Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1873-08-21
IVORY.

not used white is considered cheaper and
better.-EH Perkins, IN Daily Graphtc.
IVORY.
AS ivory enters so largely into the COM
merce of the day, either in the crude state in
which it is wrested from the huge elephants
of Africa and of India, or in articles Of lux
ury and use, we have been at some pains to
investigate the sources of its supply, the de-
mand for it, and the purposes to which it is
mostly applied.
To-day the amount Of ivory consumed in
the workshops Of Europe, America and India
is immense, and yet, great as it is, the CONT,
nent of Africa furnishes seven.eighths of all
that is worked up into ornaments, toys and
cruci6xes in France heather gods, boxes and
fans in India and China billiard balls, boxes,
miniature plates, chessmen, mathematical
rules, keys for piano-fortes, organs and melo.
deons, fans, combs, folders, dominoes, and
thousand and one other things, in England,
Germany and the United States.
Portugal was the England of the 10Th CEN
tury in more respects than one: For two cen
turies, Portugal held, in the East and on the
African coast, the power and influence now in
the hands of England. Lisbon at that time
was the head of the ivory market, now Lon
don is the mart where ivory dealers most do
congregate. 1t sometimes occurs that the Sa-
lem and other American merchants engaged
in the African trade, ship their tusks Cor teeth
in commercial parlance) to London after they
have brought them from the Zanzibar and
Mozambique coast to the United States. In
the worlds great metropolis there occurs at
regular intervals one Of those sales which fur.
nish the manufacturers with their stock OF
elephants teeth.
While we associate ivory and India togeth-
er, but very little of the former comes from
the latter. 1t is estimated thatto supply ivo-
ry to the British market, for the last few
years, it has required about 100000 pounds
annually; of this quantity, Ceylon-the great
elephant park of ndia-furnishes only 5000
to 5000 pounds. The ivory which is put down
in the printed reports of sales as Bombay"
in nine cases out of ten, is shipped by Ma.
hommedan merchants from the East coast of
Africa to the large Northwestern commercial
emporium of Bombay. We do not mean,
however, to assert that no elephants tusks
come from Asia, for occasionally there will be
small lots from Ceylon and Sumatra. There
is also large ivory trade between Zanzibar
and China, via Bombay. A great deal of
ivory, we may state, by the way, now reaches
the United States directly from Africa.
The immense demand for elephants teeth
has 9flate years increased the supply from all
parts of Africa At the end of the last Gen.
tury, the annual average importation into
England was only 192,500 lbs. in 1927 it
reached 364,7S4 lbs, or 6OS0 tusks, which
would require the death ofat least 3040 male
elephants. 1t is probable that the slaughter
is much greater, for the teeth of the female ell
ephant are very small, and Burchell tells us,
in his African travels, that he met with some
elephantrhunters who had shot twelve huge
fellows, which, however, altogether produced
no more than two hundred pounds of ivory
Toproduce 100000 lbs. of ivory, the present
annual English import, we should require (es.
timatng each tusk at 60 lbs.) the life Of 1888
male elephants. 1t is said that 1000 tuskers
suffer death every year to supply the United
States with combs, knife.handles, billiard
balls, etc.
A tusk weighing 10 lbs. and upwards is con-
sidered by dealers as frst-class. Cuvier formed
table of the most remarkable tusks of which
any account has been given. The largest on
record was one which was sold at Amsterdam,
weighing three hundred and fifty pounds:
The most costly tusks, or portions of the
tusks, are those which are used for billiard
balls What are termed "cut points" of just
the right size for billiard.balls, from q to %
inches in diameter, brought the highest price
(E53) per cut of any ivory offered in the Lon.
don market at the late sales. Billiard-ball
making has af late become very important
item of manufacture in this country.
The teeth from the West coast, with the ex-
ception of "Gaboon," are less elastic, and less
capable of bleaching, than those that come
from other portions of Africa. The West
coast tusks are mnch used for knife.handles.
Since the French have possessed Algeria,
France receives considerable portion Of ivo-
ry from Central Africa by the large caravans
that travel from Timbuctoo northward.
Ivory is also furnished by the walruss or
sea-horse, and commands price equal to the
best elephant ivory. 1t is, however, too hard
and non-elastic for many purposes, and has
the disadvantage of being too small to cut up
proftably.
1t would be interesting to trace this trade
to its origin in Africa, to follow it in all its
rami6cations, to see how many thousands Of
the human race make their gain from the
giant quadrupeds; but this would require the
space of volume rather than the column Of
weekly journal.
-<
THE ART OF MAKING MoNEY.-One great
cause of the poverty of the present day is the
failure of many people to appreciate small
things. They say if they cannot have large
sums, they will not have anything. They do
not realize how daily addition, be it ever so
small, will make a large sum. If the young
men and women of to-day will only begin,
and begin now, to save little from their
earnings, and invest it in some savings bank,
and weekly or monthly add to their mite,
they will wear happy smile of content and
independence when they reach middle life
Not only the pile itself will increase, but the
ability and desire to increase it will soon grow.
Let the clerk and tradesman, laborer and ar
tisan, make now and at once beginning
Store up some of your force and vigor for fu-
ture contingency. Let parents teach their
children to begin early to save. Begin at the
foundation head to control the stream of ex-
travagance, and then the work will be easy to