Don Elderberry Morton

"The Moons Got All the Bees!"

Don worked a few odd jobs before he ended up at the popular nightspot at #12 Adler Place in the North Beach section of Frisco. Previously he had tended a very popular bar on Kearny Street, The Pen and Pencil. It was there I lent him the dough so he could do whatever had to be done to get his real estate license. I think it was only $200 bucks. Evidently, none of his friends, all drunks, had that kind of money.

He went to work with a broker named, Mike O'Neill. Don, with the help of O'Neill, made some nice deals. He had never seen money like that before. It made him very happy, so he paid me back!!!

Don kept his nighttime bar tending job. My "gang" used to show up at #12 Adler for before dinner drinks. Always, the entertainment was Don. He was poetry in movement, a virtual Fred Astair, dancing up and down the runway, mixing and cajoling, laughing and having a drink or six.

Don would have fitted perfectly into a Damon Runyon character.
One of his most endearing characteristics was that he knew Australian slang, a lingo I was not familiar with until I met him. The following vignette is an example:

Don and O'Neill were about to close a large real estate deal in Sausalito. It was a "slam dunk" and he and O'Neil were dining at Sally Sanford's waiting for the other broker in the deal to call as soon as it closed. Don got a little nervous so he left the table deciding to phone the other broker to find out just what was going on.
It seems that not only did it not close, but another offer was accepted. The competition won out!!!

Don ran back to the dining room with the news that a wealthy San Francisco Chinese family beat them out of the sale. O'Neill, who had been patiently waiting for Don's return was chagrined as Don went completely out of control screaming, "The moons got all the bees!!!"

Translation: "The Chinese have all the bucks." (Money.)

More about Don and Aussie slang later.