The Minneapolis journal., 1902-06-16
OLDEST CORPORATION
in EXISTENCE
Something About the Hudson Bay Company
and Its Ways University Boys Visit
to Winnipeg.

tended for men of high rank, they have
no buttons or button holes. for the In
dian prefers to use large safety pins in
stead in buying his coat he must be
very careful to get" one suited to his po-
siticn, as it would be an objectionable
breach Of etiquette for an ordinary tribes
lnan 10 dbn the coat Of a councillor. or
for one of those dignitaries to appear in
the white Jacket intended for a chief
These, like. the blankets, have always
been manufactured by the same company,
and it is said the pattern has never
changed
That Mrs. Lo is very like her white
shown by the striking "squaw honncts'
for which the company finds ready sale
These are made of straw. black, as a
rule, and stagger under a load of arti-
fetal flowers. The idea seems to be that,
if little decoration is good, lot is still
better. One can conjure UP vivid
mental picture 7of an Indian belle dressed
for a festive occasion and topped OUT
with ore of these wonderful and fearful
creations. .3gss -. 49,
Next to clothing, tobacco is the most
necessary thing to an Indians happiness.
This generally comes to him in the form
OF a huge, cigar shaped roll about fifteen
inches long and possibly four thick in
the center. Each roll contains almost
LnfcS EOuQQS,~ enough 10 .ldSI udH d
long while even if he were very liberal
with his friends. 1t is said that an In
dian near the border will take three. or
four rolls over. into the States and OBJ
tain very good pony in exchange. Fancy
carrying one of these huge hunks around
in a. hip pocket and stopping every now
and then to chop off a piece for smoke,
or to take a meditative chew!
1t would be impossible to mention all
IoP f1>n t1n,1 md nfh
Indian buys. Among these .'are-water"
plays a more or less important part.
| Then there are steel traps of all sizes,
| q very necessary item to the fur hunt
ers, staple groceries Of various kinds
| and cheap candy. 1t is no longer neces-
sary to use home made dog harnesses for
first class ones are now manufactured.
EAll these things are. paid for with furs,
the only form Of money an Indian pos
sesses.
| In the fall the great shipments of furs
! c6me, back to the, central stores. The
original charter of the company provides
that all these must be shipped back to
London and sold at auction, where all
buyers have an equal chance of securing
them, The company buys in large part
and either makes them up into garments
| in England or sends them back to Canada
again to be used there. Protected by
monopoly grants given by the govern
ment, the company has grown and become
immensely wealthy. Just before the be-
| ginning of the Spanish American war the
statement was made that the number OF
it's employees euualed that of the stand
! ing army of the United States. The COM
pany has left strong imprint on the
history of North America during its two
hundreds years: existence. The whole
northern part of the continent was for
long time under it's rule and 1T still
OWES great areas of land spread all over
| Canada. I. stands out as one of the most
unique and successful commercial enter7
rises the world has ever known. ~ : :.