The Seal Islands
The following interesting letter describ
ing the seal islands and treating upon the
leases and profits of sealing, was written
by Lieutenant H. A. Barr, at St. Michael’s
island, for the Eugene ( Or. ) Register:
The seal islands are four in number and
are situated about 220 miles northwest of
Unalaska. in the Bering sea. Of a vol
canic formation, void of timber, covered
with small flowers, veiled in heavy fog
and mist during the summer and begirted
with ice in the winter. St. Paul, the
largest island, is 12 miles long by 6 to 8
wide. St. George is nearly thirty miles
west, and is a little smaller, between
them lie the Walrus and Otter islands.
There are nearly 400 natives,'or Aleuts,
living upon the islands in small “tepees,”
or huts, comprising villages with school
houses and Greek churches, and from the
amount of soap purchased 1 judge they
pride themselves in cleanliness.
The value and importance of these isl
ands were not appreciated at the time of
the transfer of the territory from the Rus
sian government in 1S67, and in 1868 there
being no protection afforded, seven differ
ant companies enjoyed free sealing. 1 he
next year they were declared a govern
ment reserve and guarded by soldiers. In
1870 the islands of St. Paul and St.
George were leased fora period of twenty
years to the Alaska Commercial Com
pany, of San Francisco, who had previous
ly bought all the buildings, trade and
good will of the Russian Fur Company,
throughout Alaska. By the terms of their
lease they were privileged to kill one
hundred thousand seals each year, eighty
thousand on the former and twenty thous
and on the latter, for an annual rent of
$55,000, a tax of $2.45 on each skin taken,
and 55 cents for each gallon of oil secured.
The leasees were to provide the natives
with schools and certain medical attention,
furnish fuel, a stipulated amount of ra
tions and pay them 35 cents for each skin
faken. A special treasury agent was sta
tioned on the islands each season to pro
tect the government’s interest, and guards
to prevent any killing on Otter or Walrus
islands.
At the expiration of this lease, it has
been said, this company paid into the
treasury very near $6,000,000, about #1,
000 less than the country cost the govern
ment. The A. C. Co. were believed to
have divided #1,000,000 each year among
its twelve stockholders, and at the same
time holding the lease of the Cormondon
sky islands from the Russian government.
They virtually controlled the seal skin
market of the world and by having 58
other trading posts throughout Alaska,
they monopolized all the land fur also.
Salmon canneries, gold, silver and coal
mines, river transportion, etc., all owned
and directed by experienced Hebrew alert
ness, added fabulous profits to this octo
pus-like commercial company whose mon
etary reserves were not invaded nor their
monopoly threatened until near the end of
their lease. By their management salted
seal skins advanced in value from $2.50
and $3. in 1868 to $to and $18 in 1884 and
530 in 1890, and in this year a twenty-year
lease of the same islands was taken by the
North American Commercial Co., of San
Francisco, at an annual rental of $100,000
and a tax of $9.25 on each skin taken, and
at this rate the islands return over $1,000
000 per year to the government, but 1
learn that such prolonged and wholesale
slaughtering, the increase in shipping,pro
fusion of noises, etc., combined, have so
diminished the herds that a season’s take
does not exceed 25,000 skins, and it is ex
pected that this year's footing will fall
below these figures, The seal’s fur is at
best upon his arrival at the islands, about
May 1st. but he assumes a new coat in
August, which is in prime condition
about the time he is ready to return to his
homing grounds the last of September.
Only males from two to four years old
are killed. These—like other bachelors—
herd alone, and the Aleuts will run rapidly
between them and the water in the early
morning, drive them slowly back to the
killing grounds where they are easily dis
patched by one blow on the head with a
club, quickly bled and the skin taken off
and sent to the salting house. The blub
ber is next cut and drawn off in pieces
varying from five to twenty inches square,
carried to the reduction house and then
prepared for shipment. The remainder of
the carcass, not used for native food, is
left upon tlie ground to decay. The damp
and cold climate prevents the killing
grounds from becoming an epidemic and
by the next season the hollow, bird-like
bones are lost from view in the moss,
grass and flowers.
Slimes F^om Gold Ores.
The miners in South Africa are trying
to get every particle of gold out of the au
riferous material. The success of these
mines on the Rand is not in high grade
ores, for the yield per ton is small; but
there is plenty of ore and the facilities for
economical working admit of large profirs.
The cyanide process has itself revolution
ized the systems of w orking gold ores.
Now the largest mine there, the Robinson,
which has been allowing its slimes to go
to waste, has been successfully saving
them of late, and the Crown Reef company
has put up a $75,000 plant, designed by
Mr. Williams for treating the slimes as
a they come direct from the mill. This
is a matter of great interest in California as
well as South Africa. The new plant re
ferred to consists of three masonry settling
pits, shaped like inverted cones; five iron
cyaniding tanks, four pumps and four Sie
mena Halsks precipitating boxes. The
mill pulp, after passing in the ordinary
way through spitzkasten, and after sepa
ration of the tailings, passes through a
special series of spitzluten, which removes
the last portion of extremely fine sands
carried over with the slimes. On leaving
this the current carrying the slimes re
ceives from a perforated over head launder
a continuous slow stream of solution of
lime, with which it is thoroughly mixed
as it flows toward and into the settling
pits. There the lime acts the rapid sub
sidence of slimes, the liquid leaving the
third pit being practically clear and free
from slime. The settled slimes in the pits
forma sludgy mass, which is pumped into
the cyanide tank, one-half of the requisite
amount of cyanide solution being intro
duced into the tanks before charging with
sludge, and one-half after. The bottoms
of these tanks slope from the sides toward
the center, where a pump pipe projects into
the tank. Another pipe enters the tank at
the side close to the bottom, and a constant
circulation of the thin muddy mass is thus
kept up, a pump being used to withdraw it
from the central pipe and injecting it
back into the tank through the side pipe.
The mass of slime isthus kept in suspen
sion in contact with the cyanide solution
for two or three hours, when circulation is
stopped and the mass allowed to subside.
It settles quickly and the supernatant liq
uid is drawn off through a series of pipes
arranged down the sides of the tank. A
second weak wash is then introduced and
circulation resumed fora short time. The
mass is then again allowed to subside, the
liquid withdrawn and the residual sludge
run out through the centeral pipe and con
ducted to a pump. About fifty tons of
slime is an ordinary charge and about 200
of cyanide solution of o.oi per cent strength
are used in the operation. In the precipi
tation part of the process Mr. Williams has
introduced some improvements on the
well known Siemens-Alaska plant. The
boxes are shallower than usual, being
thirty feet long, six feet wide and only
four feet deep. Each box has thirteen
longitudinal plates seperated by lead
frames, each of the latter carrying sixteen
sheets of lead foil cut into ribbons. This
is found more effective than the original
lead plates or lead shavings, This plant
is to treat tons of slimes per month, and it
is expected to increase the monthly profits
by $10,000. As this is 20 per cent on the
capital of the company it will be seen what
an important matter the successful treat
ment of slimes is. In fact, it would make
the margin of profit to a good many com
panies and greatly increase the aggregate
gold yield.—Engineering and Mining Jour
nal. ___
Egan & McKay the proprietors of the
only reliable “Alaska Meat Market” in
Douglas have made a decided cut in prices
on all kinds of meats. While only the
best meats will be sold by this firm their
prices will be found to be the lowest. *