The Waterbury Democrat., 1944-12-06

when you come upon some object out of the ordinary, even though sound judgment tells you it has lit tie or no intrinsic value. paid two dollars for crude wooden doll, made by a New Guinea native strictly for the tourist trade, which couldn't command more than fifty cents in an American shop, even as sample of native work.
 But even though the price is ri- 9iculous in relation to the value re- received-even thought it is an out right gyp-few suckers even com- plain. They simply shrug their shoulders over being stuck and re- sell at profit to their equally credulous neighbor.
 have heard of a white, penny marble changing hands three times on the representation that 1t was a pearl-and at prices ranging from $50 to $200.
 One base worker talked to, had peeled off $5 for Nicaraguan coin worth fifty cents. He was surprised, but not upset, when he learned Nicaragua was in Central America and not some island around the corner. He thought he had bought a rare memento, of the South Pa cif1c, but he was confident he could pawn the piece of for at least $10, using the same story he fell for. believed him. l saw sailor ac- cept ten guilder note for an intri- cately fashioned metal bracelet that was reSold for $25. Ten guilders are worth five dollars and twenty-three cents. The sailor didn't care. He got $10 for the note as a rarity. Of course, a few hundred miles away at Hollandia, Dutch guilderS are the regular form of exchange and there are bushels of them. But neither sailor knew that.
 While lot of servicemen dabble in trade now and then, it is also Big business with capital B, now adays, and most of the transactions are handled by few brokers oper- ating with a capital amounting to thousands of dollars. When the store of goods runs low at certain base, these operators import material from other islands, giving a com- mission to friendly aviator or sailor to bring the stuff back.
 CatSeyes that can be purchased by the handful in the Fiji Islands bring $2.50 each here. I saw two soldiers on the roadside, one Sunday after noon with pile of greenbacks and an assortment of satseyes. They were doing landoff1ice business.
 know one local trader who sent home $2,000 in the last four months, over and above his pay. He claims to be small potatoes. Why trouble to dive for pearls or dig for gold?
 Some of the trading is sharp in the worst sense of the word, while other deals are simply shrewd, as Yankee traders have been shrewd for generations. An Australian pound, for instance, is actually worth $S23 on the international ex- change, But in crap game it can be faded $3. There is very handy crap-shooter who specializes in cov- ering pound bets. If he wins he stuffS them away and continues us- ing dollars. Then he trades in a bundle at the local finance office for the twenty three cent profit. He is several hundred dollars ahead.
 A number of Australians, fasci- mated by the first American silver dollar they had ever seen, were willing to pay $2.50 each for all they could buy. When the finance officer learned the reason for the sudden drain on his supply of cartwheels. he stopped the public sale and looked up the Aussies himself.