Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1908-04-23
MANY ODD COINS.

Double eagles ana eagles and five dollar
gold pieces from Uncle Sans stamp mills
were mixed with louis of France and
French five franc pieces of gold, with
here and there Spanish piece. There
We're nearly two hundred tiny gold dol
lars. som" of VIII h Uncic Billy had
treasured for very many years, and s. 50
god pieces and three dollar coins of
gold
The silver coins We're an odd lot most
Of them American. but there We're enough
old Mexican dollars and ot the metal cur
r'ncE Of South American republic, coins
which Unr,e i}illy had picked up good
moss knows where, to puzzle the expert
enced bank clerks.
Some Of these coins were sixty years
old and their dates ran unbrokenly until
the present time, indicating very plainly
that tho old man had allowed himself nc
vacation. Tho paper money, some of ii
issued before tho Civil War was in de-
nominations Of from 81 to 800, some OF
tho bills SO tattercd and rotten that the
fingers had to handle them gently. others
clean and hard to the touch. nice new
money which must have given extreme
pleasure to Uncle Billy Jaynes.
There was well on to $4,000 that Uncle
| Billy kept In his own private banks, the
haymow in his ramshacke old barn, the
walls OF tho cabin and a shallow hole
under the stone hearth of the old
fashioned fireplace. He had no use fol-
the banks of commerce. had Uncle Billy
One time he said to Charley Bailey. about
his only close friend and the only man
who ever got a peck at his hoard;
when you make a dollar keep her
Never stick her in a bank. If you give
her to somebody else you amt got her"
Where Uncle Billy came from when he
settled down on n seven acre farm on
the Hampstead Plain in the cabin which
stands half mile from the Cherry val
ley road-a very tired and bent old
house it was when Uncle Billy moved II
-robody ever knew fo- certain. lie
never talked much about himself, CON
tinually afraid that somebody would be-
lievc he had money and would try tC
rob him of it.
They used to say years ago in the
| ncishborhood that Uncle Enly had a low,
| affair when he was very young, and that
when the girl Tilted MIN he ceased tt
care for anything in the world bu,
| money That WAS not strictly true, be.
| cause Uncle Billy liked children and the
| only money he ever gave away, SO fal
as anybody knows, he gave to few
| youngsters that he liked. a dollar now
and then, accompanied by srowl whicl
| Uncle Billy tried to make very fierce ant
scary. but which never imposed upor
| the children. Children began to call hin
| Uncle Billy years ago and everybody
! took up the name in time.
| For 40 years he worked his patch o.
ground. raising Strawberries and greer
| truck, with a little hay and corn; tradni
| In odds and ends; keen as razor a
| seeming a bargain and squeezing all tn,
| juice out Of it. He never married anC
| he hated to talk about women. I'ncl,
| Billy was his own cook and housckeeper
| and pretty much his own tailor. II,
| could handle needle as skilfuly as {
| woman, though his taste in garment!
was hardly artistic, Just a pair of baFgN
! brown pants, n rough coat, n wool shirt
| cap ana whatever trimmings We're need
| ed; they were quite enough for him.