WHERE MONEY HAS NO VALUE.

Auckland Star, Volume XLVI, Issue 191, 12 August 1915, Page 7

WHERE MONEY HAS NO VALUE.

THE BORROWER AT A DISCOU>T. To .ihe rank and file one consolation in ] life on our selection is that money has mo value (-writes a correspondent from ! fJallipoli. It is as u*ele«s as starched i collars or dress ties. A dapper man fa !my battalion, a c-pendthrift in private ! life, who says it causes him mental anpolish, derisinp \va_v» and means of making ends meet on klO a week in Sydney, landed with M. in his pocket some eight weeks a£o. Today 1 saw him carrying !up water chpprfnlly on a 1 in 3 gradient, with a couple of bt>ils on his neck protected by lint, and wearing a poatee board and ridin? brooches turned inside oin. "just to -f•>H the persecutors." he ' explained. I'roudlv he produced the I ru.-tv coins from hi- purse, and pointed out that, in spite of all hardships and 1 tribulations, his capital remained, untiiuched. I We had not seen » solitary trader on the reninsula: if one such veotUTed into the linos he would be maTohed off between two havon'ts and held as a spyWine an.l spirit- oann<H be bourrht for '. ptoM "r pnvious stontv. There was a ' time when a refrimontal rum dprn">t ex- ! irfted nn the luMch: -ihis is but a memory I now. our last is«ue; amouatiny t-o about J two an.l-T half tableepoonfuls 11'.P.1 per man. havinjj been jriven out on tho anni I versa-v 'jf the Kind's P>irthday. Money w.is ,^ijor! v olTere.! t" the Ulucjacket-i for bread riurinjrthe first siv weeks, but I Llie Jack Tars .rnulJ not accept it. They would cither barw-r it f»r Turkish ounivs fthflld. knives, bayonets or ritle-i- or I pivp it jrratuit-uwly. flartorinp is prac ticaHi the nnlv means of exchange. It sounds primeval: *w> doe** the throwing of hand prenadm by the foe. Now that we have a bi weekly if*ue of bread bakeil at I.emno- and fresh meat —most, of it from the Argentine the men worn,- less : abni:t findinj; possible uses for their dins. There is no ?:>nvblinp: no jjimes r>f chance of whatever kind are playel. I have seen moncv eh.inpp hands once | over a hot Two men in the i-ame mmpanv mentioned X.. .1 mutual friend. One kne'u- he na.« dead, the other was positive that he had «tistnincl a flesh wound in the arm. The former was | absnlutelv certain, because he hail car- . ried V <<i:t and he thoupht it indecent to bet nhonit it. In the cmi. however, he put up his fiver-and lost it. for the mining man rejoined his battalion laet week. A LE.WENIN'G EFFECT. The Uf-eioi*sne*s of money. I find, ha* i a kareninp effect. A private who i» •> gn(x'. foraper wr!l fare better for food ' thi-n the letharc,.- in.ii-vi.lual accustomed i to havinjr anyth;nj: that mipht be boujrht. To supply their needs and p«H a fair • whack " men jrrow peculiarly observant and nippy The aceonrpiished borrower, who wa.« preat a p<wt in Bpypt as the unwuhed. backiheesh. merchant, find.- ni eenpe here for his; activities: he must confine his talents *o tie jrTadua! acquioition of your tol>acco nnd matchc.->. making a sideline perhap* of ryjar.-ttc oa-per«. Bven the cook-* cannot be lirihod. They may pive you something in kind for a Turkish eonvenir with an eye ;>> bartering it to their own advantage: hut for they do not care Coin of tHr reaJm t» ([iiite out of fashion Philosophers amonp us apreo that money neofj be minted in a land where there i* no »:ne. no women. »!id no h.)re<->. ami h.-rr- even the Upht Horse are d'wmiurWed. How differrtit from life in I aim. three short mont!n s£o! On arrival in the land of the Pyrarrri.ir.. lonns were fre«iy piven. But with the fUinz of the 1 p<-r >ljy maximum it bwime nooeesary to nit up md cuntenrpSarc life throujrh different piloses A nui! 3/viiMtompd to borrowing a fiver foun.l it ditTicult to chanpe the haf.-it. an,l you found it equally dntasto ftll to appt-vse him with .V. The neiv economic situation sfon adjusted itself. | and as time wont on. arxi :iO-piastre taxis pave way to - piastre tram«. one man. spen-kinp in hiph admiration of an other. m;pht have been overheard to (*av: "Toni .lonf* is a real poorl sort: he loaned mo five piastres |l/l to-day •.vithoiit 1 murmur when I put the acid on him." The Territorials vrrrr found useful a.» yirKloA on 'Hir Hr't ri«its to Cairo, and Ib** mijoritv of them seeme<l to think .thit Auvr.ilians oarricd baps of money. Trier were peneraUy impeciinious. hiit. whilo aci-eptiny your hoepi tality. they seMnrn reTJo*t<>d a loan. One \orth f'otintrT man, however, attempted it in a rather clumsy, if eauti \ ous fa.«hicin Aorir' inp his newly found colonial accjiia:ntance. he asked. ■■Say. C'noom: cin-t keep a secret , " "My o.ith!" was tne confident reply. "Then ler.d mc Ift piastre, choom!" pumued the other, ratinp hi.« voice on the last syllable of the sentence. This plan of attack, with its original phraseolojry.; was subsequently adopted as the etand- j ard model for use in negotiating sma-ll financial transactions between ourselves A dodie mieepsefiilly rejorted 'to by oth~r borrowers—not TeiritoriaLs —was to ask the prospective victim if he had chanpe of SO piastre*, and. as he wa* pullinp out his purse, to put the eurprisirrp reo,Hßsr. "Then you can let mc have CO till tomorrow, like a good chap." NT. TTTLE DE"Et>S. Tn odd moments we speculate irpon the valne of rthosp few hundred acres of country so thickly populated by us. Two month* have seen preat improvements offected: pocxl roads made up the steepest slopes, gradients reitueed. timbsrM wpIU stink, thornbueh nnd wnih oak c-lrired off. telephone lines laid, labyrinths of trenches scientifically constructed, small jetties and one pier iWiw.son I'ier it is called) huil*. and hundreds of comfortable "dwellings " excavated. The soil in rich, the climate - in summer at least — salubrious; the whole place, with its historic aivocittiorw. is acressiblp by land or sea to tne chief centres of the Old World. Just one trifling diffiVultv stands in the way of the land-jobber feverishly anxious to buy and exploit our selection. We havo the land, but not t,he title deeds. No money has changed hands. As I have said, coin it no-,v ( >ut of fashion.