FUR-SEAL FISHERIES OF ALASKA. 11 



Tlies3 fourth class are a shiftless lot of men who do not care to work 

 very hard. 



Q. Who fixes that classification 1 — A. That is fixed by the chiefs. It 

 is a traditional custom there. I do not know whether it continues now, 

 but at the time it was a long-established practice. 



Q. The idea is that it is based upon merit?-^A. Upon the skill of the 

 men and their application to work. Those who cut most skins are the 

 worse, and those who cut less skins are the best workers and get the 

 largest share ; but at the same time there was not a very great differ- 

 ence between the earnings of the first-class men and the earnings of the 

 third-class workers, as it was $455 for the first class and $304 for the 

 fourth. There was $150 difference only between the two extremes. At 

 the price in San Francisco, which is an advance of 25 per cent., the 

 earnings of one man, $304, represented there quite a comfortable exist- 

 ence, seeing that their clothing need not be of a very elaborate style. 

 All they want is to keep warm. 



Q. Were there any disputes or contentions between the inhabitants 

 and the company as to settlements in closing up the business trans- 

 actions 1 — A. IsTot in my time. The only case to my personal knowledge 

 that I can remember in my three months' administration on St. George 

 Island and nine months on St. Paul was a case of insolence ou the part 

 of some boys — young boys from nineteen to twenty — against the assist- 

 ant agent of the company. They said they would not obey him, and 

 would kill what they pleased. He said, "You are prohibited bylaw 

 from killing female seals." They said, " Just to spite you, we are going 

 to kill a female seal ; " but they never killed any. The agent reported 

 the case to me, and I came out and told them they had no right to kill 

 female seals ; that it was not the agent of the company, but the law. 

 The next day they were on the best terms with the same assistant agent. 



Q. Does your report, which will be copied by the stenographer, con- 

 tain an accurate description of the manner of taking an account of seal 

 skins ? — A. Well, as to the counting I do not know about that. 



Q. Does it describe the manner of taking and what kind of seals are 

 taken ? — A. Yes, sir ; that is there. 



Q. Are not females taken at all ? — A. No, sir ; not at all. 



Q. Well now, please, will you explain how the skins are counted, 

 how the Government's interest is protected, and what the agents do 

 there towards limiting the taking within the requirements of the law, 

 and how they are counted ? — A. The way it was done in my time was 

 this : After the killing the agent gave me a written report of the num- 

 ber of skins taken and the number of seals taken and I would enter it 

 on the book. Then the verification of this report came at the time when 

 the skins were to be shipped from the warehouse to the company's 

 steamer to go down to San Francisco. No skin could be put on board 

 a vessel without the presence of the Government agent, when they were 

 counted. 



Q. They counted them as they went ou the vessel? — A. They were 

 counted from the lighter to the vessel. If a skin fell overboard from the 

 lighter and could not be fished, it was noted. ' Sometimes a bundlf^ 

 ■which is very heavy fell overboard and could not be recovered, but 

 single skins are more easily handled. Tliey drew them from the lighter 

 and two tally-men counted them and the Government agent sat on 

 board and kept a tally. The agent of the company kept a tally and 

 the mate of the ship kept a tally ; and the three tallies would generally 

 affree within a few skins. 



Q. Were they counted again after that ?— A. I do not know of my 



