The Gainesville eagle. (Gainesville, Ga.) 18??-1947, July 03, 1913, Image 3

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A CRAZY CURRENCY C<?ina Has a Monetary System That Borders on the Chaotic. UNIT OF VALUE IS THE TAEL Yet the Tael Is Neither a Coin Nor an Ingot, but Merely an Abstract Term, ahd Signifies a Unit of Weight—Sil ver Shoes and Cash on a String. Os the many strange things in China not the least strange is Us currency. To the foreigner it seems a miracle that any business can be transacted successfully with such a medium of exchange. It has been described as chaotic. Nevertheless business and trade flourish in China, which speaks volumes for the business acumen of the Chinese. Perhaps the fact that trade flourished in China long before such a thing as currency was known accounts for the fact that the Chinese, with such a lax system as they now possess, still stand in the front rank of commercial nations. In China all forms of exchange from barter up are in use A very large part of tile country's business is done against the actual delivery of weighed silver For convenience silver is melt ed into rough ingots having the shape of the Chinese shoe. These silver shoes have stamped upon them their fineness and weight. The unit of weight is the tael, which is equal to a quantity ot silver weighing 580 grains troy and is worth about 60 cents in our money The tael is not an ingot nor a coin, but simply an abstract term signifying a unit of weight, such as a “pound" of butter or an "ounce ot gold Though an abstract term, it is the measure of wealth and the unit of value through out the length and breadth of China. A man buys a business for so many taels ot silver. His profits are com puted in taels. When he makes pay meat he weighs out the silver accord ing to this unit. The silver shoes vary in weight from one to seventy-five taels All silver shops and hanks have forges, where the silver is melted in iron ladles and poured into molds The smelters with their ladles and molds remind one of cooks They stir the silver with a pair of metal chopsticks. To one not aware of what they were doing it would be natural to suppose that they were en gaged in concocting something good to eat. In rhe process of recasting the ingots their fineness is often changed, being either improved or debased, whichever liest suits the interests of the shop Bankers and money chang ers are able to determine the* quality ot the silver by the sense of touch The sellers/or depositors are always at their mercy and must often submit to the operation of having their silver discounted on account of “bad touch " In the interior of China small pur chases are made with copper coins with square holes in the center. These are called "cash" and are threaded on strings so that they may be carried across one's shoulder or on a pole A string of l.nuo of these cash is worth about 5o cents in our money. Some times bits of silver are chipped from the silver shoes and used for small purchases When traveling in the in terior one must fake wifi) him a large amount of silver shoes, exchanging them for strings of cash at the various shops. The money changers have two sets of scales, one to lie used in the purchase of silver and the other in the selling of it. in an attempt some years ago to in troduce a currency based on western models the Chinese government pur chased and put into circulation several million Mexican dollars. The people took to the new coins and called for more. The provincial governments then set up mints and began to coin Chinese dollars of approximately the same weight and fineness as the Mexi can dollars They also coined an enor mous amount of subsidiary items in the shape of small silver coins and /•upper pennies fr/‘>on it was discovered that the new r'cvr-cfe. "'y VV:IS as unstable as the old Tire rft. dollar in relation to the-fiubst^’ - ’ I '' ••oinage varied from day f-> friv. l ' V!ls neVpr worth the teiiWfb |w.n of a dollar. Some days 110 cents k eq aired to make up and on other ’ if took K?( ’ ceuts JCmilarh rhe value-' v ' the dollar as eompmed with the tard v ’ a^" tinnal ; l.v fim-fm/ting. Sometime K 1 ° W °” d br;ng ,0 taels and at other ttu. <es on y 6o It was sickening to the’ e ' h'.it very profitable to the niOi v ‘ V /•h.-;rigors -Harpers Weekly. The Mozart Cycle. Tin- only works ot Mozart designed for the Stage (there are nearty a score of them that have remained regular rvimrtory operas.” as the Germans <:|V ’ arc "Don Giovanni.” •’Figaro” and •The Magic Flute.” Once in awhile, however, a Mozart cycle is given in • of the larger German cities, and “■ includes generally, besides the ■throe operas named. “Idomeneo.” • Die Entfnhrung.” "Cosi Fan Tutti - !: d "Clemenza di Tito.”-Argonaut. - ,1 ■ '-ft £ Knew His Man. -Why did you tel! that man you t! >;■ • smoke when you do?” •I mid a good reason.” -l-ermips be was going to give you H cigar ’ •No: l know that chap He was go ing lo ask me for one.” —Detroit Free I * ress. Among all the fine arts one of the finest is that of painting the cheeks with health - Ruskin. WHICH IS MORE FASTIDIOUS? One Man Claims the Masculine Sex Is More Enamored of Neatness Than the Feminine. “Have you ever asked yourself tin’s question?” asked a perceiving young man. “I have come to the conclu sion that in many things they are and more particularly about food and table appointments. Perhaps this is because women are habituated to the seamy side of cookery, to the sight of uncooked articles. Men see only the results of all these pro cesses, some of them disagreeable enough, whereas even the most fas tidious mistress sometimes, however reluctantly, comes upon the base ment operators in the midst of a far from esthetic task. The gilded youth of today is a most terribly fas tidious person. His chief cult is sensitive nerves and his ‘culture’ seems a heinous offense. I was made to think about these things the other day when ‘Jim,’ speaking about a girl whose acquaintance he had lately made, agreed that she was very pref* ty, very attractive, etc.,,.ffiut,’ he added, ‘I don’t like looking at her. Iler hair is never tidy; pieces of ii stream down at the back, and there is something about the back of her waist that is disorderly.’ I give you his own masculine expressions. I fancy neatness appeals immensely to men. Soiled gloves, crushed hand kerchiefs, untidy footgear, have done more to disillusion the masculine creature than the culprits who per mit themselves these can ever imagine. BY-PRODUCT OF MUCH VALUE Innumerable Uses to Which Sawdust May Be Put Are Astonishing to Man Who Has Not Known. j The family man, who occasionally indulges in home carpentering, knows full well how sawdust seems to work into every crevice, to cling to one’s clothes, and to make itself a general nuisance. But, despised though sawdust may be, it is a by-produce with many Uses. Used as an absorbent for nitro glycerine, it produces dynamite. Used with clay, and burned, it pro duces a fireproof brick that makes excellent and very durable material for building work. Sawdust mixed with some suit able binding material and com pressed makes splendid molding and ' imitation carvings, whilst if mingled j with Portland cement it produces a j most lasting material for floors. , Hollow walls that one desires to ! make sound-proof, or proof against frost, may be packed with sawdust, and as a material for protecting fragile articles in transit there is nothing better. Sawdust is used as a non-conductor of heat in which to pack in all the large icehouses. PROGRESS ON CAPE CCD CANAL. It is estimated that the 25,000,000 tons of shipping which rounds Cape Cod during the year will be so far benefited by the opening of the Cape Cod canal that it will be perfectly willing to pay a toll for the use of the canal. The 11,000,000 tons of coal shipped annually to eastern ports will find the inner and shel tered route of great advantage, and probably the greater part of this, or such part as is carried in barges, will avail itself of the canal. NOT MUCH ON HIS MIND. ■ “Dobble should be a happy man.” “Why do you think he should be a happy man?” | “Because the most serious prob- ■ lem that confronts him now is whether to buy summer union suits i or two-piece garments.” DIFFERENT PLACE. “Pop, doctors don’t bleed people like' use d they?” “Nox sonn yj they do it now in their bills> 1 ' ? ITS uncertainty. “It is not tell the fruit of a politicalkdeal.” “Ko, it may be a lemon or it may be a plum.” THAT’S SO! “It’s very odd.” “What ?” “That a fellow isn’t in the swim when society throws him overboard.” ANOTHER FIRE HORROR. “Have you found out what started the blaze in that broom factory?” “Kot yet; but we’re making a sweeping investigation.” SHIPPER AVERTED A TRAGEDK , Would Let None of His Hogs Be Sho at Least While He Was There . j to Prevent It. Jl Sam Blank of Blank Center, Kap , ! raises hogs. He-ships to the Kansas City market. Along last year Mi. Blank painfully observed that oil nearly every shipment he receiv?ii notice that one or more hogs died or the trip to market. He discussal the matter with his neighbors anil they advised him. “Loky ’ere, Sam,” they told him. “The fellows up at the stock vans in Kansas City are stealing and kill ing your hogs and getting money ou of them. You better go along nei t time and watch.” 11 When shipping time came, Sam. wary and vigilant, accompanied sis hogs to iharket. To avoid confusion among . o many carloads of cattle the stoc - yards company’has a checking sys tem’. The yajdmen look over t,e cars, not/ where they are from, tje nHuj'bcfs of the cars, and what chu e the stock will be consigned to. Thpv turn this memoranda over to t|e salesman. t Suspicious Sam was on hand when ( a yardman looked over his car. ( “Carload of hogs from Blanlp Kan.,” the yardman sang outrto thp memorandum clerk. “Car No? Chute 8!” 4 1 That was what Sam was waitilg', for. He was on his feet like V Jack in the box. “Not on your life,” he shouiww “I’m onto you fellers. You don’t shoot a darned hair off their backsifj What happened thereupon has not been recorded.—Kansas City Star. TOO LATE « , I tM-J, He—Would you be satisfied with love in a cottage ? ' -U She—A cottage? Not for me. He—l’m sorry. My cottage is at Newport. I’m sorry, indeed. Good by. EXPERIMENT JUSTIFIED. That there is a marked improve* : ment in the general health of schod( children, since medical inspection oF schools was made a rule, although many suffer from defective sight ami teeth, is stated in a report inade btf Dr. Laberge, assistant medical health officer, Montreal. Dr. Laberge also states that infectious diseases are less prevalent, while skin diseases have practically vanished. He af gues that much of this is due to close medical inspection, and to the will ingness of principals and teachers to aid the inspection. APPRECIATES CUCUMBERS. | In Cairo and Alexandria, EgyLtl cucumbers are truly appreciataMr They are developed to their utmosfH Sometimes they reach a length ft two and a half feet, and they a|e much eaten and liked by the Moreover, the beautiful womei} of these cities understand the value of cucumber juice, and it is squeezed, j out of the huge green vegetable for ' them to use a lotion for the skin. HAD TO STOP. '. “MJry make your building only “Couldn’t lease any offices on the thirteenth floor.” ACCOUNTED FOR. “Why did Adam and Eve name their first child Cain?” “I suppose they did it after they found out what they were raising.” DOMESTIC FRANKNESS. Pet—Do you think I’d look better if I had my beard shaved off? Dearest—Of course not; just when your face is almost covered?—Puck. ON HIS WAY. Old Doctor (who has been gossip ing for three-quarters of an hour) Well, well, I must lie going. I’ve got to visit an old lady in- a fit.—Punch. NO ONE LOVES A POLICEMAN I <B OUS & ut Universal Dislike That Is ? y Not Directed Against the Firemen. t Following is an interesting extract from a discussion in the American Magazine: , “Why is it that nobody ever has a good word for policemen?” “Wher- I ever you go. good policemen are al- I ways in the next town. New York ; praises Cleveland’s police,, and you 1 believe it till you read the Cleveland I papers. Cincinnati people tell you what a splendid force they have in Detroit, Detroit tells you about St. Louis, St. Louis about Toledo. But go from one city to another and the citizens all say that the Ipcal force is no good; and so it goes. “On the other hand, they general ly try to tell you that their fire de partment is better than others. They are proud of their frremen. You never hear specific charges like graft and against fire men. The general current estimates of the 'two branches of the service seem to rank firemen and policemen on two entirely different grades of character or levels of manhood. It is something like a light case of race Everybody believes in fftemen believes much in policemen. Bremen are taken for as brave and manly and po licemen are always supposed to bear watching. Yet the two branches are .recruited from exactly the same stock or grade or class or whatever you have a mind to call it; and they are picked for about the same run of qualifications.” TWO DIFFERENT SPECIES r*i '-Q® IJ ll “Say, grandpa, what is a book worm ?” Grandpa-jpA bookworm, my son, is either a person who would rather read a book than eat, or a worm that would rather eat a book than read. CUMBERSOME COLLAR. As president of the French repub lic., burden which M. . Poincare will have to bear is the col 'lar which he wears as grand master of the Legion of Honor—an office which is always filled by the ruler of France. The collar consists of med als—each oiure size of a franc—en graved with the arms of the princi pal French towns and'joined togeth er by a massive chain, the links of which are fastened to represent bun dles of lictors’ rods. Attached to the chain is a cross almost two feet in length. As the decoration is made throughout of solid gold its weight is enormous, and diminutive presi dents such as MM. Thiers and Lou bet found it almost unwearable. For tunately, the president is not often called upon to cumber himself with it. FOOLING THE FOWLS. \ “Making garden ?” j “Don’t talk so loud. You’ll attract rtne hens. They think I’m merely .digging bait.”—Louisville Courier- Tournal. FOREVER BARRED. “Do you think women will ever be successful police force ?” “Not in the secret service depart ment.”—Judge.; U ALWAYS PREPARED. “Rickets is a man of remarkable foresight.” , “Yes, indeed. He is never with- i out a corkscrew.” LONG WAS SHORT. Manager —Did you collect that bill from Old Man Long? Collector—No; he w T as in, but he was out. —Boston Transcript. REFUTED. “There’s always room at the top,” said the Sphinx. “Take a look at us and guess again,” replied the pyramids. Telephone 44 I For anything in the Drug Line. I send it out promptly. DeLACY LAW, DRUGGIST. Saw Mills. / ' Gaioesvilie Iron Works. Member Chamber of Commerce, GAINESVILLE. GA. i Our Business is Baskini; $ - = j Our effort is to attend,to that IvsJicff. Our aim is to please. * Our wish, to succeed. u ■j Your patronage will be appreciated. < Your interest will be cared for. I ! . I I j | Tri |ls and you’ll bs pieaset I II- ' ' i I STATE BANKING CO., i T. E. ATKINS, W. R. WINBURN President. Cashier. R. J. SANDERS, Vice-Pres. Il ' _ | Painesville & Northwestern Railroad 10. Change of Schedule Effective Sunday, June 15, 1913. Passenger and Freight Service to Helen and Robertstown Northbound. Read down. Southbound. Read up. Eastern Standard Ti ire Sunday Sunday Daily la ly ZtmdavSunday only. only. ex. Sun ex Sun only, only.* P. M. A. M. P. M. A. M. A. M. P. M 435 919 315 Gainesville lo <o 350 425 4 45 9 20 3 25 New Holland Jet 9 45 9 35 4 15 5 05 9 40 3 40 Chirk 9 23 8 11 3 51 514 949 350 Awtry 914 8(3 343 5 22 9 57 4 00 Dewberry 9 09 7 54 3 3.") 535 10 10 415 Brook ton 850 741 323 543 IO 18 435 Clermont 840 732 315 551 10 30 445 Couuty Line 828 723 307 555 1( 35 450 Camp Ground 8 2'. 719 303 610 10 48 505 Me'dean 808 707 251 627 11 ('G 530 Cleveland 7 650 235 644 11 26 545 653 11 30 555 Yonah 726 626 211 702 1! 38 610 Naeoochee 71s 618 203 710 11 46 620 Helen 7 611 155 715 11 50 630 North Helen 705 6 ‘ 15 ) Money to Loan. We are prepared to negotiate Loans in any amount on improved Farms in Hall County, on five years time, at low rates of interest. HAM & THOMAS. Rooms 8. 9. Granite Elcg. There SC2. Gainesville /Aidland Railway ScheOtrt Time Table No. I(, Jui.e 22, 191?. , X HO—l MMW' • * 3B>». ■ -I—-»•- ’• 7 LEAVE GAINESV ILLE * No. I—daily .... . I'. in: sr. n: No. 3—daily . 4.35 p. m No. II —Daily exo] t Sunday . 2.30 n. m ARRIVE GAINESVILLE No. 2 —Daily . 9.00 a. m No. 4 Dai.y L3O p. in No. 12 —daily except Sundav . 12.15 p. m