25-i 



PUK-SEAL HERD OF ALASKA. 



Jordan denies the appearance 

 of any bulls under 8 years old on 

 the breeding grounds : 



Leland Stanford 

 Junior University, 

 Office of the President, 



Stcnifonl University, Cal., 



January 16, 1906. 



Hon. Theodore Roosevelt, 



The White House, Washington, D. (J. 



Dear Sir: I beg leave to acknowledge 

 the receipt of three documents, sent by 

 Mr. Loeb, bearing on the fur-seal ques- 

 tion, viz: (1) A memorandum to the 

 President from Secretary Metcalf, (2) the 

 printed report of the Secretary of the De- 

 partment of Commerce and Labor, and 

 (3) a letter addressed to Mr. Loeb by Mr. 

 Henry W. Elliott. 



I notice the notation of Mr. Elliott on 

 the opening page of the report. He avers 

 that the reduction of 58 per cent of male 

 life on the breeding grounds is due alone 

 to close killing on land since 1904. This 

 is simply absurd. There could be no 

 male life on the breeding grounds that 

 was not 8 years old or over. * * * 

 David Starr Jordan. 



(Appendix A, p. 332; June 24, 1911. 

 H. Com. Exp. -Dept. Com. and Labor.) 



Jordan asserts that Elliott's 

 date for the "height of the sea- 

 son" is not true. 



4. The assumption that the rookeries 

 are fullest between July 10 and 20 "every 

 year, not a day earlier, not many days 

 later," is not a safe assumption; in fact, 

 it is not true. 



Mr. Elliott. Are you quoting Dr. Jor- 

 dan? 



Dr. Evermann. I am quoting some 

 things that Dr. Jordan has said. 



Mr. Elliott. Is Dr. Jordan a man of 

 truth? 



The Chairman. You are quoting from 

 Dr. Jordan? 



Mr. Elliott. I want to find if Dr. Jor- 

 dan is a man of truth. 



The Chairman. That is not for the wit- 

 ness to determine. 



Mr. Elliott. He is assailing me in that 

 matter and quoting Dr. Jordan. 



The Chairman. The witness can not 

 say whether he is telling the truth or 

 whether he is not. 



Mr. Elliott. I would like to have it go 

 in the record whether he considers Dr. 

 Jordan a man of truth. 



The Chairman. The witness will pro- 

 ceed. (Hearing No. 9, p. 580, Apr. 20, 

 1912; H. Com. Exp. Dept. Com. and La- 

 bor.) 



But his own men and trained 

 naturalist finds many of them 

 busy as breeding bulls. 



July 17 . — I walked to Zapadni rookery 

 and made a count of harems with Mr. Chi- 

 chester. The part of this rookery which 

 in 1896-97 extended along the beach 

 toward the watchhouse has entirely dis- 

 appeared. The portion under the cliff 

 has also shrunk. 



Contrary to our usual experience with 

 the young bull, a gray one not over G 

 years old not only held a harem of three 

 cows in a territory backed by idle bulls, 

 but refused to yield ground to us in our 

 efforts to reach a favorable observation 

 point. In addition to his youth, the bull 

 was handicapped by a stiff forefiipper. 



Many yoimg gray bulls are noted in the 

 rookery and about it, and particularly in 

 the larger harems are many of the 2-year- 

 old cows. (Kept. Geo. A. Clark, Sept. 

 30, 1909, to Secretary Nagel; Appendix 

 A, pp. 883. 892, June 24, 1911; H. Com. 

 Exp. Dept. Com. and Labor.) 



But Jordan's own "trainetl" 

 expert says that Elliott's dates are 

 correct, and he quotes them as 

 such. 



The breeding season, beginning about 

 June 10 and extending to about August 

 10, reaches a climax, known as the 

 "height of the season," about the 12th 

 to the 18th of July. At this time the 

 greatest number of cows are present, the 

 harem discipline is rigid, and each family 

 is definitely marked out. After this pe- 

 riod the cows and pups scatter out and 

 intermingle, the mother seals spend 

 longer time at sea, the pups learn to swim, 

 and the harem system breaks up. 



Harem counts. — The counts of harems 

 or breeding families were all made within 

 the period of rookery life known as the 

 "height of the season," between the dates 

 of July 12 and 18, these dates correspond- 

 ing in general to those on which the simi- 

 lar counts for 1897 were made. (Kept. 

 Geo. A. Clark, Sept. 30, 1909, to Secretary 

 Nagel; Appendix A, pp. 835, 838, June 

 24, 1911; H. Cora. Exp. Dept. Com. and 

 Labor.) 



