FUR-SEAL FISHERIES OF ALASKA. 187 



li as bad twelve cLiklren, aiitl one of Ler daughters who has never been 

 married I think has four. 



Q. There is nothing very sacred? — A. I shoukl not think so. As I 

 said, it is a house of prostitution. Tbe condition of things is this: A Gov- 

 ernment ofUcer goes there aK>ne; if he conflicts with tbe wishes of these 

 men they can not only make him wish lie was dead, but blackmail him 

 when he comes away from there, because tliey have the i)rei)onderance 

 of evidence on their side. Mr. Morgan tokl me once in regard to Mr. 

 Webster, " He is all right if you get ak)ng with him, but he is a very 

 devil if you do not." Tliey can make you wish you were in hell with 

 ten sacks of powder on your back if tiiey get after you. They crucify 

 everything. They destroy eveiy comfort, and those were the nine 

 longest months J. ever spent. 1 was in Jefferson Penitentiary tbe other 

 day, and without exaggeration 1 should i)refer it for my wife and myself 

 to what 1 have gone through on that island. 



Q. Has there been any attempt to blackmail you? — A. Yes, sir; I 

 have a letter in my pocket which 1 consider nothing but blackmail. 



The letter was here produced and read. It is as follows : 



Cambridge, Ohio, December 2, 1888. 



Siu: I see by the Cincinnati Enquirer of 30tli that you and Mr. Ryan have had a 

 meeting in Indianapolis. How far responsible you are for the article published I am 

 able to judge by its tone. While in Washington yourpetition, signed by Peter Rezan- 

 soff and other natives was received and filed ; also your letter to the Department, ask- 

 ing that you and your wife be ordered to Washington to tell the Department what 

 you know, etc. That letter was duly filed and when the Department want you they 

 will send for you. Now, in view of the troubles you had on the island and in view of 

 your record there, which from the affidavita of John Hau,, D. Webster, Dr. Lutz, 

 Kirk, Dr. Noyes, Clark, Mr. Manchester, Captain Loud, etc., which I have in my 

 possession and which 1 told you en route home should be suppressed if you did not 

 force me to bring them to light. 



So far I have kept my promise to you, having no desire to injure you with the De- 

 partment or your people ; but if it is your purpose, as it would seem by the Enquirer 

 article, to open up your trouble, you must suffer the exposure of your conduct, asset 

 forth in th^ papers I have, which would not, if published, elevate you in the minds of 

 respectable people. I am en route for San Francisco, w here I will wiuter. My poor 

 wife is yet unablo to be about. My address will be Special Agent's Office, Appraisers' 

 Building, San Francisco. Mr. Ryan is an applicant for my position. I will, of course, 

 take no part for or against anyone, but gracefully bow to the inevitable. I will go 

 in some business .n California or Puget Sound. I believe General Harrison will try 

 hard to give the ountry a good administration. With regards to your wife and self, 

 I am. 



Respectfully, 



Geo. R. Tingle. 



William Gavitt, Esq., 



Evan>sville, Ind. 



Q. Do you consider that letter an attempt to blackmail ? — A. I con- 

 sider it in that light, for it states that if 1 will say nothing detrimental 

 in any way to these men that anything they have to say against me will 

 be sui)pressed, and that if 1 say anything detrimental to these men on 

 the island that evidence blackening my character will be produced 

 liom men at whose mercy I was placed. 



By Mr. Macdonald : 



Q. State briefly in substance what you understood those gentlemen 

 objected to ; what you first complained of. — A. In the first place, when 

 I went on the island thi-y were mad at the priest. 



Q. The priest of the Cxreek church ? — A. Yes, sir. Mr. Webster 

 wanted me to keep the priest out of pups and coal, and I would not do 

 it. 



Q. Out of what ? — A. Seal pups for their food. I told him I would 

 not do that. 



