Show Newfoundland Newfound land Sea r ft If t t f- f J. J P A f fel ij el elP t i J. J t r f J. J J f t y f d X i ak Dragging Pelts Pelti to a Sealing Vessel VeI I d b by O O r r Mo blo wh I L V. V U uD J. Arvle the late spring each D year BL st Johns Newfoundland Is I. a beehive of activity for forthe forthe the vessels of the fatuous famous Newfoundland New sealing fleet neet are ara returning from the northern hunting seal grounds BailIn Sailing dates for scaling sealing vessels are flied fixed by law and not by weather No killing Is III permitted before March 14 nor after May 1 I. At eight o'clock ok In the morning March 7 Kt St Johns I Is le black with men On that day lIoy the the- sealing n fleet t weighs anchors and sills Bails for tile the annual hair hair- coal loal hunt till the second most valuable fishery hery of Newfoundland St St. Johns Johns- mon men line lino Water street and nd crowd the tho piers where the tho ships lie Tho The heartfelt wishes of St. St Johns and tho the whole Island go 0 with these men Oleo and ships ns as they move out of the tha harbor Whistles scream lId bells bella ring out cannons fire salutes bunting Cles on 00 ship and ond shore boys and men race roce along tho the Battery Mattery rOil road 11 cheering tho the ships to the Narrows and ond beyond The Tho sealing hands como come from vanous various van vari ous OUI parts of ot tho the Island some somo of ot them starting for St. St Johns late lato In February It Is III the worst time of ot the tho year year- rough weather The Iho men bid good good-by to their families and start out many manyon on walking to trunk-line trunk railway stations St. St Johns Johnl begins to fill up UI with them tho first days of ot March They wear Jumpers over homemade canvas guern guern- sweaters moleskin or homespun trousers one to four red or white flannel flan Ann such nel shirts and ll knit homo heavy henvy draw draw- ers era 1 Some wear war sealskin caps and ond some omo clamors or whalers which are ore leather wool-lined wool caps with ear flaps Their mittens are ore olio else Husky HUlky Men Mn Are Needed Captains like to sign up UI men who frequent the open bays boys fishing and hunting bunting birds and who are ure seasoned In Inthe Inthe the tho woods A man who has been drag drag- gln Kinga ginga a sled and lugging wood all winter win winter ter Is le In 10 fine fettle for tho Job ahead of ot him lies He's got good wind to go after the souls seals A man seals SMI has lias to be light footed running and I Jumping over tho the Ice like a deer r A Abig Abig Abig big fellow with broad brond shoulders hIto hI has hasto hasto to be bo followed around with a life ute belt lie he will be falling folling Into the water all 01 the time They Ibey want men light and ond nimble raw boned fellows follows limn small 11 Sometimes to get light 1 the men take toko oft off everything everything every every- thing except their underwear and ond boots In 10 order to follow tollow fast after the souls seals which wl can cun go as fast or faster than a good man mon running The day Is appointed for the sIgnIng signIng sign sign- Ing log of the men The John Doe Doc will sIgn alga her crew at nIne o'clock says H It placard on the o o of the ship own own- ers Men fill flit up Ull the room and ond the clerk reads the tho the wherefores the whys hII and the shares Then the sealers put down their names or make mako their crosses If It they cant can't write 1 Koch Each lIch sealer then then receives IS a ticket with his number and name on It and also a n crop A crop Is an all advance of ot a small sum of money Some men send the money home bome others dont don't uso use It and others buy sugar belt sheath ant and knife skin boots oilskins or tobacco If It they think they are arc thing for tor nothing U some of ot the SIlI will 11 buy bUl anything anything anything-anything anything froni from froni 11 needle to an anchor The ship clours II S 'S Channel Channel Head and nfl lu hauls haul up UI uIO Itay Tho The Ice 11 U 11 about ten miles mills offshore find th thA lop hill bl big sea sen hoves lioves dow down u from the north north- west The ship with engines wide open takes them green irlen on over r the fore fort forecastle forecastle castle clean over the bridge In about 21 20 J minutes she Ehe Is one solid soUd block of ot Ice Jel With the coming of ot night the wind drops drol'S enabling the vessel essel to make mako the Ice that Ice that Is get under the edge of Ice where the water smoothes Here the tile craft lies UIS until daylight next t morning At the first crack of dawn it Is under w way ay following the lends leads and open water and at It length meeting the big level sheets of ot slob new Ice For or a while the ship makes makl's good progress progress ress but on working In the loads lends begin to narrow and close up Ull and the sheets get heavier Not Fur Seals At last the lookout reports seals ahead Where do these seals 11 come from What kind of ot seals seal lira are they The seals on islands In Bering sea sla are different from the harps and hoods boods that are hunted hunte oiT otT Newfoundland 1 he Is a It fur seal near e of ot the S sea sat I lion and Its skin Is used for making beautiful ful coats worn by fair ladles to give ghe them an air of distinction It 11 hauls out on the land It pups pUliS or whelps on Oil the land lund while the tho harp and the hood I haul out on 00 the Ice to give Ie birth to their puppies Newfoundland fishermen fishermen fisher fisher- men call It sea seal enl fishery because the Atlantic seals live as lIS much In the water as nil cod od and haddock During the season o of Lent the sealers eat ot tho hair seals Reals Just as they would fish Capt A A. A lIob I Bartlett tart let t a II veteran sealer once sold said When I tell girls about the large e number of se seals we get off orr Newfoundland some som of them ask why I dont don't bring them fur coats I feel like thirty cents knowing know know- ing ng I 1 cant can't comply with their wishes Well Nell I 1 nun nm sorry I 1 tell tIll them theta but the seals we ae go alter after are lire the hair seals Sluts and nil all they are good goud for IB la to tn make soap and pocketbooks There are lire several different kinds of seals around the shores of Newfoundland Newfound 1 lan land IlInd d and the Gulf of ot St St. Lawrence the tile square nipper flipper the or gray Cray seal the Jar or ringed seal SIRI this the bay liny or shore short seal the harp seal I and the this hooded seal scat The harp and the hood ore are the tho two kinds that the Newfoundland New sealers hunt In tn their sealing vessels The first four varieties mentioned men hang about Newfoundland and other northern waters In III small email groups but only the hood hooe and the harp herds bent beat away to the northward and return to their whelping grounds In an annual an an- flush nual migration over 2000 miles of ocean Harp It Is the Best Seal The seal par excellence Is the harp As an adult It carries a n gray colored patch on the back shaped like a harp harI for fur which It Is III named nerved Tho The harp yields more oil than the hood bond and the young are easy to handle Because it gathers gothers In close herds less lellI time Is III required In hunting It It After having been down to the flanks Banks the harps work northward to a vast sea lIta eddy eastward ord of ot Belle Delle Isle strait and ond also ohIo In to the Gulf of ot St. St Lawrence Lawrence Law Law- rence to the west of the Magdalena Now ow they are lire the tho sport of ot wind and weather of stormy March and until the coming of ot the airplane spotter the seal skippers had holl not nothing hI nit but their own judgment and experience to bring them to the tho herd The harp seal seeks new Ice that Ice that Is s Ice lee a few Inches thick that forms In Inthe Inthe inthe the open leads between the heavier h Ice Only In new Ice can on the harp bore bobbing holes hollS and get to Its young which are aro born on the new Ice The baby harp looks like a huffy fluffy white mutt muff with two large targe liquid brown eyes ees peering out It Is Il as woolly as a gosling In Later ter the tho hairs become longer and whiter until tn to about 20 0 0 to 23 days the young seals 8 roll th this the white coats off orr In tn their movements around the Ice and ond become ragged Jackets This white woolly coat cont Is replaced by a hair coat cont covered with dark spots the size of ot an American quarter In Its first days the puppy seal Is helpless and dependent on 00 Its mother It whines like a baby The weight at nt birth Is about seven rn pounds Drinking Drink Drink- lag ing Its mothers mother's rich milk It puts on 00 a a pound hound to a pound and a 8 half balf a n day I Sealing Is a 0 hard life I Men l lI on board a sealer are Jammed In as IlI tight as ns sardines In a It box par par- I In II the tho smaller wooden vessels I GoIng out 1 every r available B bit of space Is tilled with coal with Ice fighting equipment sealers sealers' chests dunnage hugs hags and sealing J gear lr and men as lIS thick Ik as ns n flies 8 a R molasses 1 puncheon J- J i I 1 V sealer s provisions for fort o two months and n ft half half- half TO to 80 bU barrels harrl of It potatoes potatoes- quintals is of W i barrels barrels' of M f II flow 85 uJ 31 per lOJ pory many many of Df tea ti's mota-ista mota ls l's t to te s sweeten the tea butter turnips and bea beans us Contrast In Menu Could some of the old s crews take a took lonk at ot what's now the they would be he shell shucked with wonder wonders won won- der ders They'd think the fishery was ruined on account of luxurious living They had nothing but hard biscuit and tea pork anti and duty dull with Ith Ith little v In tn the dutY duff No 0 soft bread whatever tr The Tho men mea go overboard o In gangs or watch crews WR 40 to 50 00 men In a It watch The master watch Is responsible for forthe forthe forthe the working of ot the men and their safety Much latch crew tries to beat the theother theother other crew and nd each man tries to beat blut the other man Where the seals are art j i I fairly plentiful the master watch I II I raises a marker flag and leaves some i imen I men Inca and then another flag nod and more WIn wen The mother harp goes gUts down a bobI bobbing bobbing bob bob- I bing lu hole holt as the sealer approaches Young seals Feals nr ore are saucy and w will 11 III come for tur a 11 man until he snags them with his but bat lie III turns the dead on Its back balk and slits It down t the e belly Then Thou he carefully cuts cute the body vay a-vay m from frum the pelt which Is U the skin with the tho white fat fastened to It and then cuts off ofT the hinder daddies black flippers lip flip lippens pens pers One or both front OI flippers llers may be removed remo |