The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1896-08-16

sat on the stone horse-block Tor hal1 an
hour in deep thought. Then he, walked
into the furniture mans back yard.
picked up the old kettle that lay there. and
! started for the mint. The next week he
was back with a sheep which he had
bought from a man in Norehouse. He sold
the sheep and bought all the brass hinges
he could carry. a fortnight later he was
at Johnstown again. He had a nice pair
of horses and a big wagon this time, and
the wagon was full OF country produce. of
knit stockings, and legs OF mutton, and
rolls OF butter. and fresh killed cartridges.
and all the nice things that the up-river
country sends down TO market Hen took
back a load of pig brass and bought a
roadside hotel with a 1ourishing trade in
its bar. But he displayed in his sales of
every week his wagon went down to the
railroad, and when II came back Hen
bought a few cows or somebody's farm.
or hired a gang OF men to put MIN UP a
new barn.
Everybody else had experienced the same
difficulty in paying for things outside of
the COUNT so that they used their United
States money for their foreign trade and
the brass money for the domestic trans
actions. AS the Boy Orator explained to
and silver and greenbacks do go away. is
there not brass enough to give everybody
plenty of money!
II was noticeable. too. that the greatest
prosperity came TO the poor men. The
few rich men of the county did not seem
to take much interest in the BOOM They
went about their business. took no more
| of the brass money than they could help.
and paid that little very romptl to their
hired men, or in buying the farms ana
live stock of their poorer %neighbors. Lie
Benson was the only one of the well-to-do
men who traded extensively i'm Hamilton
dollars. Soon after the free-coinage act
became a law Lie took a three days trip
to Glens Falls and had a long conference
with the officers of a bank. After this
Lies operations attracted much attention.
He had a good many thousand dollars OF
brass coined. and of course became at once
a wealthy and prosperous citizen. Then he
\ went about calling on every man IN the
county. and of each man he bought one
suit of old working clothes and hired the
mans wife 70 put them in order. Also he
purchased pork and potatoes of everybody
who raised them. and laid in great stocks
of hay and oats. and bought nearly a hun
dred horses. A great many people thought
Lie was out of his mind and ought to re-
sign as supervisor.
Il tell ye.' said old Bill Burton to his
wife. Sar' Ann, early one morning as by
candle-light he pulled on his boots to drive
to Worthwhile, Life Benson is crazy if ever
cloes and a hundred horses eatin' their
heads off and more provision than ten fam
lilies could eat in a winter. and 1 believe
he's spent every cent he had
Then he amt the only old fool in town."
responded Sar' Ann. Il know one that
amt got provision in the house to last three
days and winter comm right On"
We'll. amt / goin' to Worthwhile now?'
said the old man in disgust. I'D gone
woods"
1t was past noon when Bill pulled up his
borrowed team in front of Hank Mead
ows's general store in Worthwhile Main
street: Bill was hungry, but he decided to
attend to business first. Entering the store
he sought the proprietor.
this time
Hank looked troubled. BILL" said he.
I'D like to sell you. but unless you've got
good money l can't"
Amt my money as good as any man's?"
said BIZ in much indignation.
II It's your county brass money. il
amt" said Hank. and you know it amt
folks do like the old kind of money a lit
1t; you could always pass a dollar for 80
cents up our way. But I've been i'm the
changed a little. But now. Hank ne said.
MS color rising. I've traded with YOU
twenty year. and II you go back on me now
Keepers there have got to take the county
money whether they like it or not"
whether you you Xxx ike Il f0t or to no Ray s sheir H priGe
They have to send down river for their
GOODS GODS and they SAINT pay for them in
Yesterday, and said to Wells they wanted
ninety dollars. county money. for a clothes
line and ten dollars for a drink. and they
went sell for nothing but cash neither. for
they can't collect nothing but brass money
II they have to sue the bills they trust
Out, and it's worth less and less every
The old mans head shook. Hank" said
ne, III my money amt good. you know my
suit of clothes sihUu and dom my Winter yf trps prd me for a
HANK hesitated a moment. "No. BILL
he answered. Il can't. I know you're
We got every cent trusted out that / can
stand in that county of yours. where a
man can pay his debts with an old lamp"
me oid woodsman sat down on a wash
tub and his face quivered. Hank" said
he. this morning ] thought ] was rich. /
ty dollars hid in my potato cellar, but IL
what you say is true / haven't got a cent
I've got no provisions in the house. /
sold my team last month to Hen Cole.
and my very house and farm are sold. and
I've got TO give them up the lst of March"
do Mfad the st tHek a aB fnlef sa stride he up and
hard case. a darned hard case, but you're
no worse off than half the people up your
week. I'd help 'em all if / could. but I
can't: Put what will keep you a week or
two in the wagon ana pay me when you
Burton drove home very slowly. very
thoughtfully, and although Lie Benson
Lie was disturbed at breakfast the next
morning. Bill went straight to the point.
Lie said he. Il thought l was rich.
me out. I've got nothin' in the world but
a wagonload of old brass. Ny farm is
gone; I've got no team to work with and
nothin TO eat. But you're rich. You've
got a farm, you've got horse. you've got
provisions. and I've only the clothes /
II won't go back on We. Bill" answered
Lie Benson: I've seen this comm and
I've got ready so far as I could TO help nv
friends. Come up in the garnet and
guess we can find a suit of good warm
clothes thatU just about fit We, and there's
a wagon and a pair Of horses In the barn
that you can take home with a load of
stuff. and If yeHi come back next week I'll
give We a Job &c draw bark that'Il help We
to pay for the things. | don't c~alclate to
make any money on this bust up. and what
you get from me will cost you Just what
they cost me-"
The next day the supervisors met again.
would change the weight of the dollar from
an ounce TO half an ounce everybody worid
have twice as much money as before and
another wave of prosperity would strike
the county. Hen Cole and Levey the bed
der. who now wore a big diamond in his
shirt front, and the agents of the lumber
companies. also expressed themselves as
thinking that the reduction i'm wages and
the rise in prices was a good thing and
would enable them to compete with Japan.
Yet the repeal of the free-coinage act
passed the supervisors unanimously.
OF course they could not put things quite
back where they were. Most of the prom
erty in the county had passed into the
hands of spectators or had gone out of
its borders to pay for the brass that had
come In. But Andy Dunlap was the rich
est man in the county. though he hadn't
done n stroke of work i'm years: the Sa.
candaga River Lumber Company had never
paid such big dividends. and the Black
River Lumber Company had n very fine
dam.
The years have rolled by in Hamilton
county on the same standard on which