The herald and mail. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 1873-188?, 1875-10-15
Bank of England Gounterfeits.

In the report of the parliamentary Sc
Iect committee on banks of issue some
very curious information is given about
forgeries on the bank of England A
table was prepared for the committee by
the bank officials, stating the number
and kinds of forged notes presented at
the bank for the past seventy years. In
the early part of the century these for
geries were very common. The &
note was the flvoritc with cOunterfeiters.
In 1920, $4,000 false notes of this de
nomination were presented at the bank,
with small proportions of higher nom
inal value Since 1929 there has been
rapid decline in the circulation Of coun-
terfcits of all kinds on the bank of Eng
land, and in 1874 only j6 countcrfcited
81 notes come to light, and 80 of other
denominations. The forged 81 notes APP
pear to be mostly the work of the former
ace. For fifty years the bank has ceased
to issue this denomination. The new
counterfeits which appear are chiefly of
the IS note. OF these twentv-seyCn
were presented in 1871, against 745 in
1920. The total face value of all thu
counterfeits in the latter year was e33,-
6S2. against e475 in 1874. This remark
able contrast is almost wholly owing to
the unsparing energy of the bank of
England in discovering and arresting
those who tamper with its issues, and
the very severe penalty inflicted on con
victCd COunterteiterS. The paper, the
watermark, the engraving, and the signi-
lures offer no obstacle to the ingenuity
of roGues. These can all be initiated.
but bold is the man who darcs to take
the chances of bringing the bank sleuth-
hounds on his back. They will follow
him all over the world to catch him
and on his conviction he Is sent to a pris-
on from which there is no escape through
political influence or eXecutiveclemency.
If the government of the United States
would exhibit a little more of this apti-
tude for chasing up and arrcstlng Coun-
terfeiters-not at intervals to make
sensation, but continuously-we should
hear but little complaint of forged notes
in circulation.-N. I.,jOurRdtCf Commerce. |
THE INTELLIGENT COMPOsITOR TALKS !
BACK-An exasperated and sarcastic |
blacksmith " who sets type in Cairo, |
writes; "Who ever heard tell of an edi- |
tor making an error during his whole edi-
torial career? No one. The merchant |
swears at the printer; 50 does the Occa- /
sional correspondent humbug who writes
about the people, sovereignty tyr
amy etc; 50 does the cheerful hero
glyphieal prodigy, the associated press
agent; and those intoIerable frauds, the |
poetess and poet of the city; the man
whose friends desire that he should be |
mayor; the individual who received /
benefit and a stuffed watch for his bril-
liant talents, and in his card Of thanks
used the glittering commonplace, the an
tiquated and excessively vain pronoun
T. thus a." in fact, the printer gets
bounced on all sides. The printer, who
rummagcs after unintclligible pieces of
metal who corrccts, on an average, about
fifteen vilIainous errors an hour in COM
mon words. such as traveller, jailer, by
pocrisy, fulfill, holiday, gauge, separate.
alleged, fetid, Judgment, skilltul, couL-
selor, impanel, and many other simple
ones, and makes probably one blundcr in
five thousand words, is frequently asked
to step down and out. No wonder he
feels savage, and drinks whisky and beer
and talks about the ignorance of the
aristocrats, the middle class, and allother
classes