Knoxville journal. [volume] (Knoxville, Iowa) 1874-1986, 1875-03-04

| cept to account as above for the 81, 600
delivered to her. Her final duty is to
| see the completed packages cancelled,
! which is done by machine that cuts of
the lower left-hand corner of every note.
The fifteen full packages counted and
Cancelled by Mary Smith now pass into
the hands Of the Asserting Teller His
clerks, about half of which are men,
work standing before huge wire-screened
tills ranged in three rows down long
ROOM
There are about 1900 national banks
in the country; these are divided into
forty-four alphabetical groups. Each
till has forty-fouT numbered divisions
lettered according to the above arrange
ment John Jones takes Mary Smiths
fifteen packages, breaks the straps, and
distributes them very much as printer
would his "pi" among the divisions of
his till according as they are issued by
one bank to another. The packages of
group one go to one counter, group two to
another, etc. Whenever $500 or over of
any banks notes have been redeemed
that bank is notified to reimburse the
per cent. fund. Remittances are usually
by draft, and the drafts of one day on
New York alone amount to 81 100000.
For each draft certificate of deposit is
issued and forwarded to the bank. Every
letter sent is copied, numbered. initiated
and filed.
The chief deposit of the money that
inevitably accumulates with the Agent
is in vault in the second story, accessi-
BILE only by little gallery running around
the marble cash-room. The vault is fif-
teen feet square, made of alternate lay
ers, the whole about six inches thick OF
steel and franklinite, New Jersey ore,
so far impregnable to drills Two pom
derous iron doors and an iron grating
guard the narrow entrance.
One branch of this work deserves
more extensive notice than could be al
lowed it in its proper place (the Receiv-
ing Teller's room), namely, the detection
OF counterfeits, pieced and mutilated
notes. Every counter is expected to
look for them, but their detection de-
wolves especially on the first counters,
who are pecuniarily respon-ible for any
subsequently found in bundles bearing
their initials. Some are exceedingly hard
to decide upon, but good counter rare
ly misses All she finds are returned to
the senders, branded counterfeit" The
$5s on Traders National Bank Of Chi
cago are the best and most plentiful. All
the $20's are poor, but the engraving on
the $500's of the Ohio National Bank of
Cincinnati is better than the original.
Pasted notes are made of strips OF diff
ferent notes, each successive strip trif1e
smaller, so that out of five notes six can
be made. They are more dangerous than
counterfeits, and the truest test is to
measure them carefully with a graduated
ruler the pasted notes being necessarily
smaller than the genuine. Sometimes
the face reads absurdly; as, First Ma
tional Bank of Bangor, Holyoke, Mass. !"
or "of Providence, N. j., or, as third, a
patchwork of New York and Mis-
souri, note:
Fist National Bank,
City of Seph,
State of 'ouri
One note on a Jacksonville Qll.) bank
had $50 face and $50 back, the COM
bined blunder of the bank company who
misprinted and the Treasury clerks who
overlooked it. Then there are notes
stolen before they have the bank officers
signatures, and the list of such banks
runs up to the fifties.
Notes reduced by mutilation to less
than three-fifths of original size are re.
iected: others are redeemed at their pro-