FUR-SEAL HERD OF ALASKA. 



163 



bulls being enough to .serve 500 cows 

 (which Jordan so gravely quotes here to 

 you with all of the pompous gravity and 

 true coarseness of ignoiance) — even he can 

 not find a trace to-day of either those ' two 

 bulls' or '500 cows 'which he so s])ecifi- 

 callyjdescribes on Copper Island in 1896 — 

 good reason — they are extinct. That 

 ghost dance has ended forever over there. 

 But Jordan does not even know it at this 

 late hour. ' ' 



Committee on Expe.vditures in the 



Department op Commerce and Labor, 



House of Representatives, 



Saturday, May 4, 1912. 

 The committee met at 10 o'clock a. m., Hon. John H. Rothermel (chairman) 

 presiding. 



Present: Messrs. Young, McGillicuddy, and McCluire. 



statement of leonhard stejneoer. 



Leonhard Stejneger, having been duly sworn, was examined, and testified as 

 follows: 



THE DEADLY PARALLEL ON STEJNECJER AND EVERMANN. 



Mr. Elliott. Drive all classes — bulls, 

 cows, and pups up together? 



Dr. Stejneger. Gathering in every 

 seal that they could lay their hands on in 

 the Russian Islands, so as not to let 

 pelagic sealers get hold of them. 



Mr. Elliott. Since you have sug- 

 gested that remarkable order of work on 

 the Russian Islands, you are quoted Ijy 

 one of your associates recently, l)efore an- 

 other committee, as saying that one bull 

 seal was sufficient to serve 250 or 500 fe- 

 males. Are you really properly quoted 

 there? 



Dr. Stejneger. I am certainly mis- 

 quoted. 



Dr. Evermann. There is no such 

 quotation. 



Mr. Elliott. I have it here publi.-;hed. 



Dr. Evermann. I ask Mr. Elliott to 

 produce it. Now is the time to profluce 

 it. 



The Chairman. Do you have it with 

 you? 



Mr. Elliott. Yes; it is here, and I will 

 put the whole thing in right now. I have 

 got it right here. I will put it right in. 

 and have it printed. 



Dr. Evermann. I insist it be ])ut in 

 now. We want it now. 



Mr. Elliott. It will go right in. Now, 

 I have got it right here. 



The Chairman. Take your time and 

 do it. Dr. Evermann wants it ])ro(luced, 

 and I think it ought to be placed in the 

 record if it can be found. 



Dr. Evermann. If he has it, the thing 

 to do is to show it. 



Mr. Elliott. Here it is. [Exhibiting 

 paper to the committee.] Now, right 

 here, in the Seattle Sundav Times, issue 



Astounding as it appears, there can be 

 but little doubt that the single old bull 

 had served the 526 females on this rookerj- 

 (Poludinnoye), and moreover, was in fit 

 condition to keej) the younger bull at a 

 respectful distance as late in the season 

 as July 30. (Fur Seal Investigations, 

 Pt. IV, 1898, p. 168, Leonhard Stejneger.) 



Dr. Evermann. But permit me to 

 quote the words of several distinguished 

 zoologists who have studied the fur seal 

 on the land and in the sea. * * * 



First. I want to quote from Dr. David 

 Starr Jordan, president of Stanford Uni- 

 versity. * * * Therefore only 1 bull 

 in 30 is absolutely necessary under pres- 

 ent conditions. That this limit could be 

 materially lowered without po.sitive dan- 

 ger to the herd is conclusively shown by 

 the * * * observations of the past 

 three years, as detailed by Dr. Stejneger, 

 show that a male fur seal is capable of 

 attending to the wants of between 100 and 

 200 cows. * * * (Searings on H. R. 

 16571. Jan. 4, 1912, pp. 129, 130, H. Com. 

 Foreign Affairs.) 



