U.S. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR, FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE, Mr. HERSCHEL I. EISEN MAN, DEAR MR. EISEN MAN: This is in response to your letter of June 21 concerning the experimental processing of Alaska sealskins. We would be willing to consider providing you with a limited number of sealskins on a loan basis for experimental purposes if any are available after supplying those firms which responded to the March 31, 1965, invitation for proposals. It is noted that you have requested a dozen or so for this purpose. Any such loan would be made to you with the understanding that you would make periodic reports to this Bureau concerning your progress and experimental results. The nine sealskins which you presently have on loan from the Bureau should be sent to the Regional Director, Bureau of Commercial Fisheries, 1319 Second Avenue, Seattle, Wash., 98101. As indicated in our letter of June 8 we would appreciate receiving a report from you as to your experience with these skins. GENTLEMEN: We are at this time requesting raw sealskins to be used in the research and development of these skins as per the Government offer. We hope in the future to develop a product that would give us the opportunity of bidding for the U.S. seal contract. Very truly yours, (Signed) MILTON STERN. U.S. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR, Mr. MILTON STERN, Master, Mancini-Stern, Inc., Brooklyn, N.Y. DEAR MR. STERN: This is in reference to your letter of June 17 in which you request raw sealskins for research and development "as per the Government offer." We assume that you are making reference to the Bureau's invitation for proposals for experimental processing of Alaska sealskins, dated March 31, 1965. This invitation originally provided for submission of proposals by May 1, 1965, but was later amended by extending the date to May 17, 1965. Enclosed for your information are copies of the invitation and the addendum relating to the extension of time. Although it will not be possible for us to accept a proposal from you at this time, we would be willing to consider providing you with a limited number of sealskins on a loan basis for experimental purposes if any are available after supplying those firms which responded to the March 31, 1965, invitation. Please advise us as to the number of raw sealskins you would like to have and we will keep your request on file for further consideration. We appreciate your interest in this matter and regret that you did not file a proposal with us within the time limit specified by our invitation. Sincerely yours, (Signed) RALPH C. BAKER, Acting Director (For Donald L. McKernan, Director). ELIAS SHUTER'S SONS, INC., ORREN BEATY, Assistant Secretary, U.S. Department of the Interior, Washington, D.C. DEAR MR. SECRETARY: We are interested in participating in the Alaska fur seal test processing program initiated by the Department, as noted in recent trade paper reports. Please oblige and favor us with a copy of the prospectus to be filed by our company in line with the Department's invitation to prospective participants. The Department has a rather extensive file on my background transmitted to it at the time when the Laclede Fur Co. of St. Louis was contending against Fouke Fur Co. and others, for the broadscale contract. You may recall that I had accepted the invitation to be the president and chief directing officer of the Laclede Co., contingent upon its success as a contender for the Alaska fur seal processing and sales contract. We currently employ the services of Matthew Cefulu the former chief dresser for Superior Fur Dressing & Dyeing Co. of Brooklyn, N.Y., until it suspended operations several months ago. Matthew Cefulu and other skilled technicians in our employ comprise a team of long-established craftsmen knowledgeable in the art of fur dressing and dyeing a wide range of fur pelts, including Alaska fur seals, hair seals, and other types of pelts of related characteristics. You have our thanks in advance in anticipation of an early response. (Signed) ALBERT J. FELDMAN, President. U.S. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR, Mr. ALBERT J. FELDMAN, President, Elias Shuter's Sons, Inc., New York, N.Y. DEAR MR. FELDMAN: I am referring your letter expressing interest on behalf of Elias Shuter's Sons, Inc., in participating in the Alaska fur seal program to those in the Department responsible for this experiment. I am asking the Bureau of Commercial Fisheries to send you all pertinent information, and I feel sure your company's interest will be given full consideration. Sincerely, Mr. ALBERT J. FELDMAN, (Signed) ORREN BEATY, Assistant to the Secretary. U.S. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR, President, Elias Shuter's Sons, Inc., DEAR MR. FELDMAN: This is in further response to your letter of May 1 in which you requested information concerning the Department's plans for research and development in connection with the processing of Alaska sealskins. This Bureau issued an invitation for proposals for experimental processing of sealskins on March 31, 1965, which required submission of proposals by May 1, 1965. An addendum to the invitation was issued on April 19, 1965, which extended the time for submission of proposals to May 17, 1965. In view of the limited time available we mailed copies of the invitation for proposals and addendum to you on May 7 without a letter of transmittal. However, we are enclosing herewith additional copies of each of these documents. Sincerely yours, (Signed) DONALD L. MCKERNAN, Director. AMERICAN-CANADIAN BEAVER CO., WEAVERS' BEAVER, Salt Lake City, Utah, April 13, 1965. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR, GENTLEMEN: We are producing beaver in captivity and have been for a period of 35 years. We are successfully producing them and now have several thousand animals which we are breeding in a genetic program to upgrade the quality of the animal. We have pedigree records and each animal is branded with a tattoo in the web of its foot, which identifies it from birth until death. It is the intention of our company to set up a dressing plant on an experimental basis to improve the present methods used by commercial fur dressers. What qualifications would your Department ask for if we were to include the dressing of the Government seal, along with our own experiments? We are financially able to bear the expense of such a program. The Fur Age Weekly states that the Government is interested in learning of new and better ways to dress the sealskins and that you will furnish the skins and pay the cost of dressing. What would we need to do to qualify for this project? We would appreciate your answers as soon as possible. Sincerely yours, (Signed) M. L. WEAVER. U.S. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR, FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE, Mr. MARK L. WEAVER, DEAR MR. WEAVER: Your letter of April 13 indicates your interest in the experimental processing of Alaska sealskins. This Bureau, on March 31, 1965, issued an invitation for proposals for the experimental processing of Alaska sealskins. A copy of this invitation is enclosed, as well as a copy of the Departments news release of March 31 which will provide background information which may be of interest to you. Please note that addendum No. 1 to the invitation for proposals extends the date for submission of proposals to May 17, 1965. Sincerely yours, (Signed) RALPH BAKER (For Donald L. McKernan, Director). OCEAN LEATHER CORP, Newark, N.J., August 17, 1965. BUREAU OF COMMERCIAL FISHERIES, Washington, D.C. DEAR SIRS Reference is made to the announcement made by the Secretary of the Interior, Mr. Stewart L. Udall, which was printed on page 101 of Commercial Fisheries Review, volume 27, No. 7, July 1965. This announcement specifies that one-eighth of the U.S. share of raw sealskins harvested at Pribilof Island from 1963 to 1967, inclusive, is available for use in experimental and marketing purposes by other interested firms besides the Fouke Fur Co. We have the facilities and know-how for tanning and finishing sealskins and we respectfully request the Bureau to allocate to us a proportionate share of these skins in order to participate in the intent of your Secretary of the Interior. Please send us whatever forms may be required in this connection. Also, if a part of the seven-eighths share is to be made available to tanneries by Fouke, please advise us how we may contact them in this connection. We thank you for a prompt reply. (Signed) R. L. MORESI, Director, Shark Division. U.S. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR, FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE, Mr. R. L. MORESI, Director, Shark Division, DEAR MR. MORESI: This is in response to your letter of August 17 in which you refer to an article which appeared in the Commercial Fisheries Review (vol. 27, No. 7, July 1965) concerning the award of a contract for processing Alaska sealskins and the retention by the Government of one-eighth of the harvest for use in experimental processing contracts. The same release indicated that "the Interior Department's Bureau of Commercial Fisheries, which manages the Pribilof Islands herds, has invited proposals for experimental processing and qualified firms had until May 17, 1965, to respond." Our invitation for proposals related to processing of fur seal for use as a luxury fur item. We assume that your interest would involve the use of fur seal as a leather product. In any event we would not be able to accept a proposal from you at this time pursuant to our invitation for proposals dated March 31, 1965, which provided for submission of proposals by May 17, 1965. The Fouke Fur Co. will likely have available a number of sealskins under its old contract which are of "reject" quality insofar as processing as luxury furs is concerned. We would be happy to arrange for the shipment of a limited quantity of these to you for leather experiments. If you are interested in receiving some skins for this purpose, please advise us as to the number you desire. However, if your inquiry is related to the possibility of securing a subcontract from the Fouke Fur Co. for the processing of furs, your inquiry should be directed to that company. Sincerely yours, (Signed) HAROLD E. CROWTHER, Mr. DONALD MCKERNAN. Director, Bureau of Commercial Fisheries, THE FUR SEAL PROCESSING CORP., New York, N.Y., August 27, 1965. DEAR MR. MCKERNAN: Our company has recently been formed for the principal purpose of engaging in the business of processing and selling fur seal and other fur skins. The principals of the company have been engaged in the dressing and processing of fur skins for many decades and represent two of the most reputable fur dressing establishments in the fur industry. One of the principals of our company is the senior executive officer of a fur sales organization known throughout the United States, and, indeed, the world, for its outstanding success and progressive methods of fur skin selling techniques. We have also, only recently, secured the contract rights to the use of the process employed by C. W. Martin & Sons, Ltd., of London, England, to process sealskins, a process with which we understand you are very familiar. The purpose of this letter is to inform you that we are very interested in securing at this time a limited number of sealskins, owned by the U.S. Government, for testing and specimen purposes in order that we may submit our product to you for examination at the earliest possible date. I will be in Washington, D.C., on other business during the week commencing August 30 and before my arrival then will contact you by telephone so that we may make an acquaintance and further discuss the availability of sealskins for specimen work at this time. Respectfully yours, (Signed) KENNETH M. PLAISTED, Assistant Vice President. Mr. DONALD MCKERNAN, Director, Bureau of Commercial Fisheries, THE FUR SEAL PROCESSING CORP., U.S. Department of the Interior, Washington, D.C. DEAR MR. MCKERNAN: At the outset, I would like to thank you for the opportunity that you afforded me to make your acquaintance and to discuss our interest in developing processing and dyeing techniques which could be used on sealskins and which techniques your Department would hope would be an improvement over those now used on the sealskins owned by the Government. Also, of course, my sincere appreciation for your fullest cooperation in providing me with whatever materials were requested and available to you. Pursuant to our understanding, I am enclosing duplicate originals of your Department's form for the "Special Permit for the Possession of Sealskins for Experimental Purposes and Process Development," which forms have been signed by Norman Leiman, president of our company. As Mr. Hodges had requested, we have set forth the desired number of male and female sealskins in paragraph 3 of the special permit form. It is my understanding that following your receipt of the enclosed that your Seattle office will ship the desired skins directly to our offices in New York City. While we note that the special permit form is silent as to shipping costs of the skins, I want you to know that in the interest of your Department's cooperation with us, and in the interest of economy of the Government program, we are perfectly willing to pay the costs of shipping the requested skins from Seattle to New York. Due to the fact that some of the people who will be working with us in the improvement of the process which we now have, will be traveling considerable distances to our plants, which are located in New York City, we would appreciate it if your office could advise us of the approximate date that we might anticipate the arrival of the requested sealskins in New York City. Respectfully yours, (Signed) KENNETH M. PLAISTED, Assistant Vice President. EXHIBIT 10 Correspondence regarding the contract between the Battelle Memorial Institute and the Pierre Laclede Fur Co. U.S. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR, FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE, Hon. ERNEST GRUENING, Washington, D.C. DEAR SENATOR GRUENING: In our letter of September 28 we indicated that we had requested from the Pierre Laclede Fur Co. copies of correspondence between it and Battelle Memorial Institute concerning the research work on sealskins which will be conducted under the Government's contract with the Pierre Laclede Fur Co. Copies of this correspondence have been supplied to us by Mr. Richard Wolff, attorney for the Pierre Laclede Fur Co. We are enclosing herewith this correspondence as well as Mr. Wolff's letter of September 30, 1965, wherein he lists the present officers and directors of the Pierre Laclede Fur Co. Sincerely yours, (Signed) DONALD L. MCKERNAN, Director. |