Catoctin clarion. [volume] (Mechanicstown, Md.) 1871-1940, 1900-07-26
TRICKS WITH MONEY
TOURISTS TO EUROPE MUST
HAVE A SHARP EYE.

Bad Five Francs.
"In England" the woman wrote
back from Paris, lit is the half crown
YOU have to look after and the TWO
shilling piece. There is so little differ
ence, you see, in appearance, at least
though there is the difference OF SIN
pcuce in value. The half crown Is two
shilling and six. There is a cross Oh
one of them; but when you are III
nhurry who is going to stop to look lor
crosses? Nobody. And that's where
/ they get you.
y "This is their little game. You lay
~ a half crown down on the counter anu
Unless YOU keep your finger glued "
IL, saving meantime in loud voice,
This is Il half crown they shatci' 1t
before YOU can blink an eye ana uI
clare YOU have given them two sllll,
ling piece, which naturally being TWO
shillings only, leaves you slApGl'.e
short The trick is. an old one A. IL
played principally on Americans tiloSe
rich Americans who come over mere;
scattering their money hroaucast anu
leaving the tail Sc difficult for us
poor creatures who nave 10 looh ou'
for the pennies while the pounds n.y.
at is bad enough in London out
: here in Paris you must keep your eyes
skinned all the time. The town Is
flooded with had money. There are
bad francs and bad half francs 'neie
are francs dated before the Republic
that are consequently no good and
there are francs dated after the Ike
uuhlic that are worse. If Napoleon the
Third has crown on the money Is all
l,, hos -
."rhcy nailed me, too; but not at j
o'clock in the morning. This was now
ii bappcned: You see, ! spend all my
snare change and more on that kodak
of mine, 1t is strange the hold ko-
dak gets on you. Many Il time | have
walked miles to save UP sufficient can
fare for a set of films. | rarely take
cab. | 60 on top of those elephant
'busses, where it is cheap, or | foot
It for the sake of the kodak. ! had
paid out so much money for tonlng
baths that put in mild complaint
to the girl who waited on me ut the
Place NcndOmc.
" The machine will break me- l
said. This is the third time in three
weeks that have bought toninS
baths at one franc fifty the bath. At
this rate sSall shortly become
financial wreck wish i had never
seen the thing
aware of the fact that small for.
tune had passed from my hands 10
hers, she put on look that was
gricved. She thought awhile, then
suggested remedy. There was a ton
ing bath that | could mix myself, she
said, a very reasonable toning bath,
Imagine my delight. Now l could af'
ford a candied pear, maybe, or one
of those little cherry pies in the win
dow of the dclicatcSscn near the pen
sion that are worth their weight in
gold. She gave me the address of n
chemist in the Rue de In Pepcniere.
That little old chemist. l went galy
along the boulevard buoyed UP by
hope, turned the corner and entered
his shop, light Of step and joyful Of
heart. You see, | didn't know. He put
the gold up in a bottle about the siz"
of my thumhnail, the hypo in small
square paper, and charged me two
francs fifty ! knew about that fifty.
expected it. Like the poor, it l. al
ways with You in Paris, just as in
England, everything is one and six,
two and six, five and six or seven and
six They couldn't take off the six if
they tried. If you descend to pence it
is sixpcnce and three farthngs. Those
farthingS!
~ handed the little old wretch ten
francs in gold. He gave me large
and festive fvc-franc piece with a
few other francs, and J went on 10y
way rejoicing Later, at the Bon
Marche, the jvc-franc piece was re-
Jected with scorn,
" Nest pas bon said the man at
the desk with shrug that brought
his shoulders up somewhere about his
ears. Nest pas bon said another,
taking it and pecring at the lady with
mistrustful eye. A crowd gathered.
The atmosphere thrilled with: Nest
pas bons' ! trcmbled In my bottincs;
for they cast suspicious chances on
me. looked around cautiously fearful
of gcndarmcs, and Ind reason for
fear. 1t is against the law to pass bad
money in France if you get caught.
The man at the desk gave me back
the money without calling the gen
darme, for which | was thankful.
Hastily Offering him the contents of
my purse l retired to quiet corner
ard took look at the five francs my.
self True 1t was bad. In fact it was
Just about as bad as 1t could be. The
lady was sitting down. On the way
home | counted up the cost of che
cheap toning bath that was 70 last
me forever almost. Two francs fifty
and five bad francs made seven francs
fifty. | groancd But I was to Groan
some more. According to directions
had filed two large bottles with wa
ter, put the precious gold into one and
the inexpensive hypo into the other.
Both had dissolved so | couldn't tell
tother from which. Then l had hidden
them under the bed out of harms
way: for Mademoisellc, a young thing
of sixty, who keeps the pension, LOOKS
with eyes askance upon the various
and sundry bottles containing my ton
ing baths, my developing baths and
other baths belonging to the outfit Of
that kodac of mine.
Upon my arrival l found that the
femme de Chambre-that's what they
call the girl who pretendS to clean
your room over her-had knocked
over one CT the bottles and broken it.
OF course it was the bottle Of gold
On the bottom of it | found floating
three undissolved grains. Seven francs
fifty for nothing. And the time | have
had trying to get rid of that bad five
franc piece! If you it will to me
give said Mademoiselle, whose Eng
lish is as bad as my French 4 will
it give to the wine merchant of me,
and he will it change perhaps Per-
haps 1t was we'll said. The wine mer-
chant of her kept it for four months
and returned it. All his patrons were
French people, he explained There
wasn't an American among them, or
an Englishman. Therefore it was i'm
possible for him to succeed in work.
ing it off Mademoisele regretted