INVESTIGATION OF THE FUR-SEAL INDUSTRY OF ALASKA. 345 



Dr. Evermann. Yes, sir. (Hearing 

 No. 10: p. 531; Apr. 24, 1912.) 



Mr. Elliott. Then when you remove 

 this skin you leave how much on it? 



Mr. Lembkey. I suppose about 3 to 3$ 

 inches. 



Mr. Elliott. No more? 



Mr. Lembkey. "We take off as much 

 skin as we can. It is my impression that 

 we do not leave more than 3 inches. I 

 have stated that repeatedly to the com- 

 mittee. (Hearing No. 9, p. 443, Apr. 13, 

 1912.) 



EYermann swears that salting 

 a sealskin decreases its weight; 

 he submits "proof " of it: 



Dr. Evermann. East year, when Mr. M. 

 C. Marsh, naturalist, fur-seal service, went 

 to the Pribilof Islands, he was instructed 

 to make certain investigations, one of 

 which was to determine by actual experi- 

 ment die 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 received. It is 

 so interesting and valuable that I wish to 

 put it in the record. His investigation 

 settles the question conclusively and for 

 all lime. It shows that salting 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 mechanically re- 

 move 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 reweighed skins and 

 then again weighing them, I estimate this 

 residual salt to average an ounce or some- 

 thing more. 



' The careful identification of every skin 

 and the care given to every detail of the 

 weighing make it quite certain that the 

 salting of sealskins as practiced on St. 

 Paul Island subtracts materially from its 

 original weight when freshly skinned. 

 Presumably, though not necessarily, the 

 London weights reported are less than the 

 actual weights of the skins at the island 

 killings. If any change takes place dur- 

 ing transportation to London, it is likely 

 to be a further loss, and if the London 



impossible to find out its exact length 

 when you lay it on the ground, because it 

 may curl up, or roll, or stretch, and it can 

 only be measured after it has become har- 

 dened by salt. 



Mr. McGillicuddy. Then it will not 

 stretch? 



Mr. Lembkey. Certainly not. 



Mr. McGillicuddy. That is the proper 

 time to measure it, after it has become 

 rigid and stiff? 



Mr. Lembkey. Certainly. 



Mr. McGillicuddy. You can not then 

 stretch or shrink it? 



Mr. Lembkey. No, sir. (Hearing No. 

 9, pp. 399, 400, Mar. 1, 1912.) 



Chief Special Agent Lembkey 

 makes an official record of fact 

 which exposes the trick of Ever- 

 mann : 



Chief Special Agent Lembkey makes 

 the following entry on page 149 of the jour- 

 nal of the Government agent on St. Paul 

 Island, to wit: 



Saturday, July 23, 1904. 

 On July 18, 107 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 

 weighed 705 pounds, and on being taken 

 out they weighed 759^ pounds, a gain in 

 salting of 54^ pounds, or one-half pound 

 per skin. (Report Agents H. Com. Exp. 

 Dep. Com., Aug. 31, 1913, p. 112.) 



