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Show A GOHNER IN ELK TEETH. Irfjsekanip Has Over 80,000 of Them I.oclceS Vp In Safety Vaults. Mr. John D. Losekamp of Billings, Hon., practically holds tho elk tooth stock of the entire country, and to his already enormous supply he is constantly constant-ly adding, the Indians and hunters bringing teeth to him from all over tho country. Not every one knows that the oik teeth, or rather the tusks, of which two only are found in tho mouth of tho adult elk, have a practical commercial value. The teeth are used as jewelry, mostly as pendants on watch guards or as insignia of tho secret society known as the Elks. The val&e of a tooth ranges from CO cents to $2. 50, according to its size, color and marking. - Sirs liorokamp has now over 80,000 elk teeth deposited in safety vanlta. Many of the old Indian dresses were highly ornamented with oik teeth, some of them being fairly covered with the teeth. Mr. Losekamp has lived on the frontier all his mature life and under stands Indian trading perfeotly, yet he has sometimes paid over 100 for a single sin-gle garment thus ornamented, caring, of oourso, for nothing but the teeth. The Indians brill the teeth to fasten them od their dresses, and this does not injuro the value of the tooth, but they have a much worse habit of sometimes staining the teeth a bright red. This dye cannot be estraoted and depreciates the value of the elk teeth for a whito customer. The Indians do not dye the teeth so much now since they have learned they can sell them for more in their natural state.--Forest and Stream. |