Jasper County Democrat, Volume 12, Number 38, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 25 August 1909 — ANXIETY ABOUT SEALING AGENT [ARTICLE]

ANXIETY ABOUT SEALING AGENT

Report Ought to Have Boor Id Washington 14 Days Ago. ISLANDS HAVE BEEN RAIDED Representative of Department of Commerce and Labor Had With Him Two Mountain Howitzer* and All of Hl* Men Were Armed Thoroughly. If No Word Comes This Week Revenue Cutter Will Make an Investigation. Washington, Aug. 24. —The department of commerce and labor feels anxious on account of the non-receipt of the report of Agent W. I. Lembkey giving the number of seals taken on the Pribiloff islands by the North American Commercial company which leases sealing rights from the government. The report should have been received by Aug. 10, but nothing has been heard from Lembkey. The fact that there were known to be a number of Japanese pelagic sealing expeditions in the vicinity of the islands is the chief cause for the alarm. When Lembkey went to the islands he took two mountain howitzers and a quantity of side arms. All of his men were thoroughly armed. Raids on the Islands have been numerous and the Japanese were particularly daring, it was said, just about the time the season closed. The revenue cutter in that vicinity was kept engaged in patrolling and watching sealers who kept so close to the islands that unless under known surveillance they did not hesitate to kill the herds in a ruthless manner. If nothing is heard from Lembkey this week, it is likely that word will be dispatched to the revenue cutter to investigate. The government lessees are not allowed to exceed an annual kill of 15,000 seals. For the past two years the lessees have encountered difficulty In obtaining the quota permitted by their contract and the scarcity appeared to have emboldened the pelagic sealers.