Democratic Sentinel, Volume 16, Number 13, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 15 April 1892 — ALASKA AND THE SEAL. [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

ALASKA AND THE SEAL.

EPOCHS LEADING TO THE BEHRING SEA MUDDLE. / Uncle Sam’s Northernmost Possession—lts Discovery by Russia and Subsequent Pure has by the lulled States The Trouble with F.nc’and.

*ic Land. HERE is the most profound ignorance prevalent regarding Alaska generally. The territory is the ultima t h ulo of northern travel upon the American continent. It is a land of furs and fish, of gold and glaciers, of mist and mystery. The summer seasons of recent years have

brought thousands of to rists to its beautiful waterways, ancl.it is difficult to believe it is still a terra incognita to the great majority of our couhirymen.

But somehow tha very name is so suggestive of wintry wastes pnd arctic silences, of great ice-floes and towering icebergs floating upon lAnely seas, that even among persons of great information it is only a geographical expression, bestoyved upon an isolated domain, and covering butjittle space upon the extreme northwest portion of the maps of North America, without any regard to the.scale by which the other Statts and Territories are delineated.

In reality it is a colossal domain, ; nearly as large as all of the United i States lying east of the Mississippi River, or three times as large as Frarice>| So vast is it, so varied its climate, its productions, and its native people, that the ■ description of portions of it as compared with others is like telling of countries widely separated. Here is a giant territory belonging to the United States, exlending more than l,(0!t miles from north to south, whose area emb: a -es nearly 6OoA>‘K’ square miles, whose coast lice, washed by the waters of the' Pacific Ocean, stretches from latitude 54 degrees 40 minutes to Point Barrow tn the Arctic, which holds within its , boundaries probably the mightiest river j la the world, for it is entirely within the bounds of honest statement tos:y that the Yukon River, the vast deltoid mouth of which opens into Norton Sound of Behring Sea, dischatges every hour onethird more water than the Mississippi. Also Mount St. Elias, whose estimated altitude, 19,500 feet, makes it the monarch of all mountains on this continent. . VitUs Behring was a native of Denmaffi, who entered as a Captain the newly termed navy of. Peter.the Great. His known ability and daring displayed in the wars with Sweden ded to his being appointed to conduct a Voyage of discovery in th; Sea of Kamchatka. Ide crossed the continent from St.-Pfeters- ( burg to Kamchatka, where he superin-' tended the < onstruction of a vessel which was named the Gabriel. In July, 1728, he sailed in this vessel to the north and east, discovering the island of St. Lawrence, which he named in honor of the saint on whose day it was discovered. He continued northward until he reached what ho ■ upposed was the northeastern extremity of Asia, and was satisfied that the two continents were separated by the sea. Returning to St. Petersburg after passing through the sea and straits whic h bear his name, with the fixed opinion that there was a large body of land to the eastward, he aroused the spirit of discovery and induced his government to continue the explorations. Again in 1733, with a commission of Admiral iftid under the auspices of the Russian gov-

ernment, he repeated the journey across the desolated wastes of Siberia, and in June, 1741, get sail upon the voyage fatal to film, but fruitful with great iuture results. In July of that year he sighted the American Continent at 50 degrees north latitude, On tfiig voyage he also discovered the Komandorski group or couplet. On the largest of these, now bearing his name, he was shipwrecked and died Dec. 10, 1741. But an indomitable spirit of enterprise anddiacoyery had been awakened among the Bussian people, and almost Immediately traders, hunters, and ad- . venturers made their way from island to island, until the whole Aleutian chain, and with, it the main land of Alaska, .were discovered. In 1768 two captains of the imperial navy, Krenitzen and Levashoff, sailed from Kamchatka in two government vessels. The former passed the succeeding winter at Kadiak. the latter at Unalaska. The land and the sea were alike the habitats of an immense number of valuable far-bearing animals, and stimnhtoii ly fin grost jinrftt" to toe derived by a trafik’in aktns ecpsdttions were nonsfsgffy flftc i 1 out V the ports along ths nhnris of tbs Bsa of Okotste and the

mouth of the Amoor River,’ for voyages of trade and exploration in the new country. It has been estimated that no less than twenty-five different companies with quite a fleet of small vessels were thus employed as early as 1772. Under the auspices of tljeso companies many of the inlets and islands and much of the main land were explored and settlements established. In 1786, a Russian named Gerhman Pribylov, sailing from Unalaska in a small sloop called the "St. George,” discovered'the islands which bear his name, located in the heart of the Behring Sea, and now farfamed as the cnly seal rookeries in the known world. Alaska was ceded to the United States in 1867. By the treaty of cession Russia conveyed to our government all iis sovereignty over Alaska and the waters thereof. The United States paid $7,200. (01 for the territory. Previous to the purchase a San lra:cisco syndicate i offered $lO/00,'0) for the domain, but i for diplomatic reasons the Russian Government did not accept the offer. This ' place i the United States in the position i originally occupied by Russia,'and guar- ■ anteed to it all the rights that pertained ito that imperial government. Russia’s ; claim to absolute dominion over Alaska and the Behring sea was based upon discovery, conquest and settlement. The geography of the country demonstrates ind.sputably to the careful studept that ! the Behring Sea is a land-locked ocean. Immediately after the transfer a corporation was organized in San Francisco, known as the Alaska Commercial Company. Many of its stockholders were

men occupying high positions in the world of finance and politics. To this corporation a lease was given by the Secretary of the Treasury of the seal islands located in the Behring Sea for a period of twenty years, with the privilege to kill, under certain restrictions, 10(1,000 fur seals annually. In consider-, ation of this lease and the privileges and' protection guaranteed to it, the company agreed to pay as rent $55,000 annually, and In addition to this amount $2.64 for each skin taken, the Government guaranteeing them protection in the pursuit of their business and what amounted to an absolute monopoly of the immense fur trade of the Western ocean. For the further protection, and in the interests of this corporation, a law was enacted by Congress in 1868 prohibiting the killing "of any mink, sea otter, sable, fur seal, or any other fur-bearing animal within the territory of Alaska or the waters thereof.” Under this arrangement the company and its stockholders reaped a golden harvest and the treasury of the United States obtained an immense revenue. From the lease tithe Alaska Commercial Company of the Pribyioff Islands, two small barren rocks in Behring Sea, and designated in the map as St. Paul Isle and St. George

Isle respectively, the United States Treasury received nearly $8,000,000. Under the present lease of the same property the revenue derived by our Government would be more than SI,OOO,-

000 annually; that is, providing the lessee is able to take the maximum number allowable—loo,ooo skins each year.

Very few Americans are famUiar with the causes leadiag,up to diffiaulty, which alight have bedn prophesied when.

the Hutted States purchased Alaska from Russia. Up to that time that part of the North Pacific Ocean, north of the Aleutian chain of islands and ex-

BEIIHING SEA AND PIUBYLOJT ISLANDS, tending northward to the Behring Straits, was recognized as an Inland sea. The Czar of Russia jealously regarded it as such. The Aleutian chain,as will be seen from the map illustrated here, forms an almost complete land boundary to the southern limit of the Behring Sea. These Islands were included in the purchase. England, from (ho first, held the Behring Sea to be neutral waters. She took a more decided stand as her northwest possessions began to The treaty of 1867 resulted. It gave England rights to carry on a sealing trade in the sea. The trade has since been pursued with vigor, especially in the vicinity of the Prybilov Islands. The sea continued to give up its to English arid Canadian seal fishers nntll the end of the 'Bo’s, when a scarcity of the animal became manifest to the Alaskan Commercial Company. A cessation of work was sought by that company, which finally Drought the matter before the United States Government. Then began the controversy which has continued up to the present time. In 1890 our Government finally made a formal request of the British Governmept for co-operation in protecting the seals—fbr the benefit of all mankind. The English Government was slow to respond but finally agreed to arbitrate

1 the matter. The arbitrators were also to settle forever the right of the United ■ States in Behring Sea to the exclusion of all other countries. The agreement . to arbitrate was entered into in the fore

part of 1891. Pending’the action of the board of arbitration, which was to consist of two representatives of the United States, two of England and three neutral to be appointed one each by the President of France, the King of Italy, and the Emperor of Austria, England agreed to co-operate with our Government in Ihe laudable work of restricting the catch o's seals, especially by poaching. No actual service in that direction was performed, however, a'nd the fact that more seals were caught in 1891 than during any previous summer called for prompt action on the part of the President of the United States. It is .undoubtedly true that a continuance of pelagic hunting adjacent to the islands will, within a short time, either exterminate tike seal or intimidate them so that they will seek other breeding places. Testimony of officers of sealing vessels, a< given before the Alaskan court, is to the effect that they do not suture more' than one-third of the seals killed on their hunting expeditions. The method of slaughter pursued on th? islands by the company is as follows: From the herded animals, who gather in great numbers on. tho rocks, a selection is made of such as are valuable and can legally be killed. These are driven inland for some distance, when they are clubbed to death and immediately skinned. The Aleutian natives, who are employed by the company to do this work, are very expert, and accomplish the killing and skinning with great rapidity. The skins are counted, salted and baled, ready for shipment.

All this is done under the eyes of a special agent of the United States Treasury, who is appointed expressly for the purpose. The skins go to London, where at the annual sales the market price is established, They also go there to be cleaned and dyed, the latter process being a trade secret which has been retained inviolate by one firm for many years. An abandonment on our part of jurisdiction over the entire waters of Behring Sea, as determine?! in the case cited, means the ultimate extinction of the industry, and any concession prescribing this area is a virtual abandonment of our original claims'. Now that the largest private yacht in the World has been built far the Count Stroganoff there is another opportunity for some pjirse-proud AmeTl,can billionaire to justify his existence by having one Built which shall bk larger yet. .. . .

A DROVE ON THE ISLAND.

SKINNING SEALS.

SEALING BCHOONER UNBDER SAIL.

PACIFIC OCEKM

AN INDIAN SEAL HUNTER.

CLUBBING.