746 INVESTIGATION OF THE FUE-SEAL INDUSTRY OF ALASKA. 



Mr. Patton. Was there just as much of a demand for skins as 

 there had been? 



Mr. Elliott. I suppose so. I am quoting these people. I do 

 not pretend to pass on the question at all. 



Mr. McGuire. Have you the London sales of 1913? 



Mr. Elliott. Yes. [Reading:] 



C. M. Lampson & Co. exposed to sale by auction at the College Hill public sale 

 room on Friday, 17th January, 1913 (following the fur catalogue), at about 2 o'clock, 

 the following goods, viz: Skins, 3,773 salted fur seals, Alaska. 



Here is where you get the prices: 



Lot 1, 232 shillings, 4 middlings and smalls, 51 smalls. Lot 2, 232 shillings, 5 mid- 

 dlings and smalls, 50 smalls. 



There you get exactly what those skins brought and what the 

 sizes are. 



Mr. McGuire. They are not figured out in dollars? 



Mr. Elliott. No; but you can divide that by four and get the 

 dollars. You see, that is over $50, about $58, for the best sizes. 



Mr. McGuire. Per skin? 



Mr. Elliott. Yes. That is what they bring apiece. 



Mr. McGuire. That is, the best ones? 



Mr. Elliott. That is the best ones. There is no difficulty in 

 getting at exactly what they are doing. 



Mr. McGuire. Find out what the smalls brought. 



Mr. Elliott. The "small pups" brought "106 shillings." Divide 

 that by four and you will find what that averages (the "smalls," or 

 3-year-olds, brought $58). 



Mr. McGuire. What were they? 



Mr. Elliott. They were yearlings and so were the "extra small 

 pups," " 106 shillings." Having all of these figures it is not difficult 

 to find what these skins brought. 



The Chairman. I would like-to ask whether there is any difference 

 in the prices of skins now and the prices of some years ago? 



Mr. Elliott. Oh, they vary: they have their ups and downs, of 

 course. But they have been very steady for the last 10 years. They 

 have brought nearly the same average. 



Mr. Patton. Just about the same? 



Mr. Elliott. Yes, sir. 



The Chairman. Do you know whether the fact that Congress 

 passed a law to have a closed season had any bearing upon the prices ? 



Mr. Elliott. Xo. There have been but a few of them in the 

 market since 1890, and it did not have any effect at all. They have 

 discounted the disappearance for the last 10 years of these skins, but 

 the minute the supply comes back to them, they will come to it all 

 right again. 



Mr. Stephens. Did the stopping of pelagic sealing raise the prices? 



Mr. Elliott. Xo: not at all. 



The Chairman. Does this comparison of prices between the 

 different grades, as they are found in the London sales catalogues, 

 run pretty well all the way through ! 



Mr. Elliott. Yes; they have run ever since 1869 that way. The 

 best skins are the 3-year-olds, or "smalls." 



The Chairman. I mean, whether this comparison you spoke of a 

 little while ago 



