Toward the close of the war, when the Southern cause had become hopeless, and the people feared the paper money might never be redeemed, $150 Confederate money often had to be paid to get a pair of shoes soled, and twenty-five to fifty paper dollars were demanded in exchange for a loaf of bread.

Of course the United States did not redeem this money when the war was over, the promise to redeem it having been made by the Confederate States; and so the thousands of dollars of Confederate money did not really have any value.

Those who had grumbled at paying such large sums to get their boots soled got the best of the bargain, for they had something to show for their money, while those who held the bills had really nothing but a handful of waste paper.

No coin had been deposited in the Treasury for the bills that were issued, and so they had no value whatever.

You can see how very necessary it is that we should have vaults bulging with money if our business is to go on satisfactorily.

* * * * *

The school-ship St. Mary’s has just started off for her summer cruise.

This school-ship is kept by the City of New York for the purpose of teaching boys how to become sailors.

The vessel is under the control of the Board of Education, and only boys of the best character are received on board.

If by chance a bad boy finds his way on to the St. Mary’s, he is dismissed the moment his evil ways show themselves.

The youths who are admitted to the school must be between the ages of sixteen and twenty, and they must show a very decided taste for a sailor’s life.

The course of instruction takes two years, and during that time each boy must pay $30 for the cost of his uniform and bedding.

In the winter the ship lies alongside the pier at the foot of Twenty-eighth Street and East River, and there the boys are taught the art of navigation and all the seamanship they can learn before they go to sea.

As soon as the spring sets in, the St. Mary’s is towed over to a suitable harbor in Long Island, and there the boys are thoroughly drilled in the furling and unfurling of sails, and in all the practical knowledge that will enable them to handle the ship when she puts to sea.

When all is ready, she starts off on a cruise which lasts till Fall, and returns to her pier in October.

Arrived in dock, the graduation exercises are held; and the graduates are assigned to such ships of the merchant navy as are in need of them.

This year there are eighty-nine scholars on board the St. Mary’s.  It is the intention of Lieutenant-Commander Reeder, who is in command of the vessel, to sail across the Atlantic to Fayal, Lisbon, Gibraltar, and Madeira, before he brings his ship back to winter quarters.

It is said that the young sailors who are turned out of this nautical school are in great demand, and have no difficulty in finding good berths as soon as they have graduated.