The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1898-09-03
BACON FAT AS CURRENCY.
ITS SUPERIORITY OVER SILVER
AND GOLD.

Standard of EaIue-The Financial
Question EIucIdnted.
From the London Nails Santiago Letter.
Il believe it amt quite safe to leave
things around loose like that" the doctor
said, shaking his head reproachfully.
That" said I. with a confident emile,
that's all safe enough; the boys wouldn't
touch thing"
II know, know" the doctor rejoIned.
they're all right, are the boys; I'd trust
them with diamonds. But all the same 1t
amt the safe thing. and what's more. it
isn't the fair thing. A soldiers only
man. and you got no right to put tempta-
ton ahead of him. You better leave them
with somebody or carry them along with
| you"
gave a sigh of despair. The doctor was
| obviously in the right. 1t was early in the
morning in camp, and 1 was making ready,
for the days expedition to the front. So I
was unloading everything could do with
out, under the strip of canvas stretched
across four poles (which two other men and
I called shelter because we were
drowned out of it every afternoon.
I had piled up in heap everything 1
could possibly she'd My coat I could well
do without; my shirt was an unnecessary
| incumbrance when I was wearing an I'M
dervest; my field glasees-hang it. could
do without field glasses; my camera-who
was IDIOT enough to drag camera about?
1 discarded them all and stood up in
sombrero and trousers and light under
/ III. H..
bottle had to carry, and there was lit
tie parcel of hard biscuits to sling from
my belt Those were all.
Stay, there was an uncomfortably bulky
+ feeling about my pockets in the NIP
| pockets there We're a sodden and discoI-
ored notebook and a soft leathern note
case. I pulled them out and looked at
them. What did 1 want with great, hot,
heavy baggage like that dragging about
/ in the tropical sunshine? ! could do wei
enough without the notebook. And as to
the leather pocket case, there was moth
ing at all in that but my passport and
papers and a few hundred dollars IN
! greenbacks. They were of no earthly use.
! So memorandum book and notecase went
into the heap under the shelter.
Still l felt heavy and bulky. I dived into
my side pockets A knife-weu l might
want that. But little canvas tobacco bag
l was using for a gold purse-some go
! gold pieces, some Spanish gold, and some
English sovereigns-that was nothing but
so much dead weight In it went with
| other things, ana the haf-empty box of
! cigars, and the broken bag of tobacco and
the flask of medicinal rum.
No" said the doctor again, at amt
the fair thing by the boys"
Very well. then, doctor, If you think
So" 1 said and bending reluctantly over
the heap, | picked up the case fun Of
notes and the little canvas bag Of gold,
and, pulling a wry face, began slowing
them in my pockets again.
For mercy sake broke in the doctor,
/ whats got you now?'
I'm going to carry them" ! said, re-
signedly, since you think I ought to-"
GOSH he exclaimed, who do You
think wants that stuff? 1 was abiding to
the'cigars, Here the boys haven't had the
taste of tobacco in a week. l guess there
amt half dozen cigars ia the camp out
| side of that box. and you'd go leave them
lying around before everybody. 1t is put
| ting human nature too high. Flesh and
blood can't stand it. Leave anything you
want, but you got to carry them, No, sir!
( wouldn't take that cache for you nor
nobody. You couldn't hire me to take q
responsibility like that. I'd mistrust my
! self. You have to hump them"
So packed them into my satchel and
! slung it over my shoulder and, leaving
/ the money DSDlHu, nldlcl6u away. l was
! glad l took them. If / had been Gen.
Miles or the President himself, I could not
/ have been more gladly welcomed by the
| officers of my acquaintance in the adj
vance line. And when dinner time came
and discovered that my biscuits had
been ruined by the thunderstorm. traded
one cigar and two cigarette papers and
pinch of tobacco for four hard tack bis
cults fried in bacon fat and a good-sized
| go of warmed-up canned beef.
Money, in fact, was of no value at all
! Gold bugs, or silvertes. or bmetallists, or
whatever we all had been at home, we
| learned to look al the currency question
from a new point Of view. Twenty dollar
gold pieces and silver dollars were equally
useless. However hungry you might be-
you could not get your teeth into them
And certainly you could buy nothing with
! them, for nobody had anything he was
i willing 10 sell. As to the rela tive values
Of the two metals. well, silver was at
the great disadvantage of taking up more
room and Of being heavier to carry. Pa
per money was distinctly better than
| either, because IN case the commissariat
| utterly broke down, or the lane to the
base became quite impassable-well there
was remote possibility of making a sort
| of greasy stew out of greenbacks. But
otherwise they had no immediate value
| except as so much paper for wrapping
scraps of bacon in.
Even the Cubans, who would pick up al
most anything and carry it to their huts,
would not take money. Occasionally a
Cuban would be discovered who had in
his rag bag small store of country-made
rank, soft, black. oily cigars made up In
palm-bark-covered bundles. They had an
abominable taste and on odor like Sfbouev.
but they were unmistakably tobacco. and
there was a great run on them. The Gu
ban, however, absolutely declined to sell
them for money except at prices which
our old notions as to the value of the
American currency would not allow US to
entertain. But an old cotton vest, an old
pair OF trousers-they could not be too ut
! teriy worn out to be out of the Cuban
fashion-they would buy enough Cuban
cigars to make one i'll for the rest of the
campaign.
Here, however, was nearly 10000 men.
ali or them needing many things and some
| OF them having more than they immediat
| ~ required of things which others needed.
while they were themselves short Of things