Bradford reporter. [volume] (Towanda, Pa.) 1844-1884, 1860-06-28
[From Household Wordsnl
A Stocking full of Bank Notes.

securing this valuable property, be put it in
the foot OF an old stocking, and buried it in
his garden where bank note paper conldn't
fail to keep dry, and to come out when want
ed, in the best preservation.
After leaving his treasure in this excellent
place of deposit for some months, it occurred
to the depostor to look at it, and see how it
was getting on He found the s!ocking.fobt
apparently full Of the fragments Of mildew and
broken mushrooms. No other shadow of q
shade of eighty-seven pounds ten.
In the midst of his despair, the man had the
sense net to disturb the ashes Of his property
He took the stocking foot in bis hand, posted
of to the Bank of Dublin, entered it one morn
ing as soon as it was opened, and staring ct
! the clerk with q most extraordinary absence
of all expression in his face SAID =
/ All look at that, sir Can ye do anything
/ for me ?r
"What do yod call this y said the clerk.
Eighty-seven pound tin, praise the Lord,
as I'm sinner Ohone There was twinty
as was paid to me by Mr. Phalm O'Dowd,
sir and tin as in changed by Pat Reilly,
and FIVE as was own by Tim and Ted Con-
ner, ses he to ould Phillips
Well ! Never mind old Phillips You
have done it my friend y
Oh Lord, sir, and it's done it | have most
| complate ! Oh, good luck to you, sir, can you
| do nothing for me p
al don't know what's to be done with such
a mess as this. Tell me, first Of all, what you
put in the stocking, YOU unfortunate blunder-
er ,"
"Oh YES, sir. and tell you true II 1t was the
last word | had to spake entirely, and the
Lord be good to you, and Ted Conner ses he
| to nnld Phillips, regarden the five as was own
by Tim, and not included of the tin which was
changed by Pat Reilly
You didn't put Pat Reilly or ould Phillips
into the stocking, did you :"
= Is il Pat or Guild Phillips as was ever the
yaly of eghty-svin pound tin, lost and gone
and including the FIVE as was own by Tim, aud
/ Ted Conner"
Then tel! re that you d,d put in the
stocking and let me take it down. And then
hold your tongue, if you can, and 80 your way
ah1 come back tomorrow"
The particulars OF the notes were taken.
without any reference TO Ould Phillips who
could not, however, by any means be Kept out
of the story end the man departed. When
he was gone, the stocking-foot was shown to
the Chief Engrayer Of the notes, who said ttat
if anybody could settle the business, his son
could. And he proposed that the particulars
of the notes should not be communicated to
his son, who waS then employed in his depart
ment of the Bank, but should he put away
under lock and key and that if his sons in-
genuty should enable him 10 discover from
these ashes what notes had realiy pat in The
otockiug, and the two lists should talIr, the
man should be paid the lost amount To this
prudent proposal the Bank of Ireland readily |.
assented ; being extrem!y anxious that the /.
maH shonld not be a loser: but. of course, /
deeming it essential to be protected from i'm
position
The son readily undertook the delicate com.
mission proposed to him. He detached the !
fragments from the stocking with the utmost |
care, Gu the fine point CT penknife laid the |
whole gently in a basin Of warm water and
presently saw them, to his delight. began 10
unfold and expand like flowers By-and-by. |
he began to tease them with very light I
touches Of camels hair pencil, and 50, by /
little and little, and by the most delicate use |
OF the warm water, the camel's hair pencil and /
the penknife, got the various morsels separate /
before him, and began to piece them together /
The first piece laid down was family recogni- I
sable by pFactised eye as bit OF the left. .
band bottom corner Of twenty-pound note
then came bit of FIVE, then of ten then
more bits of twenty then more bits of FIVE
and ten :hen another left hand bottom cor
ner Of twenty-So there were two tWeuties
aud so on until, to the admiration aud astCuish-
ment of the whole Bank, he noted down the
exact amount deposited in the stocking, and
the exact notes of which it had been compOs.
ed Upon this, as he wished to see and divert
himself with the man on bis return-he pro-
yded himself with bundle of corresponding
new, clean, ,rustling notes,& awaited his arrival
He came exactly as before, with same blank
staring face, and the same inquiry, Can you
do anything for me, sir ?"
Well" said our friend, don't know
Maybe ] can do something. But have taken
q great deal of pains and lost a great deal of
time, and l want to know what you mean to
give me-"
1t is given, sir ? Thin is there anything !
wouldn't give for NY eighty-sivin pound tin,
sir and its murdered | am by ould Phillips"
Never mind him there we're two twenties
were there not 7"
"Oh holy mother sir. there vas Twom
illigaut twenties and Ted Conner-and Pha-
hm-whieh Reilly"
He faltered and stopped, as our friend with
much ostentatious rustling of the crisp paper,
produced new twenty, and then the other
twenty, and then ten, ard then a FIVE and
so forth. Meanwhile, the man, occasionally
murmuring an exclamation of surprise, or
protestation Of gratitude, bat gradually berom-
ing vague and remote in the latter, as the
notes reappeared, looked on staring, evidently
inclined to believe that they were the real
lost notes, reproduced in that state by some
chemical process. At last they were all told
out, and in his pocket, and be still stood star
ing and muttering. "Oh. holy mother. only 70