416	HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY

out most eloquent acknowledgements from the generous and appreciative
“down east” guests and members of the association. When assured by
answers to their inquiries that the ladies of Brazil who so well and so
graciously did the agreeable around the table in the service rendered had
themselves also gotten up that dinner, the guests were prompt and elo-
quent in saying that not all the treasures of Clay county are under ground.
	Late in the afternoon the excursionists reached Terre Haute, where
they were entertained at the expense of the city. After supper the asso-
ciation met at the opera house, when Bayless W. Hanna and Richard W.
Thompson extended the hospitalities and freedom, of the city. Right
eloquently did the officers of the association respond in words and accents
that told of their emotions in appreciation of the welcome accorded them.
	This excursion of the American Science Association was a significant
and auspicious event in the history of Clay county, making known to the
outside world more credibly and effectually the extent and value of our
resources than had ever been done before. State Geologist Cox, who
accompanied the party, is reported to have said that as the result of this
visit $2,000,000 of capital found investment in this field of production.
A Find of Fifty Dollars in Silver Change in War Times.
	In the spring of 1862, Esau Presnell, who had been engaged in mer-
chandising for several years, at Center Point, closed out his stock of goods
and moved to his Jackson township farm, a mile north of the town, leav-
ing store room and residence property in the village unoccupied. In the
month of May, 1863, he decided to re-engage in business, moved back
to town, and made a trip to Cincinnati to buy a stock of goods. As he
was at that time the presiding member of the board of county commis-
sioners, he employed William Travis to “keep store” for him during his
absence the first week in June in attendance at the regular quarterly ses-
sion of the board at the county-seat. The old-fashioned money drawer
of that day in this store was an unusually long one, extending back the full
width of the counter and seldom drawn out more than half its length. In
opening this drawer one day to make change for a customer, pulling it
out farther than usual, Mr. Travis noticed a paper box in one of the back
corners, which, at a leisure time, he took out and was surprised at its
weight. On opening it he was the more surprised at finding it full of sil-
ver change of all denominations, from a half-dime to a half-dollar,
amounting to as much as fifty dollars. When Mrs. Presnell’s attention
was called to it she could give no account of it whatever, and when Mr.
Presnell returned home at the end of the week he was just as much at a
loss to make any explanation. The only solution to the find was that at
some time while previously in business he had filled this box with surplus
change, pushed it back in the drawer out of sight and had forgotten it.
	At any time during his absence on the farm the storeroom could have
been easily entered by simply hoisting a window or by means of an ordi-
nary door-key. And, as this was war time, all gold and silver having a
premium, this box would have been a valuable find to someone looking
for opportunities. As silver had been retired from circulation during the
first year of the Civil war, this box of change had evidently been on deposit
there as much as two years.

A Novel Way of Clearing Ground.
	It is said of Samuel Steed, who came to this county about 1840, and
located in the western part of Washington township, now Sugar Ridge