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THE SUXDAT OREGOMAX, PORTLAND, JULY 5, I90S.
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FOR
BY FRANK G. CARPENTER.
SIXTY-FIVE THOUSAND elephants
were killed In Africa last year,
and more than a million and a half
pounds of ivory were taken from them
and shipped off to Europe. Of this,
I fully one-third came from Zanzibar,
f another third was from Portuguese
!East and West Africa, and a large
'part of the balance was from the val
j ley of the Congo. Cape Colony fur
inished a hundred thousand pounds,
1 Egypt three hundred thousand pounds,
and a large part came from the Niger
territories and Lagos. During the past
6lx months I have been traveling
through the lands of ivory and ele
phants. I saw tusks for sale in the
; Egyptian Sudan. At Mombasa I was
'shown $50,000 worth of Ivory in one
jplle, and during my travels through
(Uganda and German East Africa I
.passed many long lines of porters car
trying elephants" tusks on their heads
(or tied to long poles, which rested on
thelr shoulders.
A Great Ivory Market.
Zanzibar has for years been one of
the chief Ivory markets of the world.
;There are companies here which have
their buyers and traders scouring Ger
man and British East Africa, as well
as the Portuguese possessions, farther
south. These men take beads, cottons
and other merchandise to trade with
the natlvrs, and when they have ac
cumulated a cargo they send it on the
heads of porters down to the sea coast.
Much is now coming to Lake Victoria
and over the Uganda railroad to Mom
basa. A great deal goes to Tabora, in
the center of German East Africa, and
thence on east to Bogomoye, on the
coast opposite Zanzibar, while other
caravans bring ivory to Bogroro, and
It Is sent thence by railroad to Dar ea
Salaam.
There are herds of elephants about
the slopes of Mount Kilimanjaro, and
the hunting goes on in the forests of
the Great Rift valley. In British East
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Africa it costs ?2f0 for tho rlslit to
fchoot pleThnnts, and a liuntcr dares
not kill more tlian two during a soa
un. It Is aealnst the law to kill the
laty elephants or cow elephants there,
end the same regulations prevail in
T'eanda. In the rtrltish Sudan a license
la required to shoot any kind of hip
name, and this is also true of British
Central Africa. In German Kast Af
rica hunters are charped a few rupees
for their elephant shootlns: licenses,
Init they must pay a royalty to the
Kovernment on all the ivory they Ret.
As it Is, there Is considerable protit
In the business, and in the German col
onies a fairly stood hunter often makes
Mur money. A single elephant may
Slve tusks worth a thousand dollars
end upward, and an old bull may pro
duce three or four hundred pounds of
the choicest Ivory.
African Ivory tho Best.
This African ivory brings the high
est prices in the markets. It is su
perior to any other in the size of the
tusks. I have seen some which are
nine feet long, and there are some
which weigh as much as 200 pounds
raeh. The average weight of a tusk
Is much less than this, and one of loo
pounds Is quite valuable. In India
the average tusk does not weight BO
pounds, but that of tho African ele
phant Is much heavier. Many of the
tusks are broken when they are
brought into the market. The ele
phants use them for plowing tip roots
and tearing down trees, and also for
fighting: their enemies. The average
tusk is strong and elastic, hut it can
be broken, and the ends are some
times snapped off. Ivory tusks are
always sold by weight, and the trad
ers tell me that in buying them of the
natives they have to be careful to see
that pieces of Iron and bits of stone
bae not been driven Into the hollows
of the horns to make them weigh more.
Pulling an Kloiluint's Tooth.
Many of you have been In the hands
of a dentist and have oen how he almost
breaks your Jaw in pulling a molar with
a long root. The tusks are really ele
phant's teeth, and it is difficult to get
them out of a dead elephant. They are
fitted Into a bony socket, and the roots
go almost up to the eyes. A tusk eight
feet long may have two feet of its root
Imbedded in the skull, and If it Is taken
away at once the head has to be chopped
to pieces to get it out.
In addition to the tusks the elphant
had six great teeth inside its mouth
on each side Its Jaw above and be
low, and these are almost as firmly
Imbedded as the tusks themselves.
Th tusks are hollow about half way
up. The smallest forms a big load
for a man. while one weighing 150
pounds requires four porters to carry
1 it. Such men are paid from 3 to '$
cents a day for their labor, so that
In Africa, Sixty-Five Thousand
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of transportation s not
Demi Ivory.
Have you ever heard of dead ivory?
There Is a vast amount of it still left
In Africa, and thousands of pounds are
shipped to the ports every year. Dead
Ivor j- comes from animals which have
died a natural death, or from tusks
which have been gathered by the
chiefs of the villages and stored away.
Ivory has always been an evidence of
wealth in Africa, and some of the
petty African kings have piled up
ivory as our misers hoard money at
home. Some of them have buried it
near the villages, and others have
made stockades of ivory tusks about
their dwellings. During recent years
some of such ivory has been gathered
together, but there is said to be much
buried yet to be unearthed. In addi
tion to this is the Ivory of elephants
which have died natural deaths. This
Is composed of the enormous tusks of
aged elephants which have dropped in
their tracks or have been killed by
lions and other wild animals. Their
bones lie where the huge animals fell,
and the earth and leaves have cov
ered them so that they are frequently
hidden from view. am told that the
pygmies have killed many elephants
with poisoned arrows, but, not know
ing the value of the tusks, have left
them lie idle where they fell. Some of
this dead ivory has been injured by
the forest fires, but that imbedded In
the mud or covered with vegetation is
still of great value.
Elephant Meat.
I met the other night an old ele
phant hunter who has made many
thousands of dollars In ivory. He has
not only shot elephants, but eaten
them, and he tells me the meat is not
at all bad. A good-sized animal often
weighs as much as five tons, and when
one is killed the natives come in for
miles around and have a great feast.
They cut up the huge beast with axes
and knives and tear the meat off in
strips and smoke it as we smoke beef.
They make elephant steaks and roasts,
and they cook the trunks and feet in
holes In the ground. The foot is con
sidered a delicacy. It is prepared by
making a fire in a hole and laying the
foot on the burning coa'.s. Some
sticks are then placed over the mouth
of the hole and a layer of green leaves
is spread upon them. A thick deposit
of earth Is placed on top, and the meat
Is allowed to cook and steam for sev
eral hours. After it is taken out the
skin is removed, when the Jelly-like
interior is ready for eating. I am told
that It is so tender that It can be
scooped up with a spoon. The ordi
nary elephant steak is black in color,
and when cooked it looks and tastes
a little like corned beef.
A Great Ivory Trust.
The Kuropean nations which have col
onies In Africa are trying to keep the
elephants from being destroyed. This is
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especially so of Belgium, which hopes
some day to form an ivory monopoly. A
great part of the elephants still living
are in the Valley of the Congo, and so
many have died that it is expected that
ivory will grow more valuable from year
to year. As it 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
thousand pounds of Ivory on hand, and
sales are made about four times a year.
These sales are duly advertised and buy
ers from everywhere come in to attend
them. The other chief markets are Liv
erpool and London.
During a recent visit to the Colonial
Musuem at Brussels I saw one of the
heaviest elephant's tusks ever found. It
weighs over 200 pounds, and as I stood
beside it It reached high above my head.
The biggest ivory tusk ever discovered
was brought to Tabora, In German East
Africa, in 1SS6.. and was shipped from
there to Hamburg. It was almost ten
feet In length.
The ivory dealers here tell me that the
best of the ivory goes to America, and
that the second and third-class tusks
are consumed in Europe. The fourth
grade ivory is sent to East India for
filigree work, and the poorest of all goes
to China, where it is used for Inlaying
furniture ' and boxes. The very best
quality of ivory is employed in making
piano keys and fan sticks, and also for
the little statuettes cut out by the Jap
anese. Much of the product goes into
billiard balls, knife handles, combs and
fancy articles. During a visit I once
paid to Sheffield. England. I was shown
about tlOO.OOO worth of ivory which had
been brought there to be used for knife
handles, 'and I saw them sawing up the
tusks into strips for this purpose. In
such work every scrap of the material is
saved, the shavings and dust being val
uable for making Ivory black or artists'
pigments.
Mammoth Ivory.
Some of the most remarkable ivory
used within recent years is that which
has come from the mammoths found in
the tundras of Siberia. This is from
huge animals which lived ages ago, but
whose bones, protected by the frozen soil
of Northern Asia, are as good today as
when the animals died. It Is even said
that in some cases the entire carcasses
of the mammoths have been found, their
frozen flesh, skin and hair having been
thus kept for these thousands of years.
The first of this frozen ivory was found
over 300 years ago. and about 70 years
since the annual output was estimated
at over 100,000 pounds. It is said that
Animals Are Slain Every Year to
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more than 1600 mammoth tusks were
sold in the year 1872. At present the
greater part of said ivory is going to
China. It does not compare in quality
with our elephant ivory, the greater part
of it being poor, while some is abso
lutely worthless.
Zanzibar Versus Dar es Salaam.
The Germans are now competing with
the British for the transcontinental trade
of Central Africa. The old slave route
began at UJiJi, on Lake Tanganyika, and
came across German East Africa to Bogo
moyo and thence by boat to Zanzibar.
The slave traders loaded their slaves with
ivory tusks and made them carry them
across country. When they got them
here they sold both slaves and ivory to
the Zanzibar merchants. In such cases
many of the slaves were females, and
were used to supply the harems of Ara
bia, Syria and Turkey, as well as of
Egypt and other Mohammedan countries
of North Africa. Such merchandise was
known as black ivory, in contradistinc
tion to tho elephants' tusks, called white
Ivory.
Since Germany has gotten possession of
the mainland opposite here the ivory trade
has been diverted to Dar es Salaam, and
a large part of the product now goes
there. This trade will Increase with the
building of the railroad, which Is now be
ing pushed on toward Lake Tanganyika
It will go to Tabora, and from there
probably on to TJjiJi. with a branch to the
Victoria Nyanza. The shipping of Dar es
Salaam is rapidly increasing. That port
has a good harbor, and the largest steam
ers are now calling there.
Queer African Natives.
The Germans are rapidly exploring their
colonies, and they are finding . some
strange things away out here in the Af
rican wilds. They have altogether seven
or eight million of the natives in their
part of the white man's burden; and they
are divided up into many nations and
tribes. Some of the most intelligent axe
about Tabora, and It is from there that
the colony expect to get the labor to culti
vate the plantations along the seacoast.
The natives of that region have a king
and subordinate chiefs; and women are
so highly regarded that they are some
times elected as the chiefs of their re
spective villages. These people believe In
spirits, and they think that the dead live
again, as spirits. Every chief has .a hut
in which the spirits are supposed to dwell.
They have medicine men and witch doc
tors; and they think that a good medicine
man can change himself into a wild an
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imal at will and thus torment his ene
mies. Kducation of the Xegroes.
The Germans are ruling these people
to some extent through their chiefs, and
they are establishing schools to teach
them. The missionaries are also at work
In different parts of German East Af
rica, and the government has high
schools and manual training schools
with European teachers, who use' col
ored assistants. This work Is Just in
the beginning, but it promises to grow.
Fifty-two colored teachers are already
employed and the schools have several
thousand pupils.
There are but few whites in the in
terior of that colony, and almost none
excepting officials. In Tabora there are
eight foreigners, of whom six are mili
tary officials. In TJJljl. on Lake Tan
ganyika, there are only four white
men, two are ci"ilians. one being a doc
tor and the other a trader. At Usam
buru, at the head of the lake, there are
four Europeans, and at Bismarkburg
on the southern end there are only two.
both of whomare officials. At Mwan
za. on Lake Victoria. I found about 20
Europeans equally divided between the
military and civil branches of the gov
ernment. Among the AVashashl.
There is a queer town of Lake Vic
toria belonging to the Germans which
I have not mentioned in my previous
letters. I called there during my tour
around the lake. It Is known as Shi
ratl, and It lies near the boundary of
British East .Africa. The country
about it. is beautifully rolling. The
hills slope gently up from the lake,
and upon them stand hundreds of
thatched huts, an Indian business sec
tion and a fort belonging to the Ger
mans. The people are somewhat like
the Kavirondo and a little like the Ma
sai. They are dark brown in color, are
well formed and of a good height. I
talked with one chief who was fully
seven feet tall, standing like a giant
above his fellows, who averaged, I
judge, about five feet six.
The Washashl, like the Kavirondo,
do not worry over their wardrobes.
Those I saw were almost naked. Many
of the women had only a. string of
beads about them and some wore fringes
of beads two or three inches long
hanging from their waist belts. The
men were often clad in a single goat
skin, which was shifted, so . that it
covered now the back and now the
front of the person. All wore jewelry.
I saw many- dandies who had on great
7 f V
Furnish the World With Ivory
coils of wire, and one whose arms and
legs were wrapped with brass wire, the
size of a lead pencil. Another man had
coils of this wire on his upper arm,
and that so tight that the flesh seemed
to be growing over them. I counted
the strands on one woman's calf. It
had eighteen parallel strands of the
thickness of a lead pencil, from where
the swelling began to the knees. Other
I wise, the lady was bare to the fringe
apron which ran around her waist.
Many of these natives had shields of
enormous size, made of skins fastened
to a framework and painted in bright
colors, and they had head dresses of
ostrich feathers which looked odd in
contrast with their nude bodies be
neath. They all carried spears, and
were celebrating a war dance.
The houses of Snirati are round huts
Invalid Receives 2000 Letters a Week
Charles Noel Douglas, Bedridden for Ten Years, Song-Writer and Editor.
ON the wall of a little 'bedroom in
the apartment-house at 1442 Pacific
street, Brooklyn, N. Y., hangs the
framed photograph of a famous actor
with an inscription reading: ."To Charles
Noel Douglas, the bravest man in the
world." The man who brought out this
enthusiastic sentiment lies flat on his
back across the room. Despite the fact
that this man is bedridden and has a
body often racked .with pain he is a
human dynamo.
Charles Noel Douglas has not known
what it is to have a healthy, strong body
since 1S97, but in these eleven years, de
spite difficulties that would have driven
an ordinary man insane or Induced him
to give up the apparently hopeless strug
gle, he has achieved more than many a
man does in a lifetime of health and
strength. He Is eJitor of two publica
tions and associate editor of three others.
Through these mediums it is his proud
boast that he reaches six million people
scattered all over the United States, and
to these six millions he is a friend,
counselor, guide and teacher referred to,
admired and beloved. He Is the author
of 700 lyrics and Jingles. He is the pub
lisher of his own volume of poems, which
In thousands of homes is regarded as a
household treasure. He has compiled
two volumes of quotations which con
tain 40,000 separate paragraphs. He is
the author of popular and topical songs
without number, which are sung by
many of the best-known artists on the
vaudeville stage. Besides, he has writ
ten a number of vaudeville playlets and
monologues, In addition to a dozen plays
for amateurs. He gets more mail prob
ably than any other individual in New
York, not excepting philanthropists and
millionaires. A week that brings 2000
letters is not at all unusual, most of
them from women who tell him the In
nocent secrets of their hearts. In the
midst of all this Industry, though a
"shut-In" himself, he finds time to help
other shut-Ins. and is perpetually
scheming to find, and to assist other bed
ridden ones who are no more fortunate
than himself, but lack his tremendous
will and energy.
He writes anything and everything.
Vaudeville singers call him up and tell
him they want a brand new lyric in
24 hours. Sometimes Mr. Douglas's
reply is to sing the desired lyric back
over the telephone. Occasionally a
singer tells him his or her new song
has caught the crowd like wildfire, and
encore verses absolutely must be had
by the next performance. Mr. Douglas
seldom fails them. "My head is hum
ming with ideas." he says. "The trouble
is I can't get them out fast enough."
Many of the most popular performers
on the stage owe their greatest song
hits to him, and he numbers his
theatrical friends by the score. By the
side of the photograph of Francis "Wil
son, who called him "the bravest man,"
is a portrait of Edna May, who pre
sented it, with the inscription, "A
Happy New Year to the author of the
prettiest and most successful song 1
have ever sung, "My Cozy Corner
Girl.' "
Mr. Douglas keeps four persons
pretty busy. His nurse, who is also hia
stenographer, looks after all his lite
rary work. A young man secretary
receives and assorts his mall and a
young girl attends to mall orders and
nls filing system.
To give an idea of the man's talk;
"Walt a moment and I'll show you my
book of lyrics In the original type
written form hand it to me, will you.
Miss Rutherford see here what a
stack of them. I sold that to Eva
Tanguay she's one of my best friends
picture hanging over there here's
another she's going to bring out
next month here's one that went to
Nat Wills Francis Wilson took that
I sold that to Judge a scream that Is
here's one I sold to Fanny Rice made
a big hit wait while I sing it to you
isn't that great? she was tickled to
death with it here's one that I'm go
ing to hold till I get a good price for
It listen to this melody won't that
bring 'em down, eh?" He is all enthusi
asm and ambition. He stops turning
over his lyrics for a' moment to tell
about a cripple out in Omaha who
wrote him a pitiful letter about his
desire for a little home of his own. Mr.
Douglas nublished the appeal and
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with thatched roofs and walls of up
right sticks chinked with mud. The
lnterlorof each house is divided Into
two compartments, one for the men
and the other for the cattle. The
cooking fire is made in the center of
the hut, the blaze being usually started
by means of friction. Just as our In
dians made fire before Columbus came.
The people sleep on the ground, using
pillows of wood.
Outside many of the huts I saw gran
aries. These are tall, round wicker
work baskets made of cane or plaited
rushes, chinked tight with cow dung.
They are raised upon poles a foot or so
from the ground, and have conical
roofs of thatch. There is a little door
at the top of each granary, through
which the corn is put In or taken out.
Zanzibar. June 8.
hardly had the publtpation appeared
when a wealthy woman telephoned him :
that she was ready to give $300 toward
a home for the cripple.
"Now wasn't that great, eh? It's a
good world lots of people with kind
hearts in' it all you have to do is to
tell them of some one tnat needs help
and then watch 'em rise. It's bully,
bully nothing like it think of being
able to do things for a shut-in 1000
miles away, eh? rve organized a so
ciety a Sunshine Society that now has
20,000 members every blessed one
of 'em willing and anxious to help. I
get pitiful letters by every mail ah,
if people only knew or the misery in
the world! But I don't go It blind. I
make sure first. Not long ago I got an
appeal for help from down South. I
wrote to the Postmaster of the town
and he replied that the writer was an
able-bodied negro woman who had
plenty but wouldn't work you see, I'm
business-like about it no grafters
need apply."
Mr. Douglas had never written a line,
he says, till his trouble came on him. The
story of his life and the way he has come
up out of the valley is no less remark
able than the man himself. He was an
actor originally "right much of a matinee
idol I was. too. In those days." he said,
with a chuckle. He came from England
in 1S88. He was with a road company in
Montana when a stage fall proved to be
only too real, but he did not suffer from
its effects till several years afterward.
Then he suddenly was stricken with some
spinal trouble and in February, 1837, he
found himself helpless. He came to
Brooklyn and went to a hospital. After
nine months there the doctors told him .
they could do nothing for him. They told
him he must leave and go to a public
hospital. He was without money and al
most friendless. He begged the hospital
authorities to give him a week in which
to earn money for himself. Rather
amusedly they gave him the week's time.
"I thought and prayed," says Mr. Doug
las. "At last, somehow, the inspiration
came to me to write a song. I had to bor
row pen and ink and even the stamp to
mail it. I sent It to IMay Irwin. After
two days of heartbreaking suspense I
got a check from her for $20. In my ex
hilaration I dashed off another lyric and
sent it to Weber & Fields. They replied
with another $20. I nearly died of Joy.
Ah. the Joy of creation, of being able to
earn your living! I continued to write,
but the alternating suspense and joy and
discouragement were too much for me.
The little strength I had gave way and
for months afterward I was barely able
to move.
"I won't go into details. The life I spent
for three years is too horrible for print
people don't like to read of sad things. '
Finally, in September, 1902, the tide turned
and I was able to move Into a little home
of my own. Ah. the joy! I had not seen
the outside world in six years. Now I
looked out on a band of children at play
and thanked God that I was alive! Things
have not gone smoothly since not by any
means but I have been able to work most
of the time. What more can a man ask.
anyhow? But at first It was hard, hard,
hard! I ask you what is harder than '
to write a column of good English, any
how? Consider the manual Iabo th
strain on the brain. I never gave up
hope. I worked. That's the thing to do
work! Don't sit around and dream and
say, 'I'll do it tomorrow when I feel
more like if get busy, grab hold of it.
butt right in. I have no fool ideas about
the work I do. you understand I don't
write for the highbrows but I get at the
people. They write me letters right out
of their hearts ah that's what makes
life worth while! To work, to be able to
help the folks not as well fixed as you.
to be independent ah, it's fine to be
alive !"
Mr. Douglas is nothing if not Inde
pendent of spirit. He objects strongly
to having his physical disabilities empha
sized and much prefers to be known for
his work. He is the last man in the world
to plead for a hearing simply because he
is a "shut-In. When the physical side
of being bedridden is dwelt on," he says,
"it puts one in the freak class, and I
think I have done enough good work to be
reckoned with on a literary basis alone."
You can search all over New York, you
can talk to men who have earned money,
fame, power, position, men with active
brains and bodily vigor but you will hunt
long before you will find another man
who is such a well-spring of bubbling Joy
in living as Charles Noel Douglas, who
is flat on his back at 1442 Pacific street,
Brooklyn. New York Press.