176 



FUB-SEAL HEED OF ALASKA. 



the herd: Bulls, active with harem, 1,38] ; 

 bulls, idle and quitters. 303 (1hose are 

 surplus bulls); hall" bulls, 2,336; 3-year- 

 old bachelors, ].'200; 2-year-old bache- 

 lors, 4,500; yearling bachelors, 11,441." 



Oh, he ciin count them now ! 



"Male pups, 21.725.1" 



Oh, he counts Ihem down to 5 ! 



" Yearling bachelors, 11,441 ; male pups, 

 21,725; breeding cows, 43,450; 2-year-old 

 cows, 12,124; yearling females, 11,441; 

 female pups, 21,725, making a total of 

 131,626." (Hearing No. 14, pp. 930, 931, 

 July 25, 1912.) 



Evermann swears that the skins 

 are getting better every year un- 

 der '^scientific" management. 



, Mr. Elliott. Now, there is some- 

 thing, and since Dr. Evermann is here I 

 am going to introduce it. Before the 

 House Committee on Foreign Affairs, Jan- 

 uary 4, 1912, Dr. Evermann, in the 

 course of his address, said (see p. 128): 



"The skins which go to them this year 

 are better than those which they received 

 last year [that is, 1910], and those last 

 year were better than those received the 

 year before [that is, 1909], and so on." 



On page 1007 of Appendix A to hearings 

 before this Committee on Expenditures 

 in the Department of Commerce and La- 

 bor is a letter from Alfred Eraser to George 



other case we do not know the seal is a 

 3-year-old seal or a 2-year-old seal; but 

 the probabilities are that those seals which 

 we call 3-year-old seals are 3-year-old 

 seals, and the probabilities are that those 

 we call 2-year-old seals are 2-year-old 

 seals; but- it is not a matter of knowledge; 



The Chairman. You think you are 

 dealing with probabilities and not mathe- 

 matical exactness? 



Dr. Evermann. We are simply hand- 

 ling a series (jf (ibjects which are before 

 us, which can, by their sizes and appear- 

 ances, be j)ut into different classes. We 

 put them into different classes, and we 

 give them designated terms. We say that 

 these possessing this size and this general 

 appearance we will call 3-year-olds; those 

 that have certain differences from the 

 3-year-olds we call 2-year-olds. But A;e 

 do not know it, and Mr. Elliott does not 

 know it. 



Mr. Elliott. I never assumed I did 

 anything like it and never made the stu- 

 pid assumption. 



Dr. Evermann. Mr. Elliott says that 

 because certain skins weigh certain 

 weights they must liave been year- 

 lings 



Mr. Elliott (interposing.) 1 know it. 



Dr. Evermann. But he does not know 

 anything about it, any more than the rest 

 of us; he assumes they are yearling seals. 

 It is assumed that skins which weigh less 

 than 5 pounds are yearlings, and that as- 

 sumption is probably correct. 



Mr. Elliott. You do not know it, but 

 I do. 



Dr. Evermann. 1 think that is all I 

 care to sav. (Hearing No. 14, pp. 931, 

 9;52, July 25, 1912.) 



But, the London sales expert 

 regrets to find that the skins are 

 getting poorer year after year. 

 New York, November 25, 1910. 



George M. Bowers, Esq., 



Commissioner Bureau of Fisheries, 

 Department of Commerce and 

 Labor, Washington, D. C. 



Dear Sir: Inclosed I beg to hand you 

 particulars of assortment of the Alaska fur 

 seal received this day from CM. Lampson 

 & Co., whose valuation of the skins based 

 upon the prices realized for last year's 

 catch is 12,732 skins at 144s. average per 

 skin and 188 skins at 120s. ave.age per 

 skin. The latter I presume are food 

 skins. 



