CANADIAN FUN TRADERS

Evening Star, Issue 19632, 11 August 1927, Page 1

CANADIAN FUN TRADERS

LONELY POSTS. Scattered along (he fringes of civilisation for 3,000 miles across (ho Dominion of Canada, are the posts of (he traders. To these settlements the trapper brings his pack, 'ami there he barters with the trader much as in generations gone by. in May and June, from, remote districts of the vast wilderness which lies to fbo north of most of the provinces of Canada, Iheie come forili hundreds of hardy trappers laden with the product of their winter's work. From the head waters of the Oaf antes River and from Lake Mistassini, in Quebec; from the shores of the Hudson Cay, from Churchill River, from Lake Athabasca, and from the. basin of (lie. Peace River, in Alberta and British Columbia, they conic after mouths of hardship and privation. White men, half-breeds, and Indians share in this lucrative, if exacting, industry. Regulations differ in .the different provinces. In some provinces there arc regulations limiting the number of trap lines allowed; other provinces demand registration of trap line areas—to the great indignation of the Indians. A trapper may have anything from 50 to 150 traps out at a lime, and these lie visits every few days To minimise the suffering of captured animats some provinces rule that traps must he visited every_ 24 hours; but sympathy for the suffering, trapped animals is discounted somewhat by the fact that if there were no trapping there would soon bo no bird life :n many districts. To witness the sale of a trapper's pro* duct at one of these lonely traders’ posts is to realise what care and expert knowledge are required by the fur dealer. There is no pool or combination to set a given price for beaver, mink, or marten. Prices are governed from day to day by the world demand, and the fickleness of fashion makes for constantly fluctuating prices. To-day, for instance, a prime fisher pelt is worth about 30dol. A few years ago it would fetch IOOdoI.

To-day the (rapper in many small trading posts has the choice of several traders competing against each other. His catch is spread on the floor of Iho “store.” The traders, notebooks in hand, examine each fur with minute care. Every pelt is tested, and often what, appears to the inexperienced to be a, lovely skin is (brown contemptuously aside. Hero is an otter skin—if. looks a beauty. But the trader smoothes the. fur this way and that— and rejects it.. The pelt has been overheated, and, despite its sheen, the fur will soon peel oif entirely. Hero are half a dozen marten—but the color is a. shade too dark, and they, 100, must, lie written down in price. Again, a fine beaver ;>eH catches the eye, but there is a blemish, unseen except by expert eyes, caused by the animal's rubbing its back against the ice, or perhaps the. hide is too dark where the blood has soaked through after the animal bad been shot in the trap. Canada is still the world's largest fur preserve. Restrictive measures taken by the dominion and provincial Governments arc designed to preserve this great industry, established in Canada for more than 250 years, as one of the great resources of the dominion.