134 INVESTIGATION OF THE FUR-SEAL INDUSTRY OF ALASKA. 



THE DEADLY PARALLEL. 



LEMBKEY TELLS THE TRUTH IN 1904, 

 AND RECORDS THE FACT THAT SALTING 

 SEAL SKINS INCREASES THEIR WEIGHT. 



Chief Special Agent Lembkey makes 

 the following entry on page 149 of the 

 Journal of the Government Agent on 

 St. Pauls Island, Alaska, to wit— 

 "Saturday, July 23, 1904- 

 "One hundred and seven skins taken on 

 Tolstoi were weighed and salted. To-day 

 they were hauled out of the trench and re- 

 weighed. At the time of killing they 

 weighted 705 pounds, and on being 

 taken out they weighed 759^ pounds, a 

 gain in salting of 54J pounds, or one-half 

 pound per skin." 

 A true copy, made July 22, 1913. 

 Attest: Henry H. Elliott, 

 A. F. Gallagher, 

 Agents House Committee on Ex- 

 penditures in the Department of 

 Commerce. 



But Lembkey falls from truth 

 above — falls hard. 



[Hearing No. 9, p. 446, Apr. 13, 1912, House Com- 

 mittee on Expenditure in the Department of 

 Commerce and Labor.] 



Mr. Elliott. Mr. Lembkey, you say 

 you never have weighed these skins 

 after you have salted them? You have 

 never weighed them? 



Mr. Lembkey. I have never weighed 

 them after the salting on the Llands: 

 no, sir. 



Lembkey tells an untruth in 1912, 

 and so does under oath, to shield 

 and deny his illegal killing of year- 

 ling seals. 



[Hearing No. 9, pp. 445-446, Apr. 13, 1912, House 

 Committee on Expenditure in the Department 

 of Commerce and Labor.] 



Mr. Lembkey. No, sir. I speak of the 

 weights on the islands, and have brought 

 in the London weights to show there is 

 not really very much variation. 



Mr. McGuire. That is what I am 

 speaking about. The weights you speak 

 about after salting are the London weights? 



Mr. Lembkey. Yes, sir. 



Mr. McGuire. That is what I was try- 

 ing to get at. Now, then, Mr. Elliott, 

 what weights do you speak about? 



Mr. Elliott. I speak of the London 

 "salt weights" increasing the "green 

 weights" on the islands one-half pound 

 and more, as the skins vary in size. 



Mr. McGuire. You speak of the green 

 weights in London after they have been 

 salted? 



Mr. Elliott. Yes, sir. 



Mr. McGuire. And Mr. Lembkey 

 spoke of the weights in London after they 

 have been salted. 



Mr. Elliott. We are both speaking of 

 the same thing. 



Mr. McGuire. You say there is a 

 slight decrease?— no— You say, Mr. El- 

 liott, there is an increase from a fraction 

 of a pound to a pound, even in London? 



Mr. Elliott. Even in London. I 

 wish to quote as my authority the man 

 who does the classifications in London, 

 Sir George Baden-Powell, and Dr. George 

 M. Daw6on, the British commissioner, 

 addressed a letter to Sir Curtis Lamp6on. 



The Chairman. What do they say? 



Mr. Elliott. They say: 



"We are unable to answer your inquiry 

 ae to what class the sales catalogue would 

 place a skin classified on the island as, 

 say, a 7-pound skin, as we do not know 

 whether the classification you mention 

 with reference to the skins is taken 

 after — — — or after they have been cured 

 and salted ready for shipping. The 

 process of curing and salting mu6t of 

 necessity add to the weight. 



Mr. Lembkey. "Must of necessity." 

 I submit that was merely his inference 

 that they must of necessity be increased 

 in weight. 



The Chairman. Is that not true? 



Mr. Lembkey. No, I stated it was not. 



The Chairman. You differ on that? 



Mr. Lembkey. All our experiments 

 6how that the salting of skins slightly 

 decrease the weight. Those gentlemen's 

 inference — and I think the inference of a 

 great many people who have never made 



