ALASKA INDUSTRIES. 



147 



the search for food after the birth of their young, arid that in conse- 

 quence thereof the pups die for want of nourishment. Deponent has 

 no personal knowledge of the truth of this statement, but he has infor- 

 mation in respect of the same from persons who have been on the Pri- 

 bilof Islands, and he believes the same to be true. Deponent further 

 says that this opinion is based upon the assumption that the present 

 restriction imposed by Eussia and the United States on the killing of 

 seals on their respective islands are to be maintained, otherwise it 

 would be necessary to impose such restrictions as well as to prohibit 

 pelagic sealing in order to preserve the herds. 



(5) Deponent is further of the opinion, from his long observation and 

 handling of the skins of the several catches, that the skins of the 

 Alaska and Copper catches are readily distinguishable from each other, 

 and that the herds from which such skins are obtained do not in fact 

 intermingle with each other, because the skins classified under the 

 head of Copper catch are not found among the consignments of skins 

 received from the Alaska catch, and vice versa. 



(6) Deponent further says that the distinction between the skins of 

 the several catches is so marked, that in his judgment he would, for 

 instance, have had no difficulty had there been included among 100,000 

 skins in Alaska catch 1,000 skins of the Copper catch, in distinguishing 

 the 1,000 Copper skins and separating them from the 99,000 Alaska 

 skins, or that any other person with equal or less experience in the 

 handling of skins would be equally able to distinguish them. And in 

 the same way deponent thinks, from his own personal experience in 

 handling skins, that he would have no difficulty whatever in separating 

 the skins of the Northwest catch and the Alaska catch, by reason of the 

 fact that they are the skins almost exclusively of females, and also that 

 the fur upon the bearing female seals is much thinner than upon the 

 skin of the male seals, the skin of the animal while pregnant being 

 distended and the fur extended over a large area. 



(7) Deponent says that the number of persons who are employed in 

 the handling, dressing, dyeing, cutting, and manufacturing of seal 

 skins in the city of London is about 2,000, many of whom are skilled 

 laborers earning as high as 3 or 4 a week. Deponent estimates the 

 amount paid in the city of London for wages in the preparation of fur- 

 seal skins for a manufacturer's use, and excluding the wages of manu- 

 facturers' employees, prior to the beginning of the pelagic sealing in 

 1885, at about 100,000 per annum; and deponent further says that in 

 his judgment if this pelagic sealing be not prohibited, it is but a question 

 of a few years, probably not more than three, when the industry will 

 cease by reason of the extermination of the seals in the same way in 

 which they have been exterminated on the South Sea Islands, by reason 

 of no restrictions being imposed upon their killing. 



ALFRED ERASER. 



EXHIBIT A. 

 Salted Alaska fur seal skins sold in London. 



a Food skins. 



