216 INVESTIGATION" OF THE FUR-SEAL INDUSTRY OF ALASKA. 



Mr. Cable. Do you claim that this list you have read is based upon seals that are 

 under 1 year old? 



Mr. Elliott. Under 2 years old. 



Mr. Cable. Is there anything illegal in killing the year-old seals? 



Mr. Elliott. Not if you know it is a year old. 



Mr. Cable. What do you call a yearling seal? 



Mr. Elliott. A yearling seal is a yearling until it is 2 years old. 



The Chairman. What is a yearling seal? 



Mr. Elliott. A yearling seal is one not under 1 year of age nor over 2 years of age. 

 That is a yearling. You can not get away from that definition. A yearling is a year- 

 ling until it is 2 years old. 



Mr. McGlllicuddy. What is your understanding as to the law on the subject? 



Mr. Elliott. The law does not allow the killing of a seal under 12 months of age. 



Mr. Townsend. Under 2 years of age, according to that ruling of 1904? 



Mr. Elliott. Yes, sir; I put that in the department rules in 1904 to stop those 

 butchers. 



Mr. McGillicuddy. Then, it is agreed on all sides that it is legal to kill anything 

 over 12 months old? 



Mr. Elliott. Yes, sir; I admit that, but you must prove it. 



That this killing of seals under 2 years of age was in violation 

 of law and the regulations is admitted under oath by the Bureau of 

 Fisheries agent, W. I. Lembkey, who has killed all the seals under 

 the instructions of the Treasury. Commerce and Labor Departments, 

 and Bureau of Fisheries since 1899 to date of July 7, 1913, thus: 



On page 372, Hearing No. 9, he testified as follows: 



"Mr. McGillicuddy. What do you call a yearling seal? Do you mean a seal that 

 is 12 monti-8 old and no more? 



"Mr. Lembkey. A yearling seal, in the island nomenclature, is a seal which has 

 returned to tl.e islands from its first migration. 



''Mr. McGillicuddy. It may be more than 12 months old then? 



•' Mr. Lembkey. It may be more; it may be a trifle less. 



"Mr. McGillicuddy. How much more than 12 months could it be? 



"Mr. Lembkey. It could not be but a little more, because all these seals are born 

 during a period of 3 weeks, generally speaking, from the 25th of June to the 15th of 

 July. Now, they return to tl e islands in a mass about the 25th of July. 



******* 



"Mr. Madden. If they were killed, it would be a violation of law? 

 > "Mr. Lembkey. It would: if the regulations permitted it, however, it would be 

 in accordance with existing law. 



"It should be remembered also that the law does not prohibit the killing of any 

 male seal over 1 year or 12 months of age, although regulations of the department do 

 prohibit the killing of anything less than 2 years old , or those seals which have returned 

 to the islands from tl err second migration. 



"Mr. Townsend. That is a regulation of tl e Secretary of. Commerce and Labor? 



"Mr. Lembkey. Of Commerce and Labor; yes, sir." 



He testified as follows, on page 442, Hearing No. 9: 



"Mr. Elliott. Mr. Lembkey, do you know the length of a yearling seal from its 

 nose to the tip of its tail? 



"Mr. Lembkey. No, sir; not offhand. 



"Mr. Elliott. You never measured one? 



"Mr. Lembkey. Oh, yes; I have measured one. 



"Mr. Elliott. Have you no record of it? 



"Mr. Lembkey. I have a record of it here. 



"Mr. Elliott. What is its length? 



"Mr. Lembkey. The length of a yearling seal on the animal would be, from the 

 tip of the nose to the root of the tail, 39^ inches in one instance and 39J in another 

 instance 



"Mr. Elliott. Yes. 



"Mr. Lembkey. And 41 in another instance. I measured only three." 



******* 



Also on page 443: 



"Mr. Elliott. How much can vou say is left on a vearling after you have taken 

 the skin off? 

 "The Chairman". How much skin is left after you have taken it off? 



