INVESTIGATION OF THE FUR-SEAL INDUSTRY OF ALASKA. 15 



Dr. Merriam. I do not think I was present at any conference when that matter 

 was up. 



Mr. McGuire. I remember those things. 



Mr. Elliott. I will go through all of it since you have raised a 

 question about my statements. 



Mr. McGuire. That is all right. 



Mr. Elliott. Everyone said they did not know anything about a 

 yearling seal. 



Mr. McGuire. Did not Dr. Evermann and Lembkey testify about 

 tihat ? 



Mr. Elliott. Lc-mbke}^ knew; he testified and I have got him. 



Mr. McGuire. And so did some others, that some had not taken 

 measurements, but that others had. 



Mr. Elliott. No other man except Lembkey, knew anything 

 about it, according to this testimony. You can not find a man who 

 knew except Lembkey. Lembkey said a yearling skin measured 36^ 

 inches long; he knew all right, and I have got him for killing seals 

 whose skins only reached 34 inches long; and, to be sure that I have 

 got him, every one of these tabulations of yearling skins given by me 

 to this committee has been based on skins not exceeding 34 inches 

 long. Mr. Lembkey was the only man who knew, and these scientists 

 came here and did not know anything about it when we got them 

 under oath and confined them to facts; but they could go out behind 

 my back and ridicule me; yet, they did not know. 



The Chairman. That is neither here nor there. Were any skins 

 taken by Lembkey under 36 inches ? 



Mr. Elliott. He identified 7,733 skins out of 12,920, which he took 

 in 1910, and not one of them exceeded in length 34 inches. 



The Chairman. Were they skins taken in violation of the regula- 

 tions ? 



Mr. Elliott. Certainly they were. 



The Chairman. How do you know ? 



Mr. Elliott. Because he himself testified that the regulations said 

 that no seal should be taken under two years of age, and he himself 

 (in Hearing No. 9, p. 372), said he was bound by those regulations. 



The Chairman. I notice the regulation provides that no seals shall 

 be killed whose skins weigh less than 6 pounds. 



Mr. Elliott. Yes; and then that no seals shall be taken under 2 

 years of age, and then they fixed a skin weight of 5 pounds to deceive 

 the committee. 



Mr. McGuire. That is your statement and your conclusion. 



Mr. Elliott. The records in London will show that. 



The Chairman. Let me ask you a few questions. What were they 

 reporting to the Bureau of Fisheries ? 



Mr. Elliott. Nothing but weights. 



The Chairman. Anything as to sizes ? 



Mr. Elliott. No. 



The Chairman. Were they reporting them as weighing 4 pounds, 

 5 pounds, or 6? 



Mr. Elliott. Yes ; all kinds ol pounds, up to 8 and down to 4^. 



Air. Watkins. What would be the age of a seal that would give a 

 skin weighing 5 pounds ? 



Air. Elliott. It would be a "long" vearling or a " short" 2-year- 

 old. 



