Evening star., 1932-07-31
What Will You Use
FOR MONEY?
II Great Many Substitutes Haze Played
*Pmch-Hiting' Roles for Cash iii Times
of Shess-Here Are Just d Fe7v Of Them.

cal gadabouts, for many Of them bore on one
side inscriptions and devices that gave vivid
expression to the partisan feelings of the day.
The "marchant's cards" bore the name of the
issuing firm and cften brief advertisement
Still farther back in American history, dur
ing 1884 to 1842, the scarcity of small ccins leo
TO the issuance of copper pieces similar TO
the cents then in common use. These early
pinch -htters for small change, knowns as herd
time tokens" and jackson cents" served also
as advertising mediums and metallic politicians.
These substitutes for money are but few
of a vast number that have been employed
since man began to realize the need for de-
pendable yardstick by which to measure the
values Of various commodities and possessions
and to make possible a fair exchange of one for
another.
Since money is what the other man takes
for the things you want" almost anything can
be made to serve the purpose-and almost
everything has. Among the makeshifts. strange
and otherwise, have been cattle, grain, spice,
amber rock salt, SOAP peat disks, hard cheese,
silk, cotton cloth, copper pots woodpecker
scalps, gumdrops and fish hooks.
In many parts of the world today money,
as we think Of 1t, Is virtually unknown. In
the Belgian Congo the natives eagerly accept
calico as compensation for services rendered
the white men, In fact, calico serves the pur-
pose of currency admirably until the time ar
rives when the native wishes to buy a vile.
Then he reverts to the tribal custom and offers
in exchange for bluShing bride copper cross
that measures about inches in width weighs
about pounds and is worth in American
money approximately 25 cents Notwithstand-
ing this lack of intrinsic value, in the Congo
the cross always will bring wife OF inde-
terminate weight and worth.
One Of the very strangeSt mediums OF ex-
change is that used on the island of Uap one
"currencV"
sists of thick, solid stone wheels that range in
diameter from foot to IL feet. In the center
of each coin" Is hole the size OF which de-
pends upon the diameter Of the stone. Poles
are run through the holes, enabling the natives
to carry their coins" This odd currency,
known as fei, obviously is not suitable for use
as a circulating medium and certainly II couio
not be fittingly described as small change"
The Jap natives have queer ideas regarding
the use of their money. Nothing more than the
presence of a stone wheel leaning against the
owners house is needed to establish his wealth
or standing in the community Sometimes, In
fact he bargains for a huge piece OF stone
money and then is content to leave his posses
sion undisturbed on the former owners
property.
To Americans the use of such strange me-
diums of exchange seems almost incredible.
We take our handy symbols Of value very much
for granted and consequently rarely, II ever,
pause to draw fanciful mental picture of the
conditions with which should be confronted
were we suddenly to be wholly deprived OF
their use Suppose, for instance, that money,
in the sense use the term, should disappear
overnight forcing us to resort to antiquated
methods of barter and trade Assume that you
have desire to go to movie, but since there
is no small change to be had you are without
the price of admission, IS cents. Perhaps you
have a book that is easily worth quarter, but
the theater owner already has one book, and