ODDS AND ENDS. 



e 



STRANGE MONEY. 



"The strangest money I ever saw." said 

 a commercial traveler to a Washington 

 Star reporter the other day, was in the 

 mountain districts of Kentucky and West 

 Virginia. Early last spring I was making 

 my semi-annual tour through this region, 

 and I stopped at a little grocery store and 

 saloon, not to sell goods, but to get a drink 

 of the 'mountain dew.' While I was. 

 pouring out my drink a big. husky mount- 

 aineer entered the place and called for a 

 drink. As he finished gulping it down he 

 reached into a lar^te pocket and drew forth 

 what looked to be a coonskin. He laid the 

 skin on the counter; the barkeeper took 

 the skin, and. opening a drawer, hauled 

 out a rabbit skin, which ^e offered as 

 change. The mountaineer picked up the 

 skin and started to the front part of the 

 store, which was the grocery department. 

 He there bought a twist of plug tobacco 

 and tendered the rabbit skin in payment. 

 He received a big twist of long green, and 

 I was surprised to see the storekeeper 

 reach in another drawer and tender him a 

 squirrel skin The mountaineer tucked 

 the squirrel skin in his pocket, walked 

 out, unhitched his horse ani rode away. 



"I became interested, and engaged the 

 proprietor in conversation. He told me 

 that sometimes he would go for months 

 without seeing any real money, and that 

 the mountaineers used the skins in all 

 kinds of trades, such as buying provisions, 

 horses, etc. He said that four times a 

 year a hide-buyer from Lexington or Cin- 

 cinnati visited the country and bought up 

 all the skins, which were generally con- 

 centrated in the few stores in the vicinity. 



''But of all the queer financial transac- 

 tions I have ever known," continued the 



drummer, ' 'the oddest came under the head 

 of 'paying the fiddler.' It had been noised 

 abroad that a dance was to be given a little 

 way up the mountain, and I agreed to go 

 along with one of the boys to see the fun. 

 After going through the elaborate prepara- 

 tion of blacking his boots and putting on 

 a white shirt and collar, I saw my com- 

 panion go to the potato bin and carefully 

 select a dozen nice potatoes and put them 

 in his pocket. No sooner had we arrived 

 at the 'music hall' than he gracefully sur- 

 rendered his vegetables for an entrance 

 ticket. But what puzzled me the most was 

 that upon coming out, after dancing all 

 night, he was given two onions as change. 

 I have been trying to make up my mind 

 ever since just what that dance was worth 

 in the 'currency of the realm.' 



THE WRONG STATION. 



The train was roaring along about forty 

 miles an hour, and the conductor was bus- 

 ily punching tickets full of holes, when a 

 little, thin old man who sat in one of the 

 corner seats plucked his sleeve. 



"Mr. conductor, you be sure and let me 

 off at Speers Station. You pee, this is 

 the first time I ever rode on steam-cars, 

 and I don't know anything 'bout them. 

 You won't forget it, eh?" 



''All right, sir, I won't forget." 



The old man brushed back a stray l^ck 

 of hair, says Harper's Round Table, and. 

 straightening himself, gazed with increas- 

 ing wonder at the flying landscape, every 

 now and then exclaiming. ''Graciou^.'' 

 ''By gum!" etc. 



Suddenly there was a crash, >and after a 

 number of gymnastic moves that made him 

 think of his school days, he found himself 

 sitting on the grass of the embankment 

 alongside the track. 



