Cottonwood Chronicle Newspaper, April 6, 1923, Page 4

BUTTONS USED AS CURRENCY Practice That Was General During and After the Days of the Amer- ican Civil War. ro The people of Siam issue a coin about the size of a» bullet which wealthy Siamese use as buttons. Harry A. Franck, the noted traveler and writer, discovered in a corner of Ba- varia an old innkeeper who used large silver coins for waistcoat buttons and certain Mexican Indians are said to employ them similarly, On the contrary, the practice of us- ing buttons for coins Is rather unusual. But it is of interest to recall that this was done quite generally in the United States during and just after the Civil war, says the Detroit News. Because of the scarcity brought about by exportation and hoarding, metallic money of all kinds command- ed a premium at that time. There fore, firms, and in some cases Indl- | viduals, used buttons and various forms of tokens as money. These were in reality promises to pay or J. O. U.’s. This personal currency was recognized and accepted in the communities in which {it was issued and in nearby places, This use of buttons and tokens as money was in part responsible for the issuance by the United States govern- ment of “shinplasters.” These were paper certificates in denominations of 4 10, 15 and 25 cents. They received their name not because of any actual or fancied use, but because of their size, CONTRACT WENT TO GERMANS Americans Passed Up Opportunity Offered Them of Bullding the Bagdad Railway. In his “Under Four Administrations” Oscar S. Straus tells us how near the famous Bagdad railway came to being built by Americans instead of Ger- mans, It seems that In the year 1888 considerable pressure was brought by the Germans on the Turkish govern- ment for a railway concession to the Persian gulf. The grand vizler called upon the American ambassador, ask- ing him to interest some Americans in this railroad project. The most favor- able terms would be given to a group of Americans because then the project would be free from the political com- plications which would (and did) en- sue if a road through the heart of the empire was controlled by Ger- many. William K. Vanderbilt arrived at this opportune moment in his yacht. At the sultan’s request Mr, Straus tried to interest Vanderbilt in the railroad and introduced him to the grand vizier. But he was on pleasure bent and not inclined to take up more cares and burdens. Carl Schurz and Henry Vil- pi lard were the next two Americans to | whom Mr. Straus appealed, but soon afterward the porte gave the matter over to a group of German and French bankers, and the famous Bagdad rail- way was not built by Americans. Old Roadway Restored. ‘The old Coudersport pike, one of the historic highways of the eastern part of the country, running from Wil- Itamsport to Coudersport, Pa., was a very popular highway when it was opened in 1820 and proved to be a very important outlet to the North- west, but after years It was permitted to go into decay and was little used except by persons living along its length. It has been recently rebuilt and placed in first-class condition, und as it passes through beattiful count- try, will undoubtedly prove attractive to automobile parties, At one point there is a water tower on an eminence, and from this it Is possible to vlew a region which Is drained by three great watersheds. There is the Genesee river, which flows into the Gulf of St. Lawrence; the Susquehanna, which flows into the Chesapeake bay, and in- numerable small streams which ulti- mately find thelr way into the Alle gheny river and thence into the Gulf of Mexico. ¢ : H a a ee Avoid Growth of Suspicion. It was St. Augustine who defined suspiclon—that grim mistrust which | first tortures and then kills‘all that ts! finest in. our natures—as “the poison of | true friendship.” For whether this be stricken down suddenly, or dies by inches after months of agony, suspl- elon will destroy it in the end as sure ly as a biting December frost kills the} MOTTE sania soe last lingering blossom in a garden. And whether it creeps into the minds ¢ of statesmen intent upon the saving of % @ war-racked world, or chills the heart of the humblest among us, it brings > confusion and desolation, spoiling, de- t stroying, cursing. No words we could i find would be too strong to point it out ; as a common danger; yet so prevalent b is it that, vice though it be, it often passes unrecognized.—Exchange, English Swallows’ Farewell. Swallows fast slip away; only a few ‘of their fleet forms are still seen fiash- ing over the dewponds of downs by ,the sea. Before going the swallows sing a last exultant incantation, says \the London Morning Post. It is not \like those “swallow-flights of song” that charmed us in summer, the sweet ‘low warbling often heard in the heat and burden of a midsummer noontide, /when other warblers were silent—this ie a grand chorus of twittered good- | |bys from a thousand throats, an al- ‘most deafening chirping, as the sky ‘Ms darkened when the great packs | drift away southward with the settled purpose of departure. It is a tri-| valediction; 383 whe weuld t..“We skall come again™ LAND OF VAST RESOURCES -_—— Not Hard to Predict a Great Future for the Istand Continent ~ of Australia. The resources of Australia have not yet been fully exploited. It is pos- sible that at some time in the future the great desert regions in the north- west of the island continent and the wide plains in the center may be brought under cultivation. The principal vegetable productions | of the country are its evergreen trees, which furnish valuable timber, and its pasturage. Vegetable products in- clude eucalyptus, red gum, blue gum, palm, stringy bark, tron bark, acacia, Jarrah, karri, salt bush, Kangaroo grass; maize, wheat, potatoes, hay, barley, oats; bananas, grapes and other fruits, and tobacco, sugarcane and cotton. The wine industry is an important one. Animals raised are chiefly sheep (Australia being the world’s greatest wool-producing coun- try), and cattle (cattle rearing having developed to a large extent lately be- cause of the spread of the frozen-meat trade). Mineral resources include gold, silver, copper, iron, tin, antl- mony, manganese, Cinnabar and coal; and the chief exports are mutton, beef, butter, hides, skins, wool, wheat, gold and copper. Besides the products already named, there are valuable gems, such as sap- phires, rubies, emeralds, opals and garnets—while pearls are obtained through the pearl fisheries off the north -coast of Queensland and the northwest coast of Western Australia. SOUNDLY BEATEN BY INDIANS Expedition Under Captain Lovewell Met With Disaster In the Spring of 1725. Of all the combats in Maine be- tween the whites and Indians, the best known was “Lovewell’s fight.” In the spring of 1725 Captain Lovewell and 46 volunteers started from Dun- stable, Mass., to hunt Indians about -the headquarters of the Saco. They did this partly because the Indians were a menace to the settlements, and partly to secure the liberal bounty which had been promised for every Indian sealp. On the night of May 7 Lovewell and his men camped beside what Is known as Lovewell’s pond, in Fryeburg, Maine, only two miles from Pigwdcket, the principal village of the Indians of that region. Barly the next morning they killed an Indian, and not long afterward were attacked by three times thelr number. The fight con- tinued until dusk, when Lovewell and his band began to retreat. Only nine were uninjured. Some of them died on the way to the settlements, and those who finally arrived home were. half starved. Shark Towed Large Boat. While crossing the bay from Eng- Ish harbor, Newfoundland, to For- tune, about twenty-five miles, an 18- ton boat was becalmed about ten miles from shore. Hearing several splashes, the owner went forward and looking over saw a blue shark about ten feet long. He writes that he picked up a large tron hook, and tying a stout plece of rope to it he fastened the other end to the mast. He then put a plece of salt pork on the hook and dropped it over to the shark. No sooner was It In the water than the fish grabbed it and swam swiftly away. The rope was slacked out about ten fathoms, brought up with a jerk and the boat commenced to move. The shark eame to the sur- face several times but continued straight ahead, a little out of the course, The boat was towed eight miles when a strong breeze sprang up and It began to-go faster than the fish. The shark was hauled alongside and in payment for the tow was ‘allowed its liberty, the rope being cut close to its mouth.—Montreal Family Herald. Floral Chimeras. There are orchids of the tropics which exceed in strangeness of form and splendor of color anything pro- duced in conservatories, Among the most remarkable of these plants are those belonging to the genus masde- vallia. One species closely imitates the trunk of an elephant and is named accordingly, masdevallia elephanti- ceps. Another looks like a fiying plg- eon. The species to which the name “chimera” is specially applied is very extraordinary. With what resembles two slender legs and a flail-like trunk upraised from its head, the flower startles the beholder with Its resem- blance to some fantastic and mon- strous tmsect. The resemblance of these flowers to animals is so exact that even birds are Sometimes de- celyed by them, Other Side of the Dime. Do you know what & dime looks ke? Sure? Most people have a pretty good. gen- eral idea what a ten-cent piece looks like, but when it comes to details their concept is hazy, The same thing applies to the nickel, penny, quarter and half dollar, The next time you have specimens of all these coins in your pocket, pref- erably both the old and new designs, try this on the crowd. Probably not one person in a hun- dred can tell you precisely what Is on both sides of each coin. They will be able to tell you a woman's head on one side of the new dime, for instance, but not what is on the reverse. Without looking, now—wwhat is on the other side of that dime? es: a — ONLY ONE USE FOR MONEY Navaho Indians Quite Unable to See Any Virtue in the Practice of Saving. What !s money for if it is not to spend? The Navaho Indian does not seem to know. It is true, as Mr. Arno Nell remarks in Travel; that he drives a close bargain over nis blankets; yet as soon as his sales are ended off he rushes to the trading post. He will hever be a millionaire. One Navaho, says Mr. Nell, chose saffron calico one day to keep the lady of the hogan busy for many moons, making shirts for him and dresses for herself and the youngsters.” Finally, to my astonishment, he picked from the trader’s stock a Navaho blanket that had been manufactured in Chicago; the colors were bright green, yellow and brown; the design was elaborate, and the texture was flimsy. But the fellow, like most Navahos, admired the brightness of it and so bought it. Only one shining dollar now re- mained of his little pile; with it he bought tobacco and candy and then rode off, smiling and happy, with his treasures. I remarked to Tall Fellow, my companion, that his tribesman was rather reckless to spend his money as fast as he got it, but Tall Fellow, who was fondling a precious, newly pur- chased ‘string of beads, only -smiled. “Pesos,” he explained, “they are to trade with, No good keep.”—¥outh’s Companion, “NOTA “HIGHBROW” AUDIENCE Lecturer’a Story Reflects on Culture of Early Days of the West. A distinguished lecturer once told a story of an engagement he had made to deliver a discourse In one of the towns of the early West on the subject of the “Beacon Lights of Civilization.” “I reached the place,” he said, “a little behind time and went direetly to the hall, A large audience had as- sembled. I was introduced in due course by the president of the literary society under whose auspices I was to appear, and laying my manuscript on the desk before me I opened it and waited a moment ‘for the applause to subside, Imagine my horror when I found that I had accidentally brought along the wrong lecture—one on the ‘Wonders of Modern Hlectrical Scl- ence,.’” “What did you do?” asked one of the group to whom he was narrating the incident. “I went right ahead,” he replied. “The audience didn’t know the differ ence.”—Philadelphia Ledger. the Legend of Monkey-Faced God, The Hindus have a legend that Hanuman, the monkey-faced god, with the aid of a monkey army, helped rescue the wife of the divine hero Rama from a demon. ‘Another legend is that Hanuman brought men ~a stolen gift, the mango, a valued Indian frult. For the theft-the monkey was condemned to death by fire, but it escaped with only its hands, feet and face burned, and these ,jhave been black ever since. The hanuman monkey in his native land is a privileged being. In some Hindu communities these monkeys live in the top stories of the homes of the natives. If one mative bears an- other a grudge, he places rice or corn on-the enemy's roof during the rainy season. When the monkeys see this they eat the grain that is within reach, then tear up the tiles of the reof to secure the particles which have fallen, into the crevices, so the house is opened to the rain. Bird Has Bill Larger Than Head. The toucan, which is most abun- dent in the Amazon valley, but species of which are found in Central America and Mexico, 1s e bird freak, It has an enormoug bill larger than its ‘head, shaped ike a great lobster claw, and marked with bright colors, The tongue is also unusual, for it has slide notches, and is flat and feather-like; und the tail is joined to the body with a ball and socket joint, and can be raised above the back with a jerk. The black and green plumage is marked with white, orange, red or blue; and the eye with a double tris of green and yellow, has a broad black orbit, and 1s surrounded with a patch of bare orange skin. The bird feeds on insects and rep- tiles, and also eats bananas and or- anges, often doing great damage to orange orchards. Its nest is in a hol- low tree; its eggs are white, Long Syllables, It has been reported that-a word of 252 syllables has been found in the Sanskrit. This is obviously quite ‘an improvement on Aristophanes’ coined word of 77 syllables, and completely outdistances the English contender, “disestablishmentarianism.” Outside of the unique place these monstrosities oceupy In the economy of languages, !t is to be remembered that they, to the contrary notwithstanding, admit of facile pronunciation compared to the lowly little English word of but one syllable—"No!” Christian Science Monitor. In Boston, “Sir, would you give me the where- withal to purchase a meal?” “You should not be begging.” “I do not wisk to diseuss ethical questions. Make it the price of a bean randwich.” “He got it."—Louisville Jourval, Courier dias iM enough brilliant purple, carmine and- Try them and see.— | You'll Like the Styles Monday “becoming” to the individual. and by comparison. can be selected by mail. coats and dresses to Cottonwood for a day. your friends! COAT AND DRESS SALE Marshal Field & Co. Lines At the Cottonwood Hotel Poise i$ Born of the Assurance that One ts Well Dressed TYLES, colors and fabrics that are “pretty” of themselves, are not necessarily One can dress becomingly only by making her selection from a number of appealing garments—by studied judgment, sincere advice It is only once in a score of times that the “becoming” garment We are going to assist in this respect by bringing our whole selection of ladies assume you're going to pay a lot more for this service! 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