256 



FUR-SEAL HERD OF ALASKA. 



Jordan declares that Lembkey 

 is not able to see things correctly 

 and report: 



What I meant by the statement that 

 "the ne 'd of trained supervision is forci- 

 bly shown by the present confusion and 

 doubt as to present conditions of the rook- 

 eries" is well shown by reference to Mr. 

 Lembkey 's report for the past year. The 

 one important subject brought out by 

 this report is the fact of a remarkable 

 diminution of adult male life. Tie finds 

 the reserve of idle bulls small. He de- 

 duces from this a " scarcity ' ' of bull.' . The 

 bulls are said to be "amiable" because 

 "overtaxgd." On certain rookeries they 

 have ' ' lost con trolof the breeding ground s, " 

 with the result that the bachelors are 

 "hauling among the cows." He states 

 that he is sure "all the cows were served," 

 but he finds that the bulls "are not pres- 

 ent in sufficient numbers to maintain a 

 first-class rookery service." 



H' this is true, it is a serious matter and 

 needs careful looking after. In our rec- 

 ommendations of ] 896-97 we classed as first 

 and most important among the subjects to 

 be determined by the naturalist to be 

 placed in charge of the herd a "determi- 

 nation of the proportion of mal?s nec^essary 

 to attend to the needs of the female breed- 

 ing herd." Attention was called to the 

 face that this was a question that could 

 not be "determined in a single season, 

 nor in two, possibly not in five." It 

 is a question that can only be settled 

 by a trained naturalist and investigator. 

 All that Mr. Lembkey has contributed to 

 this are certain superficial facts and certain 

 deductions which may or may not be of 

 value. The} are as a matter of fact merely 

 a reecho of \'erv similar deductions made 

 by Mr. Henry" W. Elliott in 1890. Mr. 

 Lcmbkey's report settles nothing and 

 leaves only "confusion and doubt " 

 (D. 8. Jordan to President Roosevelt, 

 Jan. 16, 1906, Appendix A., pp. 328-332, 

 June 24, 1911, H. Com. Exj)., Dept. Com. 

 and Labor.) 



Of those 1 year old, the males are sepa- 

 rated from the females and killed, while 

 the latter are driven carefully back to the 

 beach. (Veniaminov, Russian killing on 

 St. Paul Island, 1825-1834; Fur Seal In- 

 vestigations, Part 3, p. 222, 1898.) 



Lembkey cites a long list of 

 Jardan's errors of observation, 

 and declares Jordan a failure : 



Scientific supennsion a failure. — In the 

 light of tnese statements of the efforts of 

 scientists to prevent the decrease of seals 

 by the application of methods on land 

 which have been demonstrated unmis- 

 takably faulty. Dr. Jordan's dictum that 

 the present need of these rookeries is the 

 "trained supervision" which these scien- 

 tists afford is open to contradiction. As a 

 matter of fact, every suggestion made by 

 scientists who have visited the island, 

 outside the scope of scientific research, 

 and designed to change existing methods 

 on the islands, has resulted in failure. 

 (W. I. Lembkey to Secretary Commerce 

 and Labor, Feb". 8, 1906, Appendix A., pp. 

 334-344, June 24, 1911, IT. Com. Exp. 

 Dept. Com. and Labor.) 



