438 INVESTIGATION OF THE FUR-SEAL INDUSTRY OF ALASKA. 



The Chairman. Do the Hitchcock rules prohibit the killing of 

 yearling seals ? 



Mr. Clark. Yes. 



The Chairman. And no other regulations subsequent thereto has 

 prohibited the killing of yearling seals ? 



Mr. Clark. Yes, sir; the regulations in 1896 prohibited the killing 

 of yearlings, and so did those of 1906. 



The Chairman. I said subsequent to the Hitchcock rules. There 

 were no regulations prohibiting the killing of yearlings subsequent 

 to the Hitchcock rules. They called them the Hitchcock rules. 

 I mean the regulations that were issued in 1904-05. 



Mr. Clark. In 1906 the weight of skin was reduced to 5 pounds. 



The Chairman. Yes, but the rules for 1904 and 1905 prohibited 

 the killing of yearling seals. 



Mr. Clark. Oh, yes. 



The Chairman. After that the killing of yearlings was left out of 

 the regulations and the weight limit was fixed merely. 



Mr. Clark. Xo; there has always been a weight limit. 



The Chairman. I know, but the killing of yearlings was left out 

 subsequently. 



Mr. Clark. I am not aware of that. I understood it had always 

 stood in the regulations. 



Mr. Pattox. You understood that instead of yearlings it said any- 

 thing under 5 pounds? 



Mi\ Clark. I would like to explain about that. 



The Chairman. We will clear this up. I only want to find out 

 what you know about it. After the Hitchcock rules distinctly pro- 

 hibited the killing of yearlings and provided that no seal should be 

 killed except at certain weights, the regulations merely provided that 

 no seal should be killed weighing so much and left the word "year- 

 lings" out? 



Mr. Clark. I do not understand it so at all. Of course, I do not 

 carry all those regulations in my head. I have read them over. I 

 understood the yearlings were protected by specific reference right 

 straight through in the regulations. 



The Chairman. Do you consider that the killing of yearlings was 

 prohibited in 1909? 



Mr. Clark. Certainly. 



The Chairman. Yearling seals '. 



Mr. Clark. Yes, sir: prohibited by the fact that we were not 

 allowed to take skins oi less than 5 pounds. Now, I want to explain 

 that nobody cau tell a yearling. We are talking about yearlings and 

 everybody had been talking about yearlings on the islands, but you 

 can not tell a yearling fur sea! from a 2-year-old any more than you 

 can go out on the street and distinguish between a 3 and 4 year old 

 child that you see. 



The Chairman. Can you not distinguish a yearling from a 2-year- 

 old ? 



Mr. Clark. You can by size: that is, you ran say that the smallest 

 animal you see is a yearling, but if on the next day you see a smaller 

 animal you must revise your judgment. 



The Chairman. Now, is it not a fact that an expert can easily tell 

 a yearling as distinguished from a 2-year-old I 



