ELEPHANTIASIS 



2007 



ELGIN 



the enclosure, and the gates of tree trunks are 

 closed. For a while the imprisoned animals 

 dash about ferociously, but when they have 

 quieted down somewhat, trained elephants with 

 their drivers enter, and each wild animal is 

 roped or fastened to the wall of the keddah 

 or to a strong tree. Before long, through 

 hunger and thirst, they become submissive and 

 then may be tamed and trained. 



Elephants of Long Ago. Since earliest times 

 elephants have been known and trained for 

 service. Egyptian monuments show repre- 

 sentations of these beasts being led into Egypt. 

 King Poms, when fighting Alexander the Great 

 in Northern India, had war elephants in his 

 army. With an army of elephants Hannibal 

 inspired terror on his invasion of Italy. So, 

 for centuries they have been used, and still 

 plod patiently for their masters in many re- 

 gions. Although usually gentle in captivity, 

 they must be carefully watched for sudden dis- 

 plays of temper. With their powerful trunks 

 they can encircle the waist of a man and hurl 

 him to the earth with such violence as to kill 

 him instantly. The fossil bones of two great 

 extinct animals related to the elephant, the 

 mammoth and the mastodon, are frequently 

 found in Europe and America. See MAMMOTH ; 

 MASTODON. V.L.K. 



ELEPHANTIASIS, el e fan ti' a sis, a name 

 given to two diseases common in the Indies 

 and other warm countries, so called because 

 the skin of the sufferer becomes rough, in 

 slight degree like the hide of an elephant. 

 One is leprosy (which see) ; the other is the 

 elephantiasis sometimes known as Barbados 

 leg. The disease comes on slowly, one attack 

 followed by another, and after each attack 

 some part of the body, usually the leg, grows 

 larger and larger, often reaching a startling 

 size. Sometimes it is necessary to cut off the 

 affected part. It is caused by the presence of 

 a threadlike worm under the skin, which may 

 have been transmitted by a mosquito. Change 

 of climate and quinine will cure some cases. 

 Lying in bed with the affected part elevated, 

 and careful treatment by massage, elastic 

 bandages, etc., will bring relief. 



ELGIN, el' jin, ILL., a city famous for its 

 manufacture of wat'ches and as a butter mar- 

 ket, is situated in the northeastern part of the 

 state, in Kane County, thirty-seven miles west 

 of Chicago. It occupies an area of about seven 

 square miles along the Fox River. The popu- 

 lation, almost entirely American, was 25,976 in 

 1910 and 28,203 in 1916. Elgin is on the Chi- 



cago, Milwaukee & Saint Paul and the Chicago 

 & North Western railroads, and is connected 

 with other railroads and the surrounding towns 

 by intemrban lines. 



Industries. Dairying is extensively carried 

 on throughout the fertile farm country about 

 Elgin, and this occupation has made of that 

 city one of the most important butter markets 

 of the world. Current quotations of the Elgin 

 Board of Trade, operating under a decree of the 

 United States courts, establish the market 

 price of high-grade butter throughout the 

 United States. A great condensed milk com- 

 pany is one of the oldest manufacturing plants 

 in the city, and its trade is world-wide. The 

 Elgin National Watch Company, the city's 

 largest industrial establishment, produces 3,000 

 watches daily. Elgin watches are well known 

 in every part of the civilized world. Among 

 a long list of other manufactured articles pro- 

 duced at Elgin are butter tubs, shoes, pipe 

 organs, automobiles, coffin fixtures, rugs, lum- 

 ber and sheet-metal products. More than 120 

 manufacturing industries give employment to 

 over 8,000 people, and the annual pay roll 

 aggregates nearly $10,000,000. The D. C. Cook 

 Publishing Company and the Brethren Pub- 

 lishing Company are two well-known houses 

 located here. 



Public Buildings and Parks. Elgin is fre- 

 quently called the City of Churches, in recog- 

 nition of many handsome church edifices. 

 Among many other prominent buildings are 

 the fine city hall; the post office, erected at a 

 cost of $150,000; the Gail Borden Public Li- 

 brary; the Y. M. C. A. and Y. W. C. A. build- 

 ings and the Masonic Temple. Lord's Park, 

 located a little more than a mile from the cen- 

 ter of the city, covers seventy-five acres and 

 contains a number of small lakes, a pavilion, 

 zoo and museum. Wing Park, containing 112 

 acres, has a fine golf course; Central Park is 

 a small, attractive park close to the business 

 district. 



Institutions. In addition to its public 

 schools, important among which is the high 

 school building, erected in 1909 at a cost of 

 $350,000, Elgin has the Elgin Academy of 

 Northwestern University, Saint Mary's Acad- 

 emy (Roman Catholic) and a number of busi- 

 ness colleges and music schools. Sherman Hos- 

 pital, with its nurses' training school, is owned 

 and conducted by the Elgin Women's Club. 

 Saint Joseph's Hospital is in charge of the 

 Sisters of Saint Francis. The Northern Illinois 

 Hospital for the Insane, which accommodates 



