investigation of the eur-seal industry of alaska. 515 



House of Representatives, 

 Committee on Expenditures 

 in the Department of Commerce, 



Monday, February 23, 191/+. 



The committee met at 10.45 o'clock a. m., Hon. John H. Rothermel 

 (chairman) presiding. 



The Chairman. Mr. McGuire, you may proceed with your exam- 

 ination. 



TESTIMONY OF ME. GEORGE A. CLARK— Continued. 



Mr. McGuire. Mr. Clark, what do you mean by the London weights 

 and charts? 



Mr. Clark. Well, in 1896 and 1897 when the two commissions were 

 at work on the Pribilof Islands, we were under the necessity of getting 

 all the light we could about the sizes and ages of the animals and we 

 found that in volume 8 of the Paris Tribunal of Arbitration, I believe 

 it is, at page 917, there is a classification of animals by weight and also 

 by measurement, interpretating in weights and measurements the 

 trade designations used in London. We found that a "small pup," 

 for example, was given a skin weight of 6 pounds and 2 ounces, and 

 an "extra small pup" was given a skin weight of 4 pounds 15 ounces. 

 That was in the British case, and therefore it was a British piece of 

 information. We agreed, however, in a rough way, that those two 

 categories, the "small pups" and "extra small pups," represented 

 animals of 2 years and 1 year of age. That is, the 6 pounds and 2 

 ounces was not very greatly above Mr. Elliott's average weight for 

 the 2-year-olds of 5^ pounds, and the London weight of 4 pounds 15 

 ounces was not very much above the average weight given by Mr. 

 Elliott for the yearling skin of 4| pounds. In other words, we 

 accepted his rough designation of the small pups and extra small pups. 



Mr. McGuire. When was that ? 



Mr. Clark. In 1896, when that matter came to my attention, and 

 at that time I got it rather firmly in my mind that a London small 

 pup was, roughly speaking, a 2-year-old and an extra small pup, 

 roughly speaking, was a yearling. 



Mr. McGulre. Do you retain that same opinion still? 



Mr. Clark. No; I do not. 



Mr. McGuire. Why? 



Mr. Clark. Because of the added light which has come in the 

 course of years of study since then. For example, in 1910 the 

 London dealers supplied to the Department of Commerce a classifi- 

 cation of the catch of 1910. That was published in one of the earlier 

 hearings before this committee and came to my attention perhaps 

 in the year 1911. I studied it and found, for example, that in it 

 were fisted small pups, 4,899 of them, with a skin weight of 5 pounds 

 12 ounces. 



Mr. McGuntE. When was that ? 



Mr. Clark. That was in 



Mr. McGuire (interposing). 1911? 



Mr. Clark. 1911, when I first saw this list. Now, there were 501. 

 animals also listed as small pups, with a skin weight of 5 pounds 

 9 ounces. Then there were 421 small pups with a skin weight of 

 5 pounds and 6 ounces; 290 with a skin weight of 5 pounds 11 ounces. 



