River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1903-02-12
WILL PROTECT ELEPHANTS.
state to Save the Animals
from Slaughter.

slaughter of elephants in the state,
and renewed efforts are being made
under the auspices of the government
to domesticate the African elephant.
To prevent the total determination of
these useful animals is problem of
vital Importance for the future of Bel
GUMS great African dependency 1t
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 to 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 colonist. 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. 'In former days." he said, 1.-The
Congo natives only killed off certain
number of elephants every year and
confined their slaughter to the male
adults. But to-day the natives, spurred
on by the greed of Europeans for
ivory, kill unfortunately the old
and the young animals, whether male
of female. Elephant hunting, more
over, as practiced in the Congo, is
a much easier operation than is gem
orally supposed. The usual method of
the Congo natives is to prepare large
pits into which the elephants are
driven and killed without trouble or
danger.
GAS for the socalled European
'sportsmen.' 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 no less than 152
elephants"
NJ. 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 domesticatiOn
of the animals. Such an agreement,
says NJ. Fuchs, would have strong
chances of being crowned with sue
cess. Certainly there is no time to 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 coloni-
zatiOn.
SIN the whole animal creation"
said M. Fuchs, ''there is not to be
found more intelligent and harm
less creature, nor one more easily
managed, and more apt, in other
words, to become mans friend and
helpmate, than the elephant. 1t has
taken all the ferOcious brutality of
the African negroes, melted by the
criminal cupidity of Arab and Euro
pean ivory traders, to transform into
a savage and ferOciOus animal a crea-
ture best suited by nature to be
mans associate. In order fully to
realize the effect of mans kindness
on the elephant it is but necessary
to compare the animal to-day as it
is found in Indian on the one hand
and in Africa on the other. In India
the elephant is mans inseparable
companion, and when the Hindu does
hunt him it is not for the purpose of
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 a god
An attempt was once made by
the African association to introduce
the Asiatic elephant into the Congo
country. The success of the famous
Abyssinian campaign, largely due to
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
a few months, and the failure of the
attempt led to the suppOsition that
the Asiatic elephant could not stand
the climate of Africa. This is prob
ably true, though the coarseness of
the food given the Indian elephants
in Africa had much to do with the
death of the four animals.
In ancient times African elephants
were tanned by the Romans, who used
them in battle. Afterward they
trained them for circus games.
Rotten in Denmark.
''The returns show" cried the can
didate, that l was defeated in my own
division. They only gave me rs votes.
There's been some crooked work
there"
You think you really got more
votes than that?"