The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1898-09-03

LOT not SAFETY match would strike.
Whether YOU rubbed lightly or whether
you made savage soldier strokes il made
no difference. The soft head of the match
did nothing but make a yellow smear on
the side of the box. Then a full box of safe
ties could not be exchanged for an unripe
mango
But an hour afterward out would come
the sun again; for time the air would
be fun of steam; then things would begin
to dry out, and after little while, when
from force of habit you attempted to get
a light by means of the useless device
OF striking match, you found 10 your
surprise that the match burst into flame.
And the relative values of bareback and
safety matches underwent another sud
den change.
This system, or rather unsystem. of cas-
ual bartering of such goods as man hap
pened 10 possess for such goods as he hap
pened TO be in need of was all very wen
when two persons able to supply one an
others respective wants succeeded in COM
ing together. But they did not always
find one another. There were men With
bareback looking in vain for men with
matches at the same time that men with
matches were unsuccessfully seeking men
with bareback. We felt--it was really
very interesting rudimentary lesson In
cconomics-that the existing state OF
things was quite unsatisfactory, but we
could not see how to better it. Our re-
mote ancestors no doubt had the same DIFF
ticuity, which showed itself by some cow
rie-shell currency discovery.
We did not deliberately set to work and
discover O currency Ii discovered itself.
We found ourselves falling into the habit
of bargaining in bacon fat A man pos
sessing cooking tin, the bottom of which
was covered with bacon grease. discOv-
cred that he had something which he
GGtllA aXQhaOUa alDlnef ANYTHING Nh.
tainable. Bacon fat was an article of
general consumption and general need. il
had the first qualification of cutrency-it
was at the same time exceedingly useful
and exceedingly scarce Bacon, especial
ly fat bacon, fried in a pan over wood
fire has the faculty of producing plenty
OF grease, but then when you are up at
the front hungry and exhausted you want
all the bacon fat your bacon produces to
make your bread chewable. Id
So il happened that after bacon meal a
man or mess found no more bacon fat
left than could be scraped off the tin with
a teaspoon. And at The same time bacon
fat was urgently needed when anything
else but bacon was to be cooked. Fried in
il bareback became deucacv. With its
assistance canned beef could be made into
superb entree, Bacon fat was precious,
scarce, and edible 1t met to perfection
these three essential qualifcat tons of a
perfect currency, and without any formal
agreement or even discussion of the sub
ject, bacon fat began to become a regular
medium of exchange. 1t answered uncom-
monty well for a day or two. but then,
when some brisk marching had to be DONE
il began to manifest fatal defects In a
hot climate II was moi portable. A man
who had amassed a considerable fortune
in bacon grease wrapped IL carefully up
in dollar bills and other bits of odd pa
and gtAppaH a. In,
sack But when, after a severe midday
march, he next went to his hoard to
gloat over il, or to dissipate some of il In
luxurious cookery, or to take away some
of il for the purchase of tobacco, he found
TO his horror that his wealth, instead of
increasing, had wholly or partly melted
away.
1t was there N his knapsack. no doubt
as the condition of the other things
showed but instead of being in one com
pact, easiiy-handled pie, &c was so thlnly
spread over a large area that il was hope
less to endeavor TO gather it together
again as capital. Moreover, bacon fat in
a climate, so variable as that OF Cuba js
perishable and when there came sud-
den and great variations in the supply 1t
finally dropped out of use as a regular
medium.
Bacon fat had failed, but the need for
currency remained. Boot laces were tried
with some little success, but there were
not enough of them, nor was the demand
universal. Then, quietly and gradually.
but surely and irresistlbly, the commodity
which was to take its place as the uni
Versal medium began to push Itself by
the force of It's undeniable merit TO the
front A man desiring bacon offered hard
tack matches or a boot lace No deal
He was turned away when the man he
had approached said eagerly. Got any
hen I'M We
possessed the small remnant of a bar of
chewing tobacco. An Immediate deal.
Then one began to hear men going
round offering all kinds of things in ex-
change for chewing tobacco. The value
or the thing as currency began to be
recognized. 1t was the one commodity
which every regular soldier desired. II
was small in bulk; 1t was light and easily
portable. 1t did not deteriorate in quail
ty, nor decrease in quantity by keeping
Every bar was Just like every other bar
and every bar just the same all through.
A man having a present suhiciency OF
chewing tobacco was stlll willing to ac-
quire more. And, above oil, it had an in
trinslc value which gold and silver never
had, nor never could have 1t was edible
and wearable, and a substitute for any
thing and everything. If there were no
raHons, why, then, to the regular soldier
chew of tobacco supplied the deficiency.
If there was long march, chew OF to-
bacco was stlmuant and water and com
Portable boots, and n lightened pack II
was an excellent substitute for dry clothes
If the shelter tent was drowned out In
the night, then chewing tobacco was just
as good as sleep. In a world Of discom-
fort it was comfort; In a world Of glarlng
sun it was cool shade; In a world OF trop-
ical rain it was nice dry bed in nice
dry house IT was fire when every stick
was too wet to burn; it was a horse to
ride when you had TO tramp impossible
roads carrying impossible loads; It was
transport and commissariat and army
medical service; 1t was cold bath in the
morning, and fresh eggs and milk; It was
an antidote to Shafterism, and, above all,
il was tobacco.
The man who POSSESSED 1t had every
thing within his reach that any one else
had, and could do without anything else.
So every one who had anything TO sell
sold 1t for chewing tobacco. Men who
never chewed in their lives, and had no
notion OF chewing now, began to find out
that to carry chewing tobacco was TO