504 INVESTIGATION OF THE FUR-SEAL INDUSTRY OF ALASKA. 



Mr. Clark. I wish to read from page 26 a footnote at the bottom 

 of page 26 of this Hearing No. 1 , which footnote was presumably writ- 

 ten by Mr. Elliott, which footnote says: 



We gave the subject of the "counting" of "live pups," with a view to getting a fair 

 idea of its extent and accuracy in determining the numbers of breeding seals on these 

 Pribilof rookeries, very close attention. 



A careful study of the work as it has been done on St. George and St. Paul Islands, 

 beginning in 1901 and ending in 1912, warrants our statement that it is not an accurate 

 census when said to be so made. It is an estimate only, and one that is arrived at by 

 making a highly injurious disturbance on the breeding grounds; it should be prohib- 

 ited as idle and positively detrimental. 



Mr. McGuire. Your conclusion from your experience and your 

 actual counting is that there is not or ought not to be any question 

 as to your ability to count accurately; that it can be done, and that 

 you have done that ? 



Mr. Clark. I have done that. 



Mr. McGuire. You did that in 1913 ? 



Mr. Clark. I did that in 1913. I have the word of the other gen- 

 tlemen to the same effect. 



Mr. McGuire. Has anybody anywhere, with the exception of Mr. 

 Elliott's statement there, denied your count in 1913 ? 



Mr. Clark. No, sir. 



Mr. McGuire. Was there any contention by your assistants there 

 that you could not make an accurate count of the pups in 1913 ? 



Mr. Clark. No ; they signed the count with me, in entire corrobora- 

 tion, and most of the counting was done by one of them, in addition 

 to myself. 



Mr. McGuire. And the signatures and the certificates you have 

 placed in the record to-day are the willing signatures and the willing 

 certificates of the persons who did assist you ? 



Mr. Clark. Yes. 



Mr. McGuire. And you all agreed? 



Mr. Clark. Yes, and those signed statements are in the hands of 

 the Commissioner of Fisheries. 



Mr. McGuire. Did you make a full report to the Commissioner of 

 Fisheries ? 



Mr. Clark. I did. 



Mr. McGuire. Do you know T , from Mr. Elliott's report, what num- 

 ber of seals he figured were on the islands in 1913 ? 



Mr. Clark. Yes. sir. 



Mr. McGuire. How many? 



Mr. Clark. 190.950. 



Mr. McGuire. Do you agree with that? 



Mr. Clark. I do not. 



Mr. McGuire. What is the number you made it ? 



Mr. Clark. 268,305. 



Mr. McGuire. A difference of about 77,000. How many were 

 there there in 1912? 



Mr. Clark. In 1912 the number was 215,738. The census of that 

 year was made in exactly the same way. 



Mr. McGuire. Did you make the census that year? 



Mr. Clark. I made the census that year. 



Mr. McGuire. And did you count the pups in the same way? 



Mr. Clark. I counted the pups in the same way. 



