INVESTIGATION" OP THE FUR-SEAL INDUSTRY OF ALASKA. 769 



whether he thought, that Mr. Lembkey would exercise any pressure 

 on them ? 



Mr. Elliott. No; I did not know he would, or had; and I did not 

 want to raise that question with them. 



Mr. McGuire. I understand. 



Mr. Elliott. And that is the reason I did not want him there. 

 And unless they suggested something of that sort I was not going to 

 suggest it to them. 



Mr. McGuire. Had you ever seen this interpreter before? 



Mr. Elliott. I can not say that I ever had. I can not remember 

 him. When I was there in 1890 he must have been a child, a baby. 

 At least, I do not remember him. 



Mr. McGuire. Was he the only native interpreter that you could 

 find on the islands? 



Mr. Elliott. Well, we asked the natives, and they all agreed that 

 he was the best one. That is all I know. 



Mr. McGuire. That was the nature of his recommendations? 



Mr. Elliott. The universal recommendation among the natives 

 and, I might say, also the recommendation of the priest himself. 



Mr. McGuire. Did you pay him for Ms services? 



Mr. Elliott. We never made any agreement with him; but we 

 gave him So, and I will tell you the circumstances under which we 

 gave him the $5. They had to heat up their hall, put coal into their 

 stove, and we thought we would pay them that much for their trouble. 



Mr. McGuire. Now, then, Mr. Elliott, while you were there you 

 weighed 400 skins; is that right? 



Mr. Elliott. In salt; yes. 



Mr. McGuire. What was your purpose in taking those weights ? 



Mr. Elliott. My purpose in taking those weights was to establish 

 a fact which I had asserted under oath here, that when green skins 

 went into the salt house and were cured and packed for shipment 

 they weighed more than when green — that is, that when they left the 

 islands in salt and were cured they weighed more than when they 

 went in green and uncured. That was my purpose on the surface. 

 I had other purposes below which I did not allow anybody to know 

 about, and it was well I did not. 



Mr. McGuire. Do you want the committee to know about it? 



Mr. Elliott. The committee does understand it; it is in my report ; 

 but it was not stated up on the islands. 



Mr. McGuire. Now, let us get your purpose. You wanted to show 

 that a salted skin, after it had been salted and was all prepared for 

 shipment 



Mr. Elliott (interposing). And shipped? 



Mr. McGutre. And shipped, was lighter 



Mr. Elliott (interposing). Heavier. 



Mr. McGuire. Oh; was heavier than it was? 



Mr. Elliott. Than when green. 



Mr. McGuire. When it was green? 



Mr. Elliott. Yes, sir. 



Mr. McGuire. What did you want to know that for? 



Mr. Elliott. Because it was denied here under oath by witnesses 

 from the Bureau of Fisheries. I wanted to prove the truth and that 

 they had made a false statement to the committee, and I have. 



53490—14 49 



