INVESTIGATION OF THE FUR-SEAL INDUSTRY OF ALASKA. 641 



Mr. Lembkey. I suppose they would be large 3-year-olds. That 

 is merely a guess on my part, because I do not know anything 

 about the classification of those skins. 



The Chairman. What accounts for the difference in the sale price 

 of these skins ? 



Mr. Lembkey. So far as I know — and I know nothing of it — the 

 price is predicated upon the size of the skin itself. Of course, there 

 are other factors that lessen the price, as, for example, cuts and other 

 imperfections in the skin, and the fact that the skin may be some- 

 what stagy, the fur be poor. 



Mr. Bruckner. The same as any other hide ? 



Mr. Lembkey. Yes, sir; they run from high to low grade. 



Ihe Chairman. All other things being equal, the price is deter- 

 mined entirely by the size '? 



Mr. Lembkey. As I understand it, yes. 



The Chairman. Was Mr. Clark correct when he stated that extra 

 small pups were yearlings ? 



Mr. Lembkey. Not in my opinion; no, sir. In my opinion, extra 

 small pups are small 2-year-olds. 



The Chairman. What are small pups ? 



Mr. Lembkey. Small pups are rather large 2-year-olds. They 

 weigh 6 pounds. A small pup skin in London, according to the 

 Lampson classification, weighs over 6 pounds. So that would biing 

 them well inside of the 2-year-old minimum limit of weight, in fact 

 bring them well inside of the average limit of weight of a 2-year-old 

 skin, which is 5£ pounds. 



The Chairman. Do you remember what Fraser said about the 

 length of these skins ? 



Mr. Lembkey. I do not remember exactly. His statement, how- 

 ever, is in Hearing No. 1, 'if I am not mistaken. He made a statement 

 to the committee in Hearing No. 1, page 30, the fourth or fifth para- 

 graph from the bottom of the page, and in that statement he says 

 that the weight of a small pup skin is 6 pounds 2 ounces; length, 

 33 f inches; breadth, 23 \ inches. Extra small pups — I am not quot- 

 ing the language exactly — weight, 4 pounds 15 ounces; length, 30 

 inches; breadth, 21 f inches. 



Ihe Chairman. Do you remember that Commissioner Bowers 

 stated that the skin of a yearling seal weighed 4^ pounds ? 



Mr. Lembkey. I was not here when Mr. Bowers made his state- 

 ment. 



Ihe Chairman. If he did, do you think that is a correct statement ? 



Mr. Lembkey. What was it ? Four and one-half ? 



T he Chairman. Yes. 



Mr. Lembkey. Yes; I should say that the average weight of a 

 yearling skin was in the neighborhood of 4J pounds. However, I 

 nave weighed very few of them. 



The Chairman. And its length would be as Fraser stated there; 

 is that you judgment ? 



Mr. Lembkey. No; I would not state that the length of a salted 

 skin would be as Mr. Fraser states here. The length of the seal itself 

 would be in the neighborhood of 39 inches from the tip of the nose 

 to the end of the tail; the length of the salted skin, however, would 

 be pretty small. 



53490—14 41 



