Page:Letters to Mrs. F. F. Victor, 1878-83.djvu/8

 received from the agents at the Islands to pay a monthly sum to the "Modeste" crew; by the end of the month this money was on hand ready to issue again. A strange notion of the Drs was that after the ½ bushel measure was filled he required that it should be kicked to settle it & then filled again; the man who used to do this for me was old San Souci still living at Champoeg. Of course this was very distastful to some but most of the old hands had been too well trained to say much openly. Geo: Abernethy was then living at Salem, & that fall was the 1st meeting for political purposes. I paid little attention to it at the time. The missionaries were there in force; some of them probably Mr. [Josiah L.] Par[r]ish & others are still to the fore. I think they would confidently say with me that Gray was not there. I know that the wheat & flour business was not profitable to the Company—their only outlet was the Islands a little for Sitka and their own home trade. Barns at that time were either non est or rude affairs & loss was often sustained by the wheat heating in this moist close climate. Sixty cents looks small for wheat but their goods were very good and very cheap there was no duties in those days—why the duties & charges, since while I lived at Cowlitz amounted to 70 per cent. [Edward] Huggins of Nisqually & [Dr. W. F.] Tolmie will say the same. The Commissioned Officers of the Co were supplied with goods at 33⅓ on Invoice Cost the Clerks & servants at so per cent & outsiders at 100 per cent—that is on the London Invoice cost. The controversy of M M M (the big brass gun—Genl M M McCarver—[Samuel?] Parker &c was more for notoriety than any thing else. [James] Douglas was advised to take no notice of them. Where could they have gone with their wheat if the Company hadn't taken it? I know very little of [Samuel R.] Thurston considered him in so far as the Doctor was concerned very unprincipled & Joe Lane very little better. I dont know how the feud between the Dr & Sir Geo: originated the Dr was at outs I think in 31 & threatened to retire and