The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1899-12-17
MisToDoy's rr,K FROM ArAsk,.
A Big Ono Here That Natives Found In n
River Quitting.

There 10 in the care Of Mr. j. A. North Of q.
Pearl street n fine srecimen Of ma todon tusk
recently received from Alaska Originally 1t
was by the estimates Of scientific men WHO have
seen II nearly fifteen feet in length, following
the curve hut II Is broken AT both the has- and
the Tip and in its pre'rut CONDITION measures
10 feet inches in length and about 10 inches
In diameter at The thick-st rart II Is Of a very
fine quality ~ ivory and Weighs iT5 pounds.
The tusk forms roughly rTeatirg a curv, Of
about 100 degrees upward Br-d"s This curve
there Is somc'linc 81 SPIRAL form, The tusk h"ni-
ing sllEh'ly 10 the left from the hasr. and taking
a more pronounced curve to tho right, littls
further along Al the base end there IL hul.
low for two i""'. the rnrlrClng ivory hrIng less
than an inch IN thrGn",s. Tn" color IA clear
black a. the upper end, and when Uncovered
II was oil Of This color from age. but tie main
surface has been scrnpcd and is now the soft tint
The tusk is owned by Norwegian missionary
whose name Mr. North docs not know Z was
sent ,h,y lin 70 some friends in he Me' who wero
10 sell II for him, and they sent II IN Nj North.
,n'qNinE 'hS h. ,n would be T. e,,,eJ po[i9R
Cow" me- "" "onn Il he '' "dyc. d y the Rev
Dr. Sheldon jackson, Presbyterian missionary
II A's rSnrf Tcrd o Of nT to
dor. with the idea tina, they would be useful as
means oi transportation In Alaska and that they
To send missionary with them, and a young
man in Mlnrcao'a who from a farm hand had
become n Lutheran minister, was secured. With
III, Es1uiWsux he penetrated 70 the far northern
mt Of Ala Ia md found there a tribe Of native
Indians in possession OF the tusk. They were
friendly, and readily sold him tho specimen.
agreeing IN take him 10 the place where It was
found An expedition was organized and went
To the banks Of a swift river which had cut out
the Crumhllrg banks until lis current ran fifteen
feet below tho level Of the plain From the bark,
Just above the water the natives had found tho
tuck pro'ruding They had also dug ont tho
bones Of the mastoiun'S head with the teeth
sill in the Jaws. but the other tusk missing
and no part OF the main skeleton wnS discovered.
The head wns shown 10 the missionary, but
he decided that he could not afford the cost of
coast he sent tho tuS; 20 his friends who sent il
by wrlrht nA ivory for more than the SIPS 1t had
cost him 10 get II 20 CivlllLaiipn. Scientific men
from the University Of Michigan examined IL
End sad that IL WINS between 900 and 3 600 wears
old ON aCCOun, of iig hrc md good condition
they thought that II would bring more from 4
scientific institution than n iyr-v. Mr. North
hns already written 10 the Smi'hsunIHn institution
hbOut IT, MnStOdon ivory IL. in itself. not rare
For more than one hundred years rhrr" has been
n trAIc in Il in The New Siberian Islands and
other Russian possessions, and the hrst EcugrHph-
zeal surveys in RuSSia'H far North was made nv
hunters ~ mastodon ivory. The greatest find,
srieniillcnlly WAS made by Russian peasant
in l7Dg who discovered a m1sodhn, NlmnS, per-
feet frozen in n huge block Of ice. Good sprci-
mons OF tusks however, have never been common.
Ivory dealers here say that the tusk in Mr.. NOrths
possession is the largest they have ever seen