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Music Trade Review.
The Only Music Trade Paper in America, and the Organ of the Music Trade of this Country
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VOL. IX.
No. 21.
a
1879.
83.00 PER YEAR.
SINGLE COPIES, 15 CENTS.
NEW YORK, JUNE 5 TO 20, 1886.
that a collision with a wounded elephant was, of
course, to be studiously avoided.
The male, or tusk-bearlng elephants, are the ones
slaughtered. It is a strange fact that only about
half the male elephants are tusk-bearing, or " tusk-
EDITORS AND PBOPBIETOBS.
ers," and yet a non tusk bearing elephant may beget
a tusk-bearer. After the slaughter, the work of re-
WILL. G. CARR,
moving the tusks and teeth is simple, being perform-
ASBOCIATE EDITOR.
ed with saws. To our inquiry about the danger of
22 EAST 17th STREET, NEW YOEK.
extermination, our informant stated that although
50,000
animals were annually slain to meet the
SUBSCRIPTION (including postage) United States and Canada,
demands throughout the world for ivory, there ap-
$3.00 per year, in advance; Foreign Countries, $4.00.
peared to him to be little danger of material decima-
ADVERTISEMENTS, $2.00 per inch, single column, per insertion;
unless inserted upon rates made by special contract.
tion, owing to the fact that, in the wilds in the back
country.hundreds of miles from civllzation, elephants
Entered at the New York Post Office as Second Class Matter.
were thick as flies, and then too much care was
always taken to kill only tusk-bearing elephants,
HOW IVORY IS OBTAINED.
thus preserving the " non-tuskers " to breed "tusk-
ers." When the hunters have obtained as much
AN INTERESTING INTERVIEW WITH AN ivory as they can transport to town—the journey
thither being a difficult one by boat and horse—they
ELEPHANT HUNTER.
return to town, and if they represent some company,
HERE are some peculiar and interesting facts the ivory is immediately shipped; but should the
about hunting elephants, which are perhaps hunters be speculators, they put their goods on the
market to be auctioned off to the highest bidder;
not generally known.
We had the pleasure, a day or two since, of an in- the result of a hunt netting anywhere from one to
terview with an American gentleman, just returned ten thousand dollars. Sometimes the hunting party
from Africa, who has spent eight years in the may have to spend weeks in the fields before encoun-
tering a single elephant, and they may be fortunate
diamond and elephant fields.
The hunting of elephants is done mainly by the na- enough to strike a herd the first day out in the hunt
tives or.Kafflrs, in charge of a white man,|who usually which will yield them all the ivory they can trans-
port.
represents an English company.
The tusks vary in size and quality, the largest
Until comparatively recent times, the native Afri-
being
the finest, and proportionately more valuable
cans hunted the elephant for its flesh, of which they
are very fond, but since the arrival of the ivory than the smaller ones. In weight they run from ten
trader the natives, who formerly regarded the tusk to two hundred pounds, and on rare occasions a tusk
as mere bones and left them to rot along with the will be found measuring eight feet and weighing two
rest of the skeleton, have discovered the value of hundred and fifty pounds. When cut from the
ivory, and this has consequently led to the destruc- animal, the ivory presents a semi-transparent color,
tion of the animal on a much larger scale than for- owing to the oily substance contained in it. In this
state it is called green ivory, but when it is dried
merly.
The modus operandi of the actual capture of the it becomes lighter and more opaque. It is neces-
elephant, as related by our informant is as follows : sary to shrink it before it can be used for piano
The journey to the fields where the elephants keys and billiard balls.
A large proportion of African ivory goes to Lon-
abound, starting say from Cape Town, is usually
don,
and is there auctioned off to consumers from all
made by three or more white men, and occupies from
three days to a week. Upon reaching their destina- parts of the world, America taking about 500,000
tion, which is the domain of some powerful Kaffir pounds annually—Comstock, Cheney & Co., of Cen-
chief, the first thing to be done is to get into the trebrook, Conn., Pratt, Read & Co., of Deep River,
Conn., and Sylvester Tower, of Cambridgeport, Mass.,
good graces of the chief.
The easiest way to accomplish this is to bring him taking large quantities for the manufacture of piano-
presents—trinkets of various kinds, but the thing forte keys. As strict economy is necessary in cut-
which touches his heart quickest is a good rifle, ting the ivory, owing to its great expense, various
and the better the rifle the better the chief is pleased, devices have been resorted to for the purpose of
for the Kaffir of to-day is as good a judge of a rifle utilizing every bit of the tusk.
The scrolling machine of Messrs. Comstock, Che-
as any body.
n«y&
Co., which cuts the ivory into strips for piano-
This done the party await an invitation to visit the
chief, which is certain to come, for he is childish keys is an ingenious contrivance. It is a large cir-
and the presents put him in good humor. The cular saw, which revolves with great velocity,
hunters then visit the chief and make known the against which the ivory is run, having first been cut
object of their visit to his kingdom, and the chief into cylindrical blocks. The teeth of the saw just
tenders the hunters the service of as many natives as shaves the surface of the ivory prism into a ribbon
they require—usually a hundred. Then the hunt of the required thickness of pianoforte keys.
A ribbon ninety feet long will thus be drawn off
begins.
The party scatters in different directions, looking from a good-sized tusk. An idea of the enormous
for the herds of elephants, and when a herd is found, proportions to which this branch of the ivory trade
the whole party is notified, and the natives close in has reached may be had, when it is stated
around them and herd them close together, and the that Comstoek, Cheney & Co., alone, import about
slaughter begins, the natives using javelins and a 100,000 pounds of ivory annually, at a cost of about
few firearms, and the whites using repeating rifles. $250,000.
Our informant stated, in reply to the inquiry if there
The three concerns named above are the three
was not danger attending the slaughter, that there largest of the kind in the world, turning out more
was comparatively little danger—but little more than ivory pianoforte keys than all similar concerns in
would be encountered in buffalo hunting—excepting the world.
PUBLISHED * TWICE * EACH * MONTH.
THE HEXAGON POSTAL BOX.
W E L L E S & BILL,
URING a recent visit to the Brand Manufac-
turing Co., New Britain, Conn., who make
almost every class of hardware, we saw the
Hexagon Postal Box, which interested us immensely,
and we trust a brief description will be interesting
to our readers. This box is made by the Hexagon
Postal Box Co., in Norwalk, Ohio, and it is decidedly
the best one ever made. The call boxes are of sheet
metal, which is manufactured and imported ex-
pressly for the firm. The boxes being hexagonal,
enables the firm to put a greater number within a
given space than any other form of box with same
capacity. These boxes will take up only about one-
fourth of the room of the old-fashioned wooden
boxes, and at the same time will hold more mail
matter than a square or oblong box. There is less
danger of loss in case of fire, as the Hexagon boxes
are cased in sections, and are held together by
patent fastenings easily detached, so as to allow two
men to remove them, in ease of danger, without dis-
turbing the mail, and set them up ready for business
in a short space of time. They are crimped, and
locked front and back, making them one hundred
per cent, stronger than an old wooden box ; and they
are handsomer in appearance than any box in use.
The company has adopted a new and unique style of
numbering, with metal chips attached to the upper
point of the Hexagon boxes, with gold bronze num-
bers on a black background, which obviates the
necessity of re-painting the figures on the glass in
case of breakage. The glass being plain, the view
of the interior of the box, is unobstructed. The
advantage of the Hexagon box over all others can-
not be fully appreciated until seen, but it will be of
interest to every postmaster to send and get partic-
ulars and prices. The company make boxes suit-
able for any post office in the United States, and we
believe it wilj not be long before the Hexagon box
comes into general use.
T
D
. EXPORTS AND IMPORTS.
EXPORTS.
WEEK : ENDING MAY L8,
] 1886.
Liverpool,
26 cases, $1,488
50
1 case
15 "
700
645
11 '•
85
1 •'
85
1 "
26
1 "
Organs,
Organette
London,
Organs,
Netherlands,
Organs,
Oporto,
Organs,
U. S. Columbia, Organ,
Central America, Organ,
IMPORTS.
WEEK ENDING, MAY 14, 1886.
279 packages,
.
.
.
.
$19,803
EXPORTS.
WEEK ENDING MAY 25, 1886.
Bremen,
Organs,
Hamburg,
Piano Materials,
"
.
Orgulnettes,
"
Organs,
Amsterdam,
Organs,
New Zealand, Organs,
Br. W. Indies, Piano,
6
$360
2 cases, 275
4 "
400
1,220
19
205
4
100
1
1
230
IMPORTS.
WEEK ENDING MAY 24, 1886.
220 cases,
$18,709