Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1908-07-04
lsfeaaI coe.s0ndene d Ne.s " E,ak q ce,sne

q
socket. and the roots 20 almost up to
the eyes tnsk eight feet long may
have two feet of its root lmbedded in
the skull, and II II Is taken away at
once the head has TO be chopped TO
pieces to get II out.
In addition 10 the tusNs the elephant
has ak great teeth inside It's mouth on
each Side It's jaw above and below. and
these are almost as firmly Embedded
as the tusks themselves The tuslss
are hollow about half way up. The
smallcs, forms a big load for man.
while one Weighing $50 pounds re-
luires four porters to carry It. such
men are paid from to cents a day
for their labor. so that the cost of
transportation is not heavy
DEAD IVORY.
Have you ever heard of dead ivory?
There is a vast quantity c7 IL still left
In Africa. and thousands OF pounds are
shipped 10 the ports every year Dead
ivory comes from animals which have
died "A natural death. or from u:slis
which have been gathered by the
chiefs of the villages and stored away.
ivory has always been an evidence Of
wealth in Africa, ana some of the
petty African kings have piled up ivory
as our misers hoard money at home.
Some OF them have buried IL near
their villages and others have made
siockades of ivory tusks about their
dwellings, During recent years some
of such ivory has been gathered to-
gether but there Is said TO be mucn
buried yet To be unearthed In adj
dltion TO this is the ivory of the ele-
phants which have died natural
Deaths. This Is composed of the
enormous tnsks of aged elephants
which have dropped In their tracks or
nave been Killed by lions and other
Wild beasts. Their bones lie where
the huge animals fell. and the earth
ana leaves have covered them 30 that
they are frequently hidden from view
am told that the pygmies have kill
ed many elephants with poisoned ar
rows but. not knowing the value of
me tusks' have left them lie idle
where they fell. Some Of this dead
ivory has been injured be- the forest
iires but that lmbedded In the mud or
covered over with vegetation is still of
greGt value.
ELEPHANT MEAT.
! met the other night an old clio
plant hunter who has made thousands
of dollars in ivory He has not only
shot elephants. but eaten them. and no
tells me the meat is not M all mad
good sized animal often WEIGHS as
much as five tons, and when one ig
Killed the natives come IN for miles
around ana have a great feast Thov
cpt up the huge beast with axcs and
FnlYeS and tear the meat off In strips
ana smoke II as we smoke beef. Th.y
make elephant steaks and roasts and
they cook the trunks and feet i'm holes
in the ground The foot is considered
delicacy II Is prepared bv maxi
ing fire IN a hole and laying the
foot on the burning Goals. Some sticks
are then placed over the mouth of the
hole and layer of green leaves rs
spread upon them. Thick deposit Of
earth Is placed on top and the meat Is
aliowed to cook and steam for several
hours, After II is taken out the skin is
removed. when the jelly-like interior
Is ready for eating. | am told that II
Is so tender that II can be scooned nm
with spSon, The ordinary elephant
steak Is black in color. and when
cooked II looks and tastes little llk.
corned beef
GREAT IVORY TRUST.
The European nations which have
colonies in Africa are trying to KEEP
the elephants from being DESTROYED
This is especially so of Belgium. which
hopes some day to form an ivory mon
opoly. great part of the elephants
sun living are in the valley of the
kongo and so many have died that it
Is expected that ivory will grow more
valuable from year to year As il Is
now the amount sold brings In millions
of dollars, and most of this comes
from the auctions at Antwerp. In that
city there are several hundred thous-
and pounds OF ivory on hand ana
sales are made about four times a year
These sales are duly advertised and
buyers from everywhere come In TO
attend them The other chief markets
are Liverpool and London.
During recent visit TO Che Colonial
at Brussels. | saw one of the
elephants tusks ever found. II
weighs over 200 pounds, and as / stood
beside it it reached high above my
head, The biggest ivory tusk ever
discovered was brought TO Tabora, IN
German East Africa. in 1885. and was
shipped from there to Hamburg. 1t was