INVESTIGATION OF THE FUR-SEAL INDUSTRY OF ALASKA. 135 



an experiment on that point — would be 

 that the salt does increase it. 



The Chairman. Are these gentlemen 

 qualified in your opinion to pass judg- 

 ment on that question? 



Mr. Elliott. The Lampsons? 



Mr. Lembkey. I should like to have 

 had Sir Curtis Lampson, or whoever this 

 man is, make some practical experiments, 

 with regard to variations in weight, and 

 not simply give his opinion. 



The Chairman. There seems to be a 

 difference there in opinion on a very 

 important matter. 



Dr. Evermann. May I say just a word? 



The Chairman. Yes. 



Dr. Evermann. This statement that 

 Mr. Elliott has read gives the opinion of 

 that gentlemen as to the effect of salt. 

 He does not claim to have weighed any 

 skins green, and then subsequently 

 .weighed those skins after having been 

 salted to determine the effect. 



Deceit 'practiced by Bureau of Fisheries to conceal the illegal Trilling of 



small seals on Pribilof Islands. 



The Deceit and Trick. 



The salt is all removed from skins be- 

 fore weighing, so as to show that the 

 "salt weights" are less than the "green" 

 weights. 



Dr. Evermann. Last year, when Mr. 

 M. 0. Marsh, naturalist, fur-seal service, 

 went to the Pribilof Islands, he was in- 

 structed to make certain investigations, 

 one of which was to determine by actual 

 experiment the effect that salting has 

 upon the weight of fur-seal skins. He 

 made a very careful investigation of the 

 matter, and his report has just been re- 

 ceived. It is so interesting and valuable 

 that I wish to put it in the record. His 

 investigation settles the question conclu- 

 sively and for all time. It shows that 

 Baiting causes fur-seal skins to lose 

 weight. The report is as follows: 



The average loss of weight for the whole 

 60 skins is 0.63 pound, or 10 ounces. 

 This is an understatement of the average 

 loss of weight, which, I believe, is at 

 least an ounce greater. The reason is that 

 it is practically impossible to mechan- 

 ically remove all the salt from the skins 

 before reweighing. They were shaken, 

 swept, and brushed, but a few grains and 

 crystals of salt were always left adhering 

 to each side of the skin. Obviously it 

 would not do to wash them off. By 

 more carefully cleaning a few of the re- 

 weighed skins and then again weighing' 

 them, I estimate this residual salt to 

 average an ounce or something more. 



The Deceit Exposed. 



The salt and skins are weighed together 

 in the London classification — that in- 

 creases the 



"green skin" weights. 



Mr. Elliott. Now, in Senate Execu- 

 tive Document No. 177, Fifty-third Con- 

 gress, second session, pages 117 and 118 

 [Senate Executive Document, 177, pt. 7], 

 counter case of the United States, on 

 page 118 the United States commission- 

 ers, Merriam and Mendenhall, have this 

 to say touching the salted weights: 



"The British commissioners further 

 rely upon Mr. Elliott's statement that 

 skins weigh from 5£ pounds to 12 pounds 

 (sec. 672), and upon the comparison of 

 such statement with that of Lieut. May- 

 nard, an independent observer, who gives 

 the average weight of bundles as 22 

 pounds and the weight of the largest as 64 

 pounds (sec. 672). This appears to the 

 commissioners to require some explana- 

 tion (sec. 673). The implication is evi- 

 dent, and the United States offer the ex- 

 planation in vindication of the officers of 

 the Government who are thus charged. 

 A bundle contains not only the two skins 

 proper, but salt and blubber with which 

 they are packed for their preservation. 

 This naturally adds greatly to the weight, 

 as does also the moisture collected by the 

 salt and fur." 



That sustains me completely about the 

 increased weight of "green" skins after 

 they are cured on the islands, and our Gov- 

 ernment carried that claim as a voucher 



