The Lambertville record. [volume] (Lambertville, N.J.) 1872-1968, 1883-06-13

Unless deposit of prehistoric animals OF
the ivory bearing class be found soon, i'm
bedded in glacial ice or buried in preserya-
tive peat, the worlds supply of ivory will
become so diminished even ring this
century as to make the g.istcning bone al
most ms precious as silver Already at
wholesale in Liverpool the common ivory
brings about So 600 ton, while for tusks
the price is equivalent to about twenty five
cents mn oi;nce in small los. luasmuch,
however, as the price has more than doubled
in the last three years, owing to the grow
ing scarcity o. the elephant, il is easy to see
that still further great increase must take
place unless the demand slacken or new
sources of supply be discovered. This sud
len growth in the cost of ivory is due more
b the greater demand for it than to dimn.
ntion of the supply, but both causes are now
operating simultaneously. Not only are all
the old uses to which it was put just ms pop.
nlar ms ever, bnt there seems to he no limil
to the new purposes for which nothing hui
ivory will suffice. In spite of the efforts OF
inventors, no substitute has been found &c
serve satisfactorily for billiard balls and the
number of household appliances, both useful
aud decorative, into which it enters il con-
SANITY growing The masterpiece of artists
ike Benvenuto Cellini have become such
educators of taste that there is almost fash-
ionable Juror forivory carving. An instance
has been made public where wealthy won.
an lavished fortune on the decoration of
bedroom, from which all woodwork was
banished, ivory exqusitely turned and
carved taking its plnce.
While this extravaganza in the use of
scarce material is running its headong
course the limit of production has already
been reached For about twenty years tn,
average supply at the Liverpool sales il
midsummer has been 1876 tons, but last July
the amount offered was only seventy-two
and half tons. The largest sale ever
known-203 tons-took place in 1873, and
since then the stock in warehouses and en-
route for market had been very small.
In view of these circumstances there are
but two alternatives. Either people must
ere long forego their taste for ivory in all its
multifauous ornamental uses and leave it
solely to the utilitarian, or else a new sup
ply must be had. 1t is not impossible that
prospecting parties will go into the junsles
of Africa and India to search for ivory as
they now GO for gold, and that the return
for successful expeditions will be almost as
great as if gold itself were found Others
will bend all their skill and experience
toward discovering an artificial substitute,
and, remembering the wonderful inventions
of the time, it is m. safe to say that they
will rot succeed But there is third source
of supply which, taken in hand at once,
oiight be more certain if not less expensive
Than either of the others If the British
government, for instance, should undertake
the scientific propagation and cultivation of
the elephant, both as beast of buideu and
as an ivory producer, it is not improbable
that the returns from the investment would
be very satisfactory. In many parts of East
India there are plenty of elephants to be had
for the catching. At present they are re-
garded as mere objects of sport, and they
are DelnB kileu heeuiessIy auu recKleBsly.
If q very large tract OF suitable country could
be set apart as al elephant preserve, and
great herd Of the beasts, either wild or
1omesticcted, could be kept within bounds
nnder proper protection, it might be possible
to thin out the tusked monarchs of the
jungle every year sufficiently to provide
fair supply of ivory, and yet gradually II
increase, rather than diminish, tho number
If animals corraled. -Philadeiphia Record
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Cutlery in endless variety at Gandey' Is