The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1868-11-07 00:00:00

THE REMARKABLE STORY OF A SACK

OF FLOUR.

The 'Gridley sack of flour, which hs.osine glorious about
the time of the American Sanitary Commission for the
benefit of the wounded sokilsrs in the army, was the effect
of a bet, and the stwry of Its sale and re-sale is thoroughly
Illustrative of this will extravagance, says the author of
" Far-Western Ramblers," in All the Year !knout. It is as
follows: .

....a...
There were two candidates for the mayoralty of the
village of Austin, in Nevada- a "city' in the wildest
part of the desert, and not then two years old, but
with five thousand inhabitants. Each candidate had
agreed, if defeated, to carry a sack of flour on his back
from Austin to a neighbouring village, in broad day.
Accordingly, when Mr. Gridley lost his election, he
prepared to fulfil his engagement. Headed by a band
of music in a waggon, leading his little boy (clad in
the national unit. in) by the hand, and with the sack
of flour on his back, followed by a mongrel procession
of miners and citizens Mr. Gridley took up his foot
journey to the appointed place. Arrived there, the
thought atruck lion that the gay virtu and patriotic
feelings of the cro ad, a hich grew as he travelled might
be turned to humane account. He instantly propos. d
now to sell the sack of flour for the benefit of the sick
and wounded in the army to the higite4 bidder.
The humour took. The sack was sold and sold ag in.
netting live thousand dollars. The amount realized
fired the ingenious Gridley with a resolve to make the
most of his lucky idea. Accordingly he started for a
journey of three hundred miles to N irginia city, with
the sack of flour in company. Arriving on a Sunday,
and finding a Sanitary Commission meeting going on
in the theatre, lie proceeded to the place, got admitted
to the stage, and there, telling his story to the audience,
soil the sack to the audience for five hundred and
eighty dollars. The next morning, having procured
a band of music, he proceeded to make a tour of the
neighbouring towns, Gold Hill, Silver City, and
Dayton, selling the sack wherever he could find bidders,
and adding the price labelled on the face of this more
than fortunatus purse. At Gold Hill the sack sold
for five thousand eight hundred and twenty-two dollars
fifty cents; at Silver City, for eight hundred and
, thirty dollars ; at Dayton, for eight hundred and
seventy•three dollars. Finally, rev 'ming te Virginia city
again, the sack, putting forward all its attractions, won
a prodigious sub.critition ,if twelve thous sad and
twenty.five dollars. Mr. Gridley, pursuing his sunned-
ful way, arrive' at Sacramento just as a "Sanitary Com-
mission picnic" was in progress. In the midst of the
festivities he marched into the crowd, a band of music

leading the way, a stalwart negro walked by his side
carrying the sack, and an extempore procession fi.llow-
ieg him, which grew larger every moment and pre-
sented himself for new conquests to the officers
of the day and the president of the commission.
Notwithstanding the stimulus of the patriotism and
champagne, the sack did not fare no well here as before.
But here several supplementary wrinkles of humour
were suggested by the sack. Among ushers, a good
woman, finding a small island of a few rods square in
the swamp, had erected abridge of one plank, and es-
tablished such a rate of toll that, to see nothing there,
cost the curiosity of some hundreds a half -dollar each.
Then the president of the commission was invited to
shake hands with some hundreds of the company, who
bought the pi ivilege at from .10 cents to a double eagle
(ten dollars) a piece, making his hat his till, until it
was literally half-full of silver and gold. Caret iit
hence to Sacramento, the sank was sold again at a
public lecture by the Rev. Dr. Bellows, for several
hundred dollars, and finally transported to San
Francisco ; it added moderate gains to its sour.
111,418 harvest even in that comparatively staid com-
munity. his months later the sack, with its irrepres-
sible owner, arrived in New York, en route for the great
fair at St Louis. He did not stcs here, and I believe
the suns realised by the subscription given in this old
way to the sanita. y fund was nut much short of
forty thousand dollars, or eight thousand pounds.