The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1897-06-29
Row Tacoma Furnished a
Circulating Medium.
Marriage by Proxy Among
European Royalty.
Steamer Towed by q Moose The
Great Thompson Equatorial.

Tacoma, Wash, once had a mint that
coined all the money in circulstion where
the City Of Destiny now stands, and II
did not require the fiat OF Uncle sam.
the silver Of Idaho or the gold OF Cali
fornia to make the pieces pass current
among the Indians and the few hardy
pioneers who were blazing the path OF
civilization through the forest on the
shores OF Commencement bay. Back In
the early T0s the Tacoma Mill Company,
not being able To handily secure gold and
silver for use In trading with and paying
of the Indian iaborers and early settlers.
nit upon the novel plan of issuing their
own currency, and to this end set their
blacksmith to work TO fashion for them,
out OF scraps OF iron and brass. pieces OF
money, or. rather. tokens, which could
be used as circulating medium. The
pieces consisted of 40c and 45c. iron
tokens and brass III pieces The 4Oc.
pieces were about an inch In diameter,
and the 45c. pieces were about the size OF
the present silver half dollar. The 81
pieces were oval In shape and about an
inch and quarter long. an inch wide ana
sixteenth OF an inch In thickness. These
pieces were stamped with the figures
showing their value, ana readily passed
current all over the country tributary 10
tho mill. Nearly all OF this old mill
coin has passed away, but few days ago
William Hanson, OF the Tacoma MIL
Company, presented u set OF these queer
coins TO the Ferry Museum. In his let
ter to the museum he said: The hon.
esty of the people and the absence of any
blacksmith shop save that OF the company
made the use OF this money possible.
Q Oregon has boasted that the Beaver
coin. minted at Oregon City In the early
fifties, was the only money minted in
the Northwest in the days OF the pioneer.
but here In Tacoma. long years after
Oregon's Beaver" mint had become an
historical incident was a primitive mint
that supplied the coin TO furnish the
pioneers and Indians with all OF tho
necessities for their rough lives The
coins, which are still preserved. are
roughly made, just such as any black
smith with ordinary tools might make
and, as a matter OF fact, during the early
years OF the mill company's existence
for~ed practically the local circulating
meS. .um Of exchange When the Indians
who were employ ed In the mill were paid
for their labor this coin sufficed. rs all
the trading they did was with the little
store run in connection with the mill
The iron and brass pieces were. OF course,
passed among the Indians In trading
with each other, and as anything in the
way OF supplies was purchased by them at
the mill store, the pieces were fully as
good to them as IL they had borne the
stamp of the government
One of the queerest features OF Court
life in Europe Is the marriage by proxy
OF royal personeges There are at the
present moment no less than three royal
ladies who have been thus wsdded-the
Queen Regent of Spain the Dowager
Queen OF Portugal and the ex-Queen OF
Naples Kings and reigning soverelgns
are held TO he too important peTsonages
to DO married anywhere else than In their
own dominiops. On the other hand. IL is
held to be infra dignitate for spinster
princess of the blood who Ia about to
blossom into full -hedged queen or en-
press. to travel abroad In quest of con-
sort.
In order to meet this difficulty the
oyal imperial bridegroom delegates one
of the principal mobiles OF the realr', who
goes through the religious and civil por-
tons vi the wedding ceremony in the
capital OF the brides country on behalf OF
his master. making the responses for
him, and rendering mis- hand, as we'll rs
the ring. at the prescribed points of the
ceremony. He then accompanies her to
his masters uominions, acting as her
chief escort. According IL the ideas of
the Roman Catholic church. ceremony
of this kind Is sufficiently binding upon
the bride and upon the royal bridegroom
TO render any further ceremony, ecclesias-
tical or civil, superfuous, and when any
additional religious function takes place
IL usually assumes the form Of lie
Deum" and a solemn benedictioD at
Sended ny both husband and wife mpio-
diately on the arrival of the latter in the
capital of her adopted country.
While the little steamer Marion, Capt
+. i. Hersey, was passing through the
narrows In Sebec lake, bull moose was
sighted. swimming toward the craft to
cross her bow. He had q bone In his teeth.
and was leaving wake like Yankee
cruiser. Capt Hersey saw the bu!l in
good time, and he got out his biggest
hawser and put on little more steam,
just TO bring his boat alongside the
moose. When he got into comfortable
distance he lot go the hawser like a lasso,
and the rope settled over the head OF the
big fellow and caught him fast, The
Marion Is sturdy little craft but she
wasn't built for moose. The bull swan
straight on for a while. towing the boat
after him and giving those on board the
most novel ride that they ever experienced
In their lives.
While the fun was at It's height the
moose gave "a sudden turn To starpoard,
put straight about, and with full speed
on in both engine rooms let himself out
for shore. the steamer dragging along be
hind. All the passengers offered free adj
vice as to how TO get tho moose out into
the lake again, bur meanwhile tho rocks OF
the shore wero getting nearer. Finally
Capt. Horsey cast off his line and let the
moose get ashore. up which he fled. and
disappeared in the forest with an angry
snort and contemptuous toss OF his
mighty mead.
The new Thompson equatorial, " the
Astronomical instrument presented 20 tho
people Of England by Sir Henry Thomp-
son. the eminent surgeon, Is now I'm place
In the Greenwich observatory. Ii has been