SEALSKIN INDUSTRY IN UNITED STATES, 521 



Deposition of Charles W. Price, furrier. 



pelagic sealing. 



State of California, 



City and County of San Francisco, ss: 



Charles W. Price, having been duly sworn, deposes and says: I am 

 34 years of age and reside in San Francisco. My oc- 

 cupation is that of a fur dresser and examiner of raw xpenence. 

 fur sliins. I have been engaged in the dressing and examining of 

 fur skins about twenty years, and I am an expert in that business. 

 I have examined and handled large numbers of fnr-seal skins, both 

 of the American and Russian side, and can easily dis- ^^^ ^^ ^^ ^^ 

 tingnish one from the other from the appearance of ^^^'^^ " 

 the skins. The skins of the Russian side are mucli coarser than those 

 of the American side, and the fur is a little darker; more of a cherry 

 color. The top hair is darker. The seals on the Russian side are a 

 distinct and different herd trom those on tlie American side and are not 

 as valuable. The skins taken in the North Pacific and Bering Sea by 

 hunters are of the same nature as those taken on the 

 Pribilof Islands but are of less value, owing to the fact swnKsvZtwe.^" 

 that they are taken at all seasons of the year. Part of 

 them are stagy, some are full of holes fi'om being shot, and the fur on 

 the belly of quite a number of the female seals giving milk is of little 

 value. I have handled and examined many thousands of skins pur- 

 chased from hunters who had taken them along the 

 coast and in Bering Sea. Fully 80 per cent of them j^^^jl''*^ ^'''' ^'^'^^ ^®" 

 were females, which skins were readily distinguishable. "i)ead pups. 



I visited the Pribilof Islands in 1890 and made a 

 careful study of the conditions of seal life on those islands. I discov- 

 ered late in the season a large number of dead pups lying upon the 

 rookeries, which had the appearance of having been starved to death. 



Charles W. Price. 



Subscribed and sworn to before me this 8th day of April, A. D. 1892. 

 [l. s.] Clement Bennett, 



Notary Public. 



Deposition of 8. W. Saalhurg, hooMeeper for H. Liehes & Co., furriers. 



GENERAL SEALSKIN INDUSTRY. 



City and County of San Francisco, ss: 

 S. W. Saalburg, being duly sworn, deposes and says: The following 

 statistics relative to the number of salted Northwest i^ o th - t c 

 Coast seal skins purchased by the firm of H. Liebes & setia."^ 

 Co., of San Francisco, Cal., and prices paid therefor, 

 have been gathered by me from the books and records Prices a«d nmutcr 

 of said firm, covering a period from the year 1883 to ^^gl^'l.^^"^ ^'^'^^'^•^' 

 1892, inclusive. I held the position of chief bookkeeper 

 and cashier for H. Liebes .& Co. during said period of time, and know 

 of my own personal knowledge that the number of skins set forth below 

 were duly purchased by said firm at the average prices stated, and that 

 payment therefor is regularly entered on the firm's cashbooks of the 

 respective years. 



