34
G. FINDLAY ANDREW
camped till about midnight. Then making our way down the mountain side we came to a large field in the centre of which some of the war-lord's men started digging. It was not long before they uncovered the first of several large earthenware crocks full of silver, mostly the fifty ounce "shoes". Each crock was wired to the next. By daylight we had the whole of the sycee boxed in the cases we had brought with us and shortly after sun-up we had the pack-animals loaded and were on our way home. One very pleasant remembrance of the incident was the spirit of integrity that was evidenced in the whole deal. Under the peculiar circumstances we naturally had to accept the weights and standards that were given us at the place of take over. But when we were able to check-up at the provincial capital we found no discrepancy.
I purposed using this consignment of silver to purchase some coarse barley, cultivated on the Tibetan border and which was the only grain available and in very limited quantities. However, we hit a snag when the people of the district (half-breed Tibetans) insisted that payment must be made in silver dollars of standard value. It seemed for a time as though we had reached an impasse, until, acting on a hint, I found in the local arsenal machinery for a mint which our far-sighted War-Lord was planning for this backward province of the North-West. We found dies and stamps to mint the impressions which we made in moulds from the dollars of all provinces and regions. The only difference between our production and the originals was that our content was of uniform standard. The only dollar we were unable to copy was the Sun Yat-sen dollar where the impression goes through and comes out in relief on the other side. We even produced Hong Kong dollars. In all we minted and uttered two hundred and thirty odd thousand silver dollars. What alloy we used was white brass. This episode had an interesting sequel some ten years later when, one evening, I found myself dining with Dr. T. V. Soong, then Minister of Finance. Among the guests was Yu Yu-ren, then President of the Examination Board. This office was responsible for the disciplining of officials. Pointing at me, Dr. Soong said to Mr. Yu, “You ought to put this man behind the bars. He comes to our country and without Government charter or licence he issues our currencies and mints our coinage". "Excuse me ",