FUR-SEAL FISHERIES OF ALASKA. 287 



tute; everybody understood and kuew that Mary Oustagoff was a pros- 

 titute. Of course it was only hearsay as far as that is concerned, but 

 it was develoi)ed in the investigation of the Gavitt business that Mr. 

 Gavitt wanted to use her for his own purposes and she declined; she 

 saidj "No, Mr. Gavitt,. you have your wife, your bride here, and I do 

 not want any trouble between you and your wife, and I will not come to 

 you." She refused absolutely. Then Gavitt got up this scheme to send 

 them off the island, and said that they were all drunk ; that they had 

 quass under the Hoor. In my investigation of Mr. Gavitt's troubles I 

 inquired into that, and Mr. Gavitt himself explained to me that he found 

 the story of the quass under the floor was not true, by going to the house 

 and tearing up the carpet and opening up the trap-door where it was 

 supposed to be stored, and he found there was none secreted there. 

 There are several witnesses in the room who can tell you more than I 

 can about it; at any rate, I found the story of their being drunk was 

 not true. I did not go there until after Mary died, but she sent me word 

 she would like to make a statement to me before she died. I could not 

 get there. However, she sent me a statement that Mr, Gavitt tried to 

 entice her into the Government house when his wife was absent, and 

 she refused to go ; that was the cause of Mr. Gavitt's enmity, and his 

 reason for wanting to send them off the island. Mary Oustagoff" was a 

 good woman to work — one of the company's best working women — very 

 clean and nice about the house, although she was a prostitute. I was 

 in her house when I was on the island making the investigation. Mary 

 kept a clean, nice house, the best on the island. 



Q. What was it about the girl he wanted to be married I Mr. Gav- 

 itt's statement was, the company's physician prevented the marriage. 



Mr. Macdonald. What is the basis of your knowledge as to Gavitt's 

 having endeavored to entice this Mary Oustagoff' to submit to his de- 

 sires ? How did you get the information "? 



The Witness. She sent me word herself. 



Q. You got it from her? — A. Yes, sir; I heard it outside, and I sent 

 word to know. I asked Dr. Noyes to inquire if it was true and she was 

 willing to make a statement uiuler oath and send it to me. The evi- 

 dence of his immorality is abundant, if you want to go into anything 

 of that kind ; the witnesses are here who can prove it. 



By the Chairman : 



Q. Anything connected with official conduct is all right; but what I 

 wanted to direct your attention to was — you have testified, or rather 

 spoken about, the company's physician preventing a native girl from 

 marrying. State in relation to that. — A. Gavitt wanted a native girl to 

 marry a man named Logan, of Oonalaska, and the girl did not want to 

 marry him. He wanted to force her to marry him. This girl lived with 

 Mary Oustagoff'. The girl did not want to leave the Oustagoff family, 

 where she was very well treated, and she did not want to be married. 



Gavitt got the idea in his liead that he wanted to make this match. 

 When I came over there he wanted me to take his view of the case afid 

 I went to see the girl and ascertained whether she desired to marry this 

 man. She said she did not wish to marry him and she wanted to liv^e 

 with Alexa, who is Mary's husband. I asked her if there was any one 

 she was interested in. I told her if there was not I knew a young man 

 who would make her a nice husband and 1 recommended her to see him. 

 She did not mary Logan, and when 1 left there she was not married at 

 all and did not want to marry. The young man I spoke of was Neon 

 Tetoff. He has since married, and my last reports trom Captain Loud are 



