Putnam patriot., 1916-02-04
PHeNY STORIES
Talss & Phoay Nekels Themselves
PhoHy
sensnif TayIor Irem Missouri and is
shopn

Who ha.u.fh ssfa the trtte slang sx.
preston. aIm from Missouri you1i
ha4e f. sh61 me-. Fl t. Of c1iunze
81 several yesrs ego. we believe even
before the advert o. Buffalo niekies.
Who knows where il comes from or
who cafesg 81 has become = part p
our Language bearing 81 Of color, yei-
lox.hue sad tabooed by grammafians.
college professors. faeIerieians and /
Beacon street BosGonese bat used 10 I
italics by we'uns 81 the rank and bic /
whose vocabulary i limited, when We /
wish 70 be emphatic. since Il first |
wafmed its way into eur imprinted /
dictionary il hiss hsd two noticeable ]
condeBshtions-ssI'm from Missouri /
Is one and "You'lI have 20 show me /
Is the other Either one used expresses
the idea as a hole. the listener being |
expected 70 take the whole for granted. /
II used in the third person II Is apt to /
convey the preston that tie object
Of The remark is bit 0btuse OF stub
bora. Bot after ali isn't IL the wise
man that wants to he shawn2 After
show donn one knows Just where be
stands. You msy call II being fhe
Nanny but Il the policy Is continued
one becomes a wise Old goat.
II was Up 10 some one 70 eall the
fiaf Of the phany writer's Of Phanf
nickel stories oeef around The state
capital, th is, Y tHe stories were
pnsnY. Souvenir william Hu.s1H
7. Nas the yoI8uteef 7 stand for
Tayiof, nov crowned with sioIy fof
disclosing 10 the state that uickeis
area't ph0ny TIE stories that sou.
venir spoiled appeared 10 several news
sheets entering nis adopted city. TIE
stories were IN effect that one eetlaia
Buffalo nickel was 3 counterfeit
Which was worth ~. red eoppefs and
which wasn't worth red cent? That
was The question that the people over
west were asking each other. M one
could givethe answer. II have been
keeping your memory green said
souvenir. nNow Ia do something To
keep my own emerald huedi II an.
sweT The question And he did it.
Taylor did.
He took Two Buffalo niekels. On
one the ButtaIa appeared standing on
little mound from which apparently
he Wa supposed 10 De At vantase
point Of lookout for Indians or bad
boys from the East come 20 The plains
20 slaS tie Rad.kin and bring home n
few scalps and perhaps a buffalo robe
or two Oh the other the grand old
man d the plains was moi provided
with this "sent" Of honor wnereon to
stand but was right down ON the level
with the eatefpiIlafs aud grasshoppefs.
Five cents Was stamped under The ouf
falo and probably more people thought
OF those little magic words that spelled
soda, = cheap cigar, trip on the troll
ieys or 10 the movies than they did OF
The noble animal. But how could they
be different and still be the same2 That
is, worth five pennies, the one with
the mound and The one without. Sure
~ some band OF phony currency man
ufActurers must have made a slip and
either stuck on mound or left one off
In their haste TO become millionaires.
One or the other must be a counterfeit
sang the Sherlock Holmeses OF the
press. SO getting back to Souvenir
and his desire TO be shown he took the
ff,a.. Aa
pense, and carefully wrapping one OF
each of The uiekles with difference in
piece Of paper he mailed them pare,
post haste TO the United States treasu.
~ department and in his best hand
wrote ns Follows;
a'Enclosed please Ind two buffalo
niekels. Will you kindly inform me
by mr. easly mail If either one iof them
Is counterfeit Some say ne is-some
nay The other. Hoping 10 receive a
prompt reply and the return of The
WOE usckels, | am,
Very respectfully yours,
souvenir Taylor. -
wEhiutwo days Mir Taylor got his
reply. likewise his nickels. The
communication headed, ."Treasury
Department. office Of the Treasures, l..
r., JSnuary ~, contained the note by
Mr.. Taylor, with the annexation: :" Res.
peetfully returned with the two buf'
falo niekels, forwarded by you for In
spection, which are genuine
And 50 you see /, pays TO be.from
Missouri. Ii some one had not want
ed 10 be shown, why, over In Hartford
county they would still be as afraid Of
nickels as they would of dum.dum
bullets, while now any old kind OF .
nickel, no matter where the buffalo is
standing, will bring just as much Is
five round red eoppers and all due to
Souvenirs "being shown and passing
IL along.
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