SEALSKIN INDUSTRY IN UNITED STATES. 549 



incr, as aforesaid, are received by liim tlirongli tlie house of ITerman 

 Liebes & Company, of San l^rancisco, and otliers; tlie majority, how- 

 ever, from Herman Liebes & Company. The skins received from the 

 latter sources are from eacli of the three catches known to the trade as 

 the "Copper," "ALaska," and "Northwest" catch, although the major 

 part thereof belong to what is known as the "North- 

 west" catch, and are, as in the case of the skins re- aii'Ser'*" "^*'^ 

 ceived from London of that catch, all skins of tlie 

 female seal. 



J. D, Williams. 



Subscribed and sworn to bof )re me tliis 29th day of March, 1892. 

 [l. s.] Kobert L. Harrison, 



Notary Fiiblic, City and County of New York. 



Sixty workmen em- 



Bcposifion of Jonepli IK Williams, furrier, New Yorlc. 



general sealskin industry. 



State of -New York, 



City and County of New Yorlc, ss : 

 Joseph D. Williams, being duly sw^orn, says: I am 75 years of age, 

 and reside in Brooklyn, N. Y. My business is that of 

 dressing and dyeing lurs, and I have been engaged in j^,^ erience 

 it for over sixty years. Most of the furs dressed and -^penence. 

 dyed inmyestabli.shment are fur-seal skins, and during 

 each of the past live or six years I have dressed and dyed from 8,000 

 to 10,000 seal skins. I emjiloy, and for some time past 

 have employed, about GO workmen, and my pay roll pioyeli^ 

 amounts to about .$!)()0 a week. Most of these workmen 

 can be classed as skilled laborers. I dress and dye fur-seal skins of the 

 Alaska, Copper, and Northwest coast catches. I can readily distin- 

 guish the skins belonging to each of them. I can also readily tell a 

 female skin from a male skin. The predominance of the former over 

 the latter in the Northwest coast catch is one of its most distinguishing 

 features. I can not state exactly what the percentage is of each sex, 

 but I am sure tliat as a rule there are found in the 

 Northwest coast catches at least ten tijnes as many n,fs%fira*ies. ***''' 

 female skins as male skins. There are various ways of 

 determining the sex of the animal from which seal skins are taken. 

 Some of them are the following: (1) Female skins have teats, which 

 are easily found even in the salted skin, especially when the animal is 

 over two years of age. (2) The shape of a female skin is narrower at 

 the head and on the shoulders. (3) There is a perceptible difference in 

 the character of the hair of the skins of the two sexes. 



J. D. Williams. 



Sworn to before me this 17th day of June, 1802. 



[l. s.] Forbes J. Hennesy, 



Notary Fuhlic {No. 279), New Yorlc County. 



