Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1912-08-23
Copyright 1919. BY Enenbee Publishing Coz

In the days Of ''auld lang syne." all.
yer was the peoples money for the
reason that the Indians preferred It to
all other mediums or exchange. .sLo''
had NO use for the gold piece. especial
~ OF large denominations, for It was
very dimcult for him to realize that Z
double eagle should be worth 20 Of the
BIZ silver dullxrss or 'adelats chick.
amen" (good money! - he declared It
to be. Silver Spaniah dollars were
quite common. - were American quar-.
ters and halves. Dimes were scarce
and called bits" readily passing cur
rent eight for dollar. Pickayunes, or
half-dimes. were unknown, and It was
customary when . bill Of purchase
amounted to uneven change. for the
merchant to deduct. or the customer
to add the difference. This was cheer
fully agreed to BY both parties, but 20
usual had It become for Z GER
tain "skinhint" trader to casually
remark, we'll. It amounts to . little
less, but ! will sharge you the extra
sharge this time. and next time give It
to you." So frequently was this rigma-
role repeated. that It became second
nature to the penurious trader. and
met with merited opposition from his
patrons. who proffered short change
with the remark, well. to make sure.
l guess ! win take It out now" This
soon put . stop to the one-sided trans
action.
The Indians also had to be taught q
lesson. They were the usual water.
carriers. All drinking water, and most
OF that used for domestic purposes.
had to be obtained from Z single
spring that bubbled forth from = site
now covered BY the Sawyer & Filley
drug store. When Lo trudged along
with bucket. or possibly two, Of the
aqueous mud. 1t was customary to give
him quarter for the service, II NO
dime was handy. This was, Of course,
satisfactory. but when the housewife
tried to persuade him that ON wash day
he should moderate his demand to a
Wholesale" basis, he Indignantly pro-
tested upon 18th quarter It'll lolo' Zone
quarter for each carry), and 20 per-
sistent was the demand that the few
families were forced to bring barrels
OF water In canoes from springs across
the bay. which, BY means of long
spouts was conducted to the barrels
which lifted snugly In the canoes, This
was the method OF disposlng OF the
nrst strike" In the tlrst settlement
ON Puget Sound.
The early Indians were inyeterate
gamblers. and - intimated had gen-
orally plenty Of silver coins to indulge
the passion 20 universally and firmly
implanted In the human breast. Their
method was extremely simple. Two
bucks" would sit ten or twelve feet
apart. with . mat spread between them.
Their implements consisted Of round
discs Of bone and bunch Of the dried
bark OF cedar trees beat to Q Auffy COW
ering, In which to conceal them. Six
or eight Of these discs were tossed
about by one Of the gamesters, In sue
cession. while closely watched by the
opposing player, who. hy Z tap on his
shoulder indicated the even number Of
discs, when the player would roll them
out. opposing the condition OF the
game. This was al there was to It, but
1t was astonishing how readily prop
SesS WVoso V408&80 VWuSIUe WLtuOVI
comment or disturbance. At times 20
infatuated would the players become
that they would gamble their clothing
first hat, coat, vest, and then trous-
ers and shirt would follow. and one Of
the contestants would issue from the
wfgwam clad only In natures garb,
while his squaw would probably be
knee deep In the mud fats rustling for
their daily sustenance Of food. Such
was life In the Far West In the prim-
tive ages.
Further allusion to the early curren-
cy may not be uninteresting. As inti-
mated. silver was the prevailing choice.
We had q few Of the MofRat 1--WE and
ten-doll4r pieces, coined from pure. na-
tive gold, worth really more than the
government coinage Of like denomina-
tions, circulated for convenience and
readily taken without being . legal
tender. The only other native piece
was the slug" IN octagonal coin that
passed for $50, and containing enough
pennyweight Of the precious metal ia
maintain tn full vnlu0.