Rensselaer Republican, Volume 14, Number 27, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 23 March 1882 — A QUEER DROVE. [ARTICLE]

A QUEER DROVE.

by the natives Islands, A Jr L A ''“|SB oa8 %«pt ur iug the 'Ji^ ea r 9, J s the sum 'r" M e bß'sßrequent the sTiorerTWi ThebFlslaTOH affa gather on the beach in vast numbers. The younger male or bull seals are the only ones that are killed, and they are the only ones that ak kiUed*nd they are found assemble*) by»in An selves Jhq. -breeding rnpir/'rtes. The natives go down to the beach in getting between them and the water! -The!vjeaia*.*se utlrea alarmed with way to the killing place near-the village on the shores ofifchte tetand/^Driving them is a very easy thing, although it ’ takes stimulated by the cries of their captors. The old bull seals that may be In ;4iht, but -if-thoy do*they" are l allewed ■ to l 'drop to The seals, when finally driven up on the flahabetweenithe east landing OAdithe,village, and almpgt under the w)ndlms<of the dwellings,-are herded there 1 ; ,am*'fested. . The drives are usuiWty .Very, early in the morning, at the first breaking of <fcrrwt»*sb as o’clock o Ju#e..awi July In these ljdjtpdes They arrive and cool off r.Oll the Slaughtering grounds, so that •by six or sey4ft/O’clock, after the able-bodle i male population turn out from ttie village 4ba go-down td engage M slaughter. The men are.»dressed iu their ordinary workifiggarbbf ’thiokvflannel shirts, stout casSiinfei’e or binvass "pants.over awwas tne intestines and throws of the sea,lion and fur seal. , Thus. ed thdjrare each armed with a club, a avbht. t>4ken 9bhickory bludgeon, whioh.have been, made particularly for the purpose at New London, Conhitra f££ this three inches in diameter at their the hands.; Jilach;pative also has his the grass convenient, when the work

' (-THE KlI/LING. When the men gather for work they are under the control of fheir chosen forerqep or chiefs; usually on St'. Paul, divided into two working pities at the village, jind s sifb-party at northeast point;, whefe another salt house and slaugtefihg field is established. At the sigeah hr thb "fehief the work of the day begins by* the then stepping into the drove, eorraled on the flats, and driving out from it 100 or 150 which they surrounded in a circle, huddling the seals one on another as they narrow* it down, until they are djteptty within reach and under thejr.cluhfl, Then the chief, after he has cast his experienced eye oVer thmrftrggTtt)g, writhtTrg k»nticle in the .centre, nesses the .word .that Sfreh and sndh ft'seal is* bitten, l and that such and such a seal is too young, and that'tendlUAEd'sUoh a seal is too okl, the attention of his men being called tq these points, be. gives the word strike, and instantly the. l|eavy dubs com© down all around, 1 *- and everyone fbatrls 'eligible' 16 1 stireched out stunned apd .motionless in less time,.really,tfeanl, take, to. tell it. Those. g§als (Spared .by the chief, now strugglp froqa„qnqer and over tlieir insensible companions and 1 , pass, hustled offby the natives hack to sea. Then the carcasses are ekiiined. and the pelts prepared |fof smpmeift.' f The common or popular notion in regard to seal sklng is; .that tbe>y are worn ly those auimalh appear when offered for salef.tliai the fur pdals swim about exposing'' the soft obat with which, our of fashion so.-delight to cover their tender forfrts during inclement winter. This is a very great miStakef'few skins are less alt captive than is the seal skin when it is 1 taken from the creatiire. The fur is not visible; it is epheealed entirely by a coat’Of fetiff overhair, diill,,gra3' brown ',and grizzled. It takes thrfee'of them to make a lady’s sacque aud boa, Fitting them fir the market is a tedious, costly process,, requiring great skill. As the summer wanes the seals forsake,'the islands, and the old and. young lake tp the sea, atad it is supposed spend their iutervepiugmonths, until next season,- on the fishngi banks of tb»ibJorl|h 'Pacific.,,, f < Jeff Blalock alias Jeff Black, kHnan npYdrlois'Hfi the\ofimiiUil calender of 'fexas, Recently f died in that state. He was charged With 1 the murder of Orcen’ Butl'Cr. a -wealthy ‘stockman, abouti fcgo BlaAk u Wfes in jail seven jears, had several trials, was convicted of murder in, the first degree'Ehd flcntetfcCdto be hung, then sentenced for life, and finally’released oii ball, thbn acquitted. ; AIJAn & Poole, stock Cattle jpent $50,60(1 defending Walker and Black in theKburtiJ? 1 'Oh hW^fienth 1 Blalock or Biackjls.iepocted.tOjhaye Jiiade a confession that he w&s not tljejone whp, killed, Butlpy. bpt that the latter w«s by hls.bWni orother-ln laW * JinT « li«n. Butler, eowmselfpi^tbe lowa in the bai bwire siiirs' broiigbt by WnPtrhum, Moeu & Co., hit* mkHkteA Ali/ney Genera! B ewster in the quesif#i of thVPfM Patents, m favor t«s « 4*M« WPS.JSI WM* )•»«•*• w •«■*> 1