Show beaters z dragging pelts to a sealing vessel PrO prepared Dared by national geographic society wn D C service vie late spring each D I 1 year sear st johns newfoundland is a beehive of 0 activity for the vessels of the famous newfoundland found land sealing fleet are returning fr from 0 in the northern seal hunting grounds sailing dates for sealing vessels are fixed by law and not by weather no killing Is permitted before march 11 14 nor after slay may 1 at el eight lit in the morning march 7 st johns Is black with men on that day the r sealing fleet weighs anchors and sails for the annual hair teal seal hunt the second most valuable fishery of Newfound newfoundland laDd st johns men line water street and crowd the piers where the ships lie ile the heartfelt wishes of st johns and the whole island go with these men and ships as they move out of the harbor whistles scream godspeed bells ring out cannons fire salutes bunting banting flies on ship and shore boys and men race along the battery road cheering the ships to the narrows and beyond the sealing hands come from various parts of the island some of them starting starten for st johns late in february it Is ie the worst time of the year rough weather the men bid goodby good by to their families and start out many on snowshoes walking to trunk line railway stations st johns begins to fill 1111 up with alth them the first days of march they wear canvas jumpers oer homemade sweaters moleskin or homespun trousers one to four red or white flannel shirts and home bome knit heavy drawers some wear sealskin caps and tome some elsi elsinore nors or whalers chalers wh alers which are leather wool lined caps with ear flaps their mittens are also homemade husky men are needed capt captains alas like to sign up men who frequent the open bays fishing and hunting bunting birds and who are seasoned in the woods A man who has been dragging a sled and lug lugging ing wood all winter Is in fine fettle for the job ahead of him lies hes got good wind to go after the seals A man slogging ging seals has bas to be light footed running and lumping jumping over the ice like a deer A big fellow with broad shoulders has to be followed around with a life belt lie will be falling into the water all the time they want men light and nimble rawboned raw boned fellows small sometimes to get light the men take off everything except their unde underwear rear and boots in order to follow fast after the seals which can go as fast or faster than a good man running the day is appointed for the signing of 0 the men the john doe will sign her crew at nine says a placard on the office of the ship owners men fill up the room and the dork clerk reads the whore ases the wherefores the whys ghys and the shares then the sealers put down their names or make their crosses it if they cant write each sealer then receives a ticket with his number and name on it and also a crop A crop Is an advance of a small BUM of money some men send the money home others dont use it and others buy tea sugar belt sheath and knife skin boots oilskins oil olis skins king or tobacco it if they think they are getting something for nothing some of 0 the sealers will buy anything anything from a needle to an anchor the ship clears channel head and hauls up for cape hay the lee ice la 13 about t ten en miles offshore and the top lop big sea hoves boves down from the northwest the ship with engines wide open takes them green over the forecastle clean over the bridge in about 20 00 minutes she Is one solid block of lee ice with the coming of night the wind drops enabling the vessel to make the ice fee that hat Is get under the weather lier edge of tee where the water smoothes here the craft lies until daylight next nest morning at the first crack of dawn it is under way following the leads and open water unter and at length meeting the big level sheets of slob new tee ice for a while the ship makes good progress but on working in the leads begin to narrow and close up and the sheets get heavier not fur seals at last the lookout reports seals ahead where do these seals come from kroml what kind of seals are they the seals on bilof islands in bering sea are arc different from the harps and hoods that are hunted oft off newfoundland the bilof Is a fur teal seal near relative of the sea lion and its skin Is used for making beautiful coats worn by fair ladies to give them an air of distinction it hauls out on the land it pups or whelps on libe be land while the harp find and the hood haul out on the lee ice to give birth to their puppies newfoundland fishermen call it seal fishery because the atlantic seals live as much in the water as cod and haddock during the season of lent the sealers eat tho the hair seals just as they would fish capt robert nobert A bob bartlett a veteran sealer once said when I 1 tell girls about the large number of 0 seals we get off newfoundland some of them ask why I 1 dont bring them fur coats I 1 feel like thirty cents knowing I 1 cant comply with their wishes well I 1 am sorry I 1 tell them but the seals we go after are the hair se seals and all they are good for Is to make soap and pocketbooks there are several different kinds of seals around the shores of newfoundland and the gulf of st lawrence the square flipper the horsell horsehead ead or gray seal the jar or ringed seal the bay or shore seal the harp seal and the hooded seal the harp and the hood are the two kinds that the newfoundland found land sealers hunt in their sealing vessels the first four varieties mentioned hang about newfoundland and other northern waters in small groups but only the hood and the harp herds beat away to the north northward ard and return to their tt ubel helping ping grounds in an annual migration over 2000 miles of ocean harp Is the best seal the seal par excellence Is the harp As at an adult it carries a gray colored patch on the back shaped like a harp for which it Is named the harp yields more oil than the hood and the young are easy to handle because it gathers in close herds less time Is required in hunting it after having been down to the banks the harps northward to a vast sea eddy eastward of belle isle strait and also in to the gulf of st lawrence to the west of the magdalena Magd alens now they are the sport of wind and weather of stormy march and until the coming of the airplane spotter the seal skippers had nothing but their own judgment and experience to bring them to the herd the harp seal seeks new lee ice that Is lee ice a few inches thick that forms i in the open leads between the heavier ice fee only in new dew ice fee can the harp bore bobbing holes and get to its young which are born on the new lee ice the baby harp looks like a fluffy white muff with two large liquid brown eyes peering out it Is as woolly as a gosling later the hairs become longer and whiter until in about 20 to 23 25 days the joung seals roll the white coats oft off in their movements around the lee ice and become ragged jackets this white woolly coat to Is replaced by a hair coat covered with dark spots the size of an american quarter dollar in its first days the puppy seal Is helpless and dependent on its mother it whines like a baby the weight at birth Is about seven pounds drinking its mothers rich milk it puts on a pound to a pound and a half a day sealing Is a hard life sien men on board a sealer are jammed in as tight as sardines in a box bos particularly ticul arly in the smaller wooden vessels going out every available bit of space Is filled with coal with lee ice fighting equipment beaters chests crests dunnage bags and sealing gear slid and men as thick as flies files around a molasses puncheon A sealer carries provisions for two months and a half ZO 70 to SO 80 barrels of potatoes quintals quint als of codfish 80 barrels of flour 35 barrels of pork many pounds of tea molasses to sweeten the tea butter turnips and beans beads contrast in menus could some of the old sealing crews take a look at going on now they would be shell shocked with wonder think the fishery was ruined on account of luxurious living they had nothing but bard biscuit and tea pork and duff dott with little creasa in the duff no soft bread whatever the men go overboard in gangs or watch crews 40 to 50 60 men in a watch the master watch Is responsible for the working of the men and their safety each crew tries to bent beat the other crew and each man tries to beat the other man where the file seals are fairly plentiful the master watch raises a marker hag flag and leaves some mon men and then another flag and more men the mother harp goes down a bobbing hole as the sealer approaches young seals heals are saucy and will come for a man until be snags them with his bis bat lie ile turns the dead on its back and slits it down the belly then he carefully cuts the bod body y away from the pelt which Is the skin with the white hite fat fastened to it and then cuts off the binder daddies mack black flippers dippers one or both front flippers may inay be removed |