Mr. (Iable. Do you claim that this list you have read is based upon seals that are 

 under 1 year old? 



Mr. Elliott. Under 2 years old. 



Mr. Cable. Is there anything illegal in killing the year-old seals? 



Mr. Elliott. Not if you know it is a year old. 



Mr. Cable. Wliat do you call a yearling seal? 



Mr. Elliott. A yearling seal is a yearling until it is 2 years old. 



The Chairman. Wliat is a yearling seal? 



Mr. Elliott. A yearling seal is one not under 1 year of age nor over 2 years of age. 

 That is a yearling. You cannot get away from that definition. A yearling is a year- 

 ling until it is 2 years old. 



Mr. McGillicuddy. What is your understanding as to the law on the subject? 



Mr. Elliott. The law does not allow the killing of a seal under 12 months of age. 



Mr. TowNSEND. Under 2 years of age, according to that ruling of 1904? 



Mr. Elliott. Yes. sii-; I put that in the department rules in 1904 to stop those 

 butchers. 



Mr. McGillicuddy. Then, it is agreed on all sides that it is legal to kill anything 

 over 12 months old? 



Mr. Elliott. Yes, sir; I admit that, but you must prove it. 



That this killmg of seals under 2 ^^ears of age was in violation 

 of law and the regulations is admitted under oath by the Bureau of 

 Fisheries agent, W. I. Lembkey, who has killed all the seals under 

 the instructions of the Treasury, Commerce and Labor Departments, 

 and Bureau of Fisheries since 1S99 to date of July 7, 1913, thus: 



On page 372, Hearing No. 9, l:e testified as follows: 



"Mr. McGillicuddy. What do you call a yearling seal? Do you mean a seal that 

 is 12 montl-s old and no more? 



"Mr. Lembkey. A yeai'ling seal, in the island nomenclature, is a seal which has 

 returned to the islands from its first migration. 



"Mr. ^McGillicuddy. It may l^e more tl^an 12 numths old tlien? 



"Mr. Lembkey. It may be more; it may be a trifle less. 



"Mr. McGillicuddy. How much more tlian 12 months could it be? 



"Mr. Lembkey. It could not be but a little more, because all tliese seals are l)orn 

 during a period of 3 weeks, generally speaking, from the 25th of June to the 15th of 

 July. Now, they return to the islands in a mass about the 25th of July. 



******* 



"Mr. Madden. If they were killech it would he a violation of law? 



"Mr. Lembkey. It would; if the regulations permitted it, however, it would be 

 in accordance with existing law. 



"It should be remembered also that the law does not prohibit the killing of any 

 male seal over 1 year or 12 months of age. although regulations of the department do 

 prohibit the killing of anything less than 2 years old, or those seals wliich have returned 

 to the islands from their second migration. 



"Mr. TowNSEND. Tlat is a regulation of the Secretary of Commerce and Labor? 



"Mr. Lembkey. Of Commerce and Labor; yes, sir."' 



He testified as follows, on page 442, Hearing No. 9: 



"Mr. Elliott. Mr. Lembkey, do you know the length of a yearling seal from its 

 nose to the tip of its tail? 



"Mr. Lembkey. No, sir; not offhand. 



"Mr. Elliott. You never measured one? 



"Mr. Lembkey. Oh, yes; I have measured one. 



"Mr. Elliott. Have you no record of it? 



"Mr. Lembkey. I have a record of it here. 



"Mr. Elliott. AYhat is its length? 



"Mr. Lembkey. The length of a yearling seal on the animal would be_, from the 

 tip of the nose to the root of the tail, 39^ inches in one instance and 39^ in another 

 instance 



"Mr. Elliott. Yes. 



"Mr. Lembkey. And 41 in another instance. I measured only three." 



******* 



Also on page 443: 



"Mr. Elliott. How much can you say is left on a yearling after you have taken 

 the skin off? 



"The Chairman. How much skin is left after vou have taken it off? 



