The west shore., May 01, 1886, Page 151, Image 13

THE WEST SHORE.
only regular organizations in this region engsgod in the
fur trade. They do not, however, represent the entire
trade in. the varied furs of the Pacifio coast Little
streams of furs pour iuto our uitulot oitioti from Uio
country stores, where they are titken in trado from set
tlers, hunters and Indians, amounting to a vast quantity
in the aggregate. These are handled by independent
doalers in hides and furs. In Montana, ItufTalo hides
have been an important article of troflio, Fort Benton
being the chief shipping point From one to two hun
dred thousand buffalo skins have been shipped annually
for a number of years, but so great has been the slaugh
ter of tlipso animals that they are now almost exter
minated in the United States. Further north they still
roam in large herds, but their complete extinction is
now only a mattor of a few years. Elk and deer also
contribute thousands to the great store of hides annu
ally shipped from this region, and though protected by
law, the deer is so diligently pursued by hunters for the
value of his hide, that this boautif ul animal will also In
come almost extinct, except in the remote and unfre
quented mountains. More than thirty million animals
are annually killed for their fur, chielly in tho northern
portions of Europe, Asia and America. The most nu
merous of those are the squirrel, six million; rabbit,
five million; hare, four and one-halt million; South
American nutria, three million; musk rat, three mil
lion; lamb, two million seven hundred thousand; hair
seal, one million; common house cat, one million. Tho
most important fur bearing animals on tho Pacific count
are fur souls, of which the two hundred thousand annu
ally caught all come from tho Pacific; sea-otter,- the five
thousand caught in Alaska being nuarly the entire
world's supply; marten and sable, ono hundred and
thirty thousand in America, and alsmt twice as many in
Europe and Siberia; various varieties of foxes, America
supplying ono hundred and Boveuty thousand, and Asia
and Euroie twioo that numW; beaver, of which the two
hundred thousand caught in America are nearly all that
reach market; land-otter, alxmt forty thousand of which
are cauirht in Europe, Asia and America; mink, America
supplying two hundred and fifty thousand, and Russia
one-fifth as many; lynx, tho fifty thousand annually
killed being nlwiit equally distributed; bear, chiefly
brown and black, America contributing hiteon tliousam
and Europe one-fourth as many; musk rat, nearly all ol
the three million caught coming from America. Other
animals which contribute to snell the great flood of fur
poured into the markot from this region annually, in
common with other portions of America, are fisher, wild
cat, opossum, raccoon, skunk, squirrel, woir, wolverine,
panther (the various species in America are known ai
' eatauiouut." " iairuar," " puma," and " California lion,
and badger. There are scattered throughout the West
maiiv experienced trapixtrs who have linen forced from
their old occupation by the encroachments of civiliju
turn. Alaska would offer a promising field to such men
were it not for an obnoxious law which prohibits a white
man from directly taking the hr-boaring auimals of
that territory. This law is made wholly in the interest
of the fur monopoly of that region, who have established
posts and trade intercourse with the natives, thus shut
ting out independent trappers nml nmnll trndem who
lack sufficient capital to embark in the business on the
same extensive scale. It is possible that at the expira
tion of tho lease of the Seal islands, in l&H), the govern
ment will not only decline to renew it, but will also re
peal this prohibitory law, thus throwing the fnr trade
of Alaska oou to unrestricted competition. Under the
present conditions, the fur trade of the Pacific coast will
continue, as for a numW ut years past, to lie an impor
tant industry.
iUHIIY U EI.IA
TUB PAN TIDY.
It can lo made of odd pieces of dark and light silks,
satins and velvets, combining them to suit the taste; but
it is very essential that the dark ami light pieces niter
imto, to give the desired effect of an open fan.
To scouro the pattern for a inmlmm-si.ed tidy, cut a
piece of paper ton inches square. Fold it diagonally
through the center; measuro from one siiut ten inches
on this fold, and round it to the two points opiosito,
which also measure ten inches from the oiiit at Itottom
of the fold. Cut the paper as marked and you have a
marter of a circle. Now fold it iu twelve equal parts to
correspond with tho folds in a fan. While folded, cut
tho rounded side, or that xrtion which would imi the top
of the fan, in points, making the difference of halt an
inch between the bottom and top of the point tut a
piece of muslin like this pattern, draw a MneiI line from
each point to the bottom of the fan. Haste tho first
piece over the edge, letting the raw edge lap on llie next
space. Sew the next piece down on this, turn it over
and baste it on tho next, in that way concealing the
seams or raw edges of each. Continue in this way un
til all the space are oovcrcd.
Paint or embroider a few daisies and grasses on the
fan, finish tho top with white torchon or Oriental laoo
sewed underneath the HiinU, and at the Itottom with a
bow of satin, which conceal a large safety pin used to
fasten tho tidy to tho chair.
TUB AIR Of TUB BEA.
The air of tho son, taken at a great distance from land,
or even on the shore and in port when the wind blows
from the ojm-ii, is in an almost erfm!t state of purity.
Near continent the laud winds drive before tliuiu ail at
mosphere always impure, but at one hundred kilometers
from tho const this impurity ha disappeared. The sea
rapidly purifies the jiestilentiel atmosphere of continent,
hence, every expanse of water of a certain breadth In
come an alssilute obstacle to the propagation of epidem
ic. Marine atmosphere driven iin lands purify sen
sibly the sir of the region which they traverse; this pur
ificatiou tan U recognised as for a Pari.