Mooney Warther-Worlds Master Carver

I have couple memories about Mooney Warther.  In the 1950's I visited his workshop twice.  Once with my Brownie troop and once with classmates on a field trip.  The first visit with the Brownies was by far most impressionable.  We stood in his workshop and listened to a rather well rehearsed story, I'm sure told by him thousands of time by now, about his life and carvings.  He spoke very loudly, too loud really for such a small close group, but it kept our attention.  I can still hear it easily in my head.  His voice was kind of high, tenor.  He told about the steel mill he'd carved, and about the Lincoln train which carried Lincolns body after the assassination.  I loved Abraham Lincoln and felt sorry as I looked inside that train car and saw his body laying in it.    Another thing he told was about the elephant ivory.  There was a large tusk sawn in half lengthwise, and hung on the wall with the inside facing outward.  Running down the center of the tusk was a rather thick brown streak, all the way from the tip to the end where it had been cut off.  Mooney told us the elephant had a cavity, like a cavity we get in our own teeth.  He said when the cavity reached the root, the elephant would go mad and run through villages, the pain almost too much to bear.   I felt so bad for that elephant. 

He carved each of us a pair of pliers.  I actually watched him carve mine, then he handed them to me.  They were lovely, and I treasured that gift.  I played with them too much and tried to "use" them to pinch something and a handle broke!  I was upset with myself. 

About 10 years ago, I saw pieces of uncarved elephant ivory from the Dover, OH auctioned on eBay.  There was a lot of it and I regret not bidding on a piece or two.  I can't remember now if it said it was Warther's, but I think it did.  Now it is illegal to sell ivory in the USA.

 http://www.warthers.com/Ernest_Warther.htm