The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1893-07-12
GOING THE WAY OF THE BUFFALO.
Wanton Slaughter of Elephants to
supply the Demand for Ivory.

Among the arrivals on the Gaelic
from the Orient yesterday was a quiet,
blonde man in middle life. whose
achievements in barbaric lands have
been talked of around the globe. Few
knew him, yet he has been received by
kings, and for some years his deeds
have been heralded everywhere by
lightning The distinguished man was
Lieut. Otto r. Ehlers, the famous Ger
man explorer who first climbed the
the lofty mountain of KilimanJarO ana
who saved all that part of East Africa
to the German empire. He is just re-
turning after some years in the strange
wild countries beyond the Pacific and
what he has to say is of extraordinary
interest. He went TO India after his
arrival i'm Germany from Africa pri-
marily TO get A number Of tame ele-
plants with which to subjugate the
wild ones Of the bark continent. but
this led him into many other eXplora-
tiOns.
1t was i'm 1855, il will be remembered
that he went out to Africa. It was the
time that fierce wars were raging. lie
explored Kilmanjaro, 1880 feet high.
being the first white man to set foot
upon its crest. he also accompanied
Maj Wissman. the German commits
siOner in Africa. against the Arabs, and
was Win MN on several 0lnel eNIfQl-
tions. In these exploits Lieut.. Ehlers
had many narrow escapes. and today
his face is Scared by conflicts on bat
tleheldS and in jungles.
Lieut. Ehlers spent some time in the
Garrow hills i'm Assam With NJ. Saw
hunting elephants. In this he took
great interest, because il involves
great ivory hunting and carrying pro-
jeCt which he has in view in East AZ
RIGA. His object is to form keddahs.
or great corrals made of trees and
roots, in the German territory i'm East
ern Africa, where the difficulties i'm con-
nectiOn with transport animals are
very great. Mules, ponies and camels
die off quickly in the African jungles
but there are thousands of wild ele
plants waiting TO be caught i'm the
forests. on the slope Of Kilimaniaro
many herds are TO be met with.
Trained Indian elephants. mahouts,
catchers are TO be introduced there.
and large catches will be made every
year. 1t will cost about 1000 rupees
head to transport elephants from India
to Zanzibar, but the Germans can cas-
lily stand the cost of what is needed.
In few years, therefore, the African
elephant will become something more
than a mere ivory-beanng animal, to
be slaughtered wholesale. This plan.
il is conceded, will benefit Englishmen
and Germans alike in East Africa.
The lieutenant said he would have
gladly seen the English and German
governments joining hands in such
project and he dwelt upon the fact
that some $4,000 elephants are killed
yearly in Africa for their ivory.
I'm Zanzibar alone" said he, some
100000 pounds of ivory are brought
every season to the market. There are
tusks among them weighing from $50
TO 100 pounds, and even more, but, of
course. the tusks are mostly small. for
it is much easier TO trap or kill young
elephant than an old one. Let us say
that on an average every tusk is from
twenty to twenty-five pounds. The
tusks of 10000 elephants are brought
annually to Zanzibar.
Elephants in Africa are mostly
killed with poisoned arrows. Perhaps
80 per cent. break away TO die in the
jungle. SO, perhaps. 10000 elephants
have been sacrificed to get the ivory
for the Zanzibar market alone. Besides
this a lot of ivory is used in the in
terror for all kinds OF domestic purpa-
SEES The tusks are used as grain
Founders, etc. while ornaments are
commonly fashioned of ivory. There
are even chiefs in the interior who have
a fence around their houses made OF
elephant tusks"-San Francisco Chron-
icle.