Walker Lake bulletin. (Hawthorne, Nev.) 1883-1926, 1895-08-07
IVORY CROPS.
1t is Stored Away in Secret Hid
ing Places.
10000 ELEPHANTS ARE LIVING
No Fear OF the Supply Being Exhausted
Quaint and beautiful Designs by
Great Artists.

Great Artists.
There is no reason to fear exhaustion
of the elephant ivory supply, if re-
ports from the Congo may be relied
upon. The ivory crop of centuries, it
is said, is still in the hands of natives,
who know where it is hidden. and it is
estimated that there are also about
$4,000 elephants still living.
The expectation of ivory from the
Congo, it is stated in recent report by
Consul Morse, from Antwerp, has
never been pushed. The native tribes
have habit of boarding the teeth.
Many have been preserved for Gen.
turtles, hidden either in the riverbeds or
in the soil. Antwerp has become the
principal market for ivory. as statistics
show. From 1883 to 1894 the total
quantity of ivory imported was 1885,
972 pounds, valued, approximately, at
So, 524, 900. Prior to 1890 ivory
markets were held annually at Ant.
werp; since that date, however. they
occur every three months. At the
first sale of 1895, which took place on
January 80 and 80. the amount of
ivory offered for sale was 1856, 142
pounds, as compared with 82.673
pounds for the corresponding period in
1894. Merchants now go to Antwerp
from Germany. France and England.
There is still another kind of real
ivory-the fossil ivory-which is now
extensively used in many countries,
although it may be difficult to decide
whether it was known to the ancients
or to medieval caryers. In prehistoric
ages, says Prof. Owen. true elephant
roamed in countless herds over the
temperate and northern parts of
Europe, Asia and America, says the
Boston Herald"
This was the mammoth. the extinct
elephas primi-genius. The tusks of
these animals are found in great guam
titles in the frozen soil of Siberia,
along the banks of the larger rivers.
Almost the whole of the ivory turner's
work in Russia is from Siberian fossil
ivory. An entire mammoth was dis
covered early in this century embedded
in ice. Although commonly called
fossil" this ivory has not undergone
the change usually understood in con-
nection with the term fossil, for its
substance is as well adapted for use as
the ivory procured from living species.
With regard to the tusks of ele-
plants, African and Asiatic ivory must
be distinguished. The first, when re-
Gently cut. is of mellow, warm,
transparent tint, with scarcely any
appearance of grain, in which state it
is called transparent or green ivory;
but as the oil dries up on exposure to
the air. it becomes lighter in color.
Asiatic ivory. when newly cut, ap-
pears more like the African which has
been long exposed to the air, and tends
to become yellow by exposure. The
African variety has usually closer
texture, works harder and takes bet
ter polish than the Asiatic.
1t is difficult to suggest any way in
which the very large slabs or plaques
of ivory used by the early artists
were obtained. In the British Museum
is single piece which measures in
length 1871 inches. by more than 8 e
inches in width, and in depth more
than half an inch. By some it is
thought that the ancients knew a
method, which has been lost, of soften
ing, bending and f1attening solid pieces
of ivory; others suppose that they were
then able to procure larger tusks than
can be got from the degenerate animal
of our own day.
McCulloch, in his dictionary of com.
mer ce, tells us that sixty pounds is the
average weight of an elephants tusk,
but Holtzapffel. a practical authority.
declares this to be far too high, and
that 3 or 10 pounds would be nearer
the average. The biggest of the tusks
preserved in the South Kensington
Museum weighs 80 pounds. is feet
II inches long and 1917 inches in cir
conference. This is one of five which
came to Queen Victoria as gift from
the King of Shoa. The other four
weigh respectively SO. rs. 70 and 80
pounds. They are all probably male
tusks. An enormous pair shown at
a worlds fair weighed together 1875
pounds. but. heavy as they were, they
measured only 8 feet 8 inches in
length, and not over % inches in cir
conference at the base.
Ancient recipes for softening ivory
so that it could be bent have been
tried in modern days. but the expert
ments have failed.
Excellent examples Of the art of carv-
ing in ivory are extant. belonging to
period long before the Christian era.
but passing over that and coming down
to places in the Old Testament in which
reference is made to works in ivory.
we find that King Solomon "made a
cxroat thor.,a Of i.ra,xz and auarlaid il