On November 17, 1954, the Indian Vice President, Dr. S. Radhakrishnan, presented an ivory gavel to Mr. Richard Nixon, Vice President, to replace the gavel damaged sometime ago. The ivory gavel was meant for the use of Mr. Nixon in the Senate, where he was the presiding officer. After a brief presentation ceremony, Mr. Nixon entertained Dr. Radhakrishnan to lunch.
In thanking the Indian V.P., Mr. Nixon said that the old gavel used in the Senate from the beginning of the Republic had begun to fall apart in recent years. It was made of ivory with silver caps at both ends. Senate officials seeking to replace it found that they could not obtain a sufficiently large piece of solid ivory and turned to the Indian Embasy for help.
The above news item from 1954 was recently found in The Hindu newspaper. I wonder if that gavel still exists. I am afraid it will now be impossible for us to replace with the ban on ivory use/trading. So the Yanks should take good care of it !
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