n change; small money is the
current coin; great stress is set upon a well-worn quarter, and a
dime is precious in the sight of the native.

It so happened that just about the time of our arrival, the
machinery of justice in and about Pittsfield was running a little
wild anyway.

In an adjoining township, on the same day, ex-President Cleveland,
who was whiling away time in the philosophic pursuit of fishing,
was charged with catching and retaining longer than the law
allowed a bass which was a quarter of an inch under the legal
limit of eight inches. Now in the excitement of the moment that
bass no doubt felt like a whale to the great man, and as it neared
the surface, after the manner of its kind, it of course looked as
long as a pickerel; then, too; the measly fish was probably a
silver bass, and once in the boat shrunk a quarter of an inch,
just to get the eminent gold Democrat in trouble. At all events,
the friend who was along gallantly claimed the bass as his,
appeared in the Great Barrington district court, and paid a fine
of two dollars.

Now these things are characteristic of the place, daubs of local
coloring; the summer resident upon whom the provincials thrive is
not disturbed; but the stranger who is within the gates, who is
just passing through, from whom no money in the way of small
purchases and custom is to be expected, he is legitimate plunder,
even though he be so distinguished a stranger as an ex-President
of the United States.

A local paper related the fishing episode as follows:

"Ex-President Grover Cleveland, who is spending the summer in
Tyringham, narrowly escaped being arrested at Lake Garfield, in
Monterey, Thursday afternoon. As it was, he received a verbal
summons to appear in the Great Barrington district court this
morning and answer the charge of illegal fishing. But when the
complainants learned who the distinguished person was with whom
they were dealing, they let drop the matter of swearing out a
warrant, and in Mr. Cleveland's place appeared Cassius C.
Scranton, of Monterey.

"He pleaded guilty to catching a bass less than eight inches in
length, which is the minimum allowed by law, and was fined two
dollars by Judge Sanford, but as Mr. Cleveland said that he caught
the fish, there is still a good deal of doubt among the residents
of southern Berkshire as to which one was actually guilty.
However, if the hero of the Hawaiian enterprise was the unlucky
angler who caught t