The St. Louis Republic., 1903-11-08
TIE e7REDE IN IV0RX s.
II STOOD BESIDE one or THE 7O0Ae1

of sixty-five pounds Is a load for Rals
ard eoo-pound tusk requires four nsn.t to
tote ii. .i.3 -
IVORY FROM FS.e'.. Z,
ELEPHANTS LONG DEAP.
Much of the ivory IS Dc al ivory: tfiat Is.
it comes from elephants killed long ago.
In some tribes the Kings have been stor-
ing ivory from generation 10 generation.
some buying it and others pili3s II -up as
treasure. Indeed. IL is said there is enough
ivory of this kind in the interior of Africa
to supply the world for fifty years TO come.
In some parts Of the hackwoods-. ciriefs
have stockades of ivory around their
dwellings M 80
Live IVORY is that from the freshly
killed elephant. 1t Is worth more than
dead ivory. and is mere difficult TO get.
Atspresent the Belgians are pro .ectiIg the
elephants In some regions one must
have n license in order to: shoot them.
and the probability Is that in the near
future there will be en- ivory monopoly,
just as there is diamond monopoly at
the present time. -4
Much of the ivory now found is brought.
from the Upper Congo. II rs carried by
river to StanleySsPool and thence down
around the cataracts to MtaIii by rail,
where IL is loaded upon the SHIPS bound
for Antwerp
THESE Afr,ean territories are called The
Congo Independent State. but they may
now be looked upon as Be.g:an colony.
King LeoPoid's claim to them came from
his sending out Stanley and other ex-
plorers and exploiting the country.
He spent somsthing like seven million
dollars in his various enterprises. and
when he said that he expected TO build
up an independent state in Africa, which
should be free TO the trade of all ma
tions. the other Powers agreed and the
United States recognized the new coun-
uT.
Leopold began his expiora tions about
twenty years ago, ard the Independent
State was founded about thir-een years
ago II was the idea that the Belglans
were to suppress the slave trade. TO put
down cannibalfs1n ard 10 shoulder the six
teen millions Of savaees in the country
well on the way to civilization. They
were To take all the responsibility and
pay all the bills and the rest of the world
WAS 10 have share OF the profits.
Since that time. however Belgium has
been spending money on the Congo right
along 1t has put out bonds TO the amount
of mere than thirty m -llion dollars. and
the money has gone into building pubic
works, making piers and improving the
river. The bonds have been so issued.
however, that they give Belgium the right
TO annex the Congo II she does not de-
of this is that Belgium practically owns
the Congo to-day, and II Is a Belgian
colony. j am told that the Beigians will
never give it up and it is as much Bel
gian territory as the Philippines are
United States territory.
CONGO BASIN AN
ENORMOUS TERRITORY.
The Congo basin belonging to Belgium Is
one of the largest slices Of Africa
a ax.
tending across the greater part of the AZ
rican continent II IS seventy times as
large as Belgium itself and about one
fourth as large as the whole United
States.
1t has 10000 square miles, and no one
yet knows how many people. have seen
II estimated all the way from II, 100000 to
% oOe. .o0o and there are some who say 1t
is dcuh.e the latter figure.
There are In the country ZOO Europeans,
OF whom more than half are Belg.ans.
| There are thirty Americans, ninety-eignt
English and large number OF Portu-
guese. Italians, Dutch, Germans and men
|. from other countries Of Europe
The NATIVES. are negroes divided sup into
many tribes. some large and some small.
There arc tribes which number 10000 and
some which can be counted by hundreds.
Each tribe Is known by its tattoo marks.
but they are ah negroes. and some arc
| dne looking. Others. such as the pyg-
miles, are very small. the men averaging
about four feet In height and the women
much less. These pygmies are much like
our Negritos They are different from
the rest of the people, In that they have
no fixed villages. Lying In hrushwood
huts, shifting their CAMPS npm place TO
Every ons Of tAsse African tabes has