The Monticellonian., 1903-01-29
WILL PROTECT ELEPHANTS.
Efforts Being Made in the Congo Free State to Save the Animals
 from Slaughter.

i State has recently taken energetic measures to prevent the ruthless slaughter of elephants in the state, and renewed efforts are being made under the auspices of the government to dome sticate the African elephant. To prevent the total eNtermination of these useful animals is problem of vital importance for the future of Bel gium's great African dependency. It has been calculated that, at the pres ent rate the elephant will have be- come an extinct species in the Free State in eight or ten years, says the New York Times.
 An agreement was recently reached between the French National society for the tanning of the African elephant and the government of the Free State concerning the measures to be taken 10 domesticate young ele- plants. All hope, therefore. has not been abandoned, notwithstanding nu- merous fruitless attempts To trans form the African elephant like his Asiatic brother into a precious help to the explorer eolonist. The only pity is that this movement for the protection of the elephant should have been started so late, when the race has been almost destroyed.
 In this connection have just had an interesting interview with Felix Fuchs. vice governor of the Congo Free State, who is now in Brussels. and on the point of returning to the Congo. In the course of my talk with him NJ Fuchs stated that the destruction of the African elephant was due en- tirely to the development of the ivory trade. Tn former days" he said. the i Congo natives only killed off certain number of elephants every year and confined their slaughter to the mafe adults. But to-day the natives, spHrred on by the greed of Europeans for ivory. kill indiscriminately the old and the young animals. whether male of female Elephant hunting. more over, as PFaetieed in the Congo, is much easier operation than is gen orally supposed. The usual me erhod of the Congo natives is to prepare large l pits into which the elephants are | driven and killed without trouble CT | danger
 As for the socalled European 'sportsmen. 7" continued M. Fuchs, they make an easy prey of elephants, thanks to their perfected firearms A Belgian sportsman of this kind is mentioned who between April and October, 1901, shot 10 less than l52 elephants"
 M. Fuchs now proposes that an agreement be reached between Bel gium. France, Great Britain and Ger many to regulate elephant hunting and to encourage the domeSticatioH eff the animals. Such an agreement, says NJ. Fuchs, would have strong chances of being crowned with sue cess. Certainly there is no time 10 be | lost if the last remaining remnants of the species are to be saved. But. once thoroughly domesticated. the African elephant would, like his In. dian brother, become. thanks to his strength and intelligence, an impor tant auxiliary in the work of coloHi- cation.
 In the whole animal creation" 1 Sdltl h T uHlSs lhtlt lS HUI tO bc found a more intelligent and harm l less creature, nor one more easily managed, and more apt, in other words, to become mans friend and | helpmate, than the elephant. It has taken all the ferocious brutality of l the African negroes, melted by the criminal cupiditY of Arab and Euro ! traders n form n q savage and ferocious animal crca- ture best suited by nature to be mans associate. In order fully 10 realize the effect of mans kindness | on the elephant it is but necessary to compare the animal to-day as II | is found in Indian on the one hand and in Africa on the other. In India the elephant is mans inseparable | eompanion and when the Hindu does hunt him it is not for the purpose of l killing him and saving off his tusks but to catch him alive and tame him. | The elephant has rendered such great services to the natives of Indian that, in the depth of their gratitude, the animal has been elevated by them to the rank of god
 An attempt was once made by he African association to introduce the Asiatic elephant into the Congo country. The success of the famous Abyssinian campaign, largely due tc the help of A. Indian elephants, who carried the heavy British artillery across the mountainous ravines of Ethiopia, was. at that time, still fresh in everybody's mind. In 1879. there. fore, four Indian elephants, which had been brought from Calcutta were landed in the Bay of Masasani The animals, however, only survived few months, and the failure of the attempt led to the snpposition that the Asiatic elephant could not stand the climate of Africa. This is prob ably true, though the coarseness oI the food given the Indian elephant. in Africa had much to do with tn, death of the four animals.
 In ancient times African elephant, were tanned by the Romans, who useC l them in battle. Afterward the,