National Republican., 1879-05-28
LENDING TO UNCLE SAM.
Clamor for Ten-DOIlar Refunding
Certificates.
Spectators Banlod by u Sudden Termination
of the Salo-Scenes at the Treasury
Tricks of Bond-Huycrs - A Com
sdcrably Worried Spccu-
latur-NIow tho Ccrtin-
Gates nro Sold.
Tho Rush AT the Treasury.

The Rush at the Treasury.
Yesterday morning about five o'clock, any |
one passing the Treasury building must have
noticed the throng of mon, women aud chill. |
drcn patiently waiting for nine o'clock to ar.
rive, when the sale of the much.dcsrcd |
$40 certificates would be resumed Tho
crowd began to form at eleven o'clock |
the preceding night and ncccssions to
the ranks tip to five o'clock in the morning |
swolcd the numbers up into the thousands,
The line on the female side extended from the
doors of tho north entrance to Fifteenth street,
aud on the mems to the gate of the Executive |
Mansion. Tho colorcd people outnumbcrcd
the whites by odds of at least eight to ono.
The crowd was very orderly. When the doors
were opcncd at nine o'clock q rush was iumc.
diatoly made for tho front places, but the po.
lice soon had everything correct. Upon reach
ing the door the following notice, conspicu-
ously posted on ono Of the granite pillars was
read with great dissatisfaction by the throng
of buyers: "Sale of certificates limited toI
$4,000 this day. Many grnnts Of disapproval
escapcd spcculators MS they read the notice.
for it meant that but 300 people could be
supplied however, the work of raying out the
bonds quickly began. Mr.. W. II. Gibson, the
paying teller was soon at his post when the
! following programme was carried out A
watchman stood Immediately in front of the
! tcler's desk. aud rs fast rs ten buyers were
supplied he would give notice to another watch
man, standing in the hall, by pulling open one
| of the doors leading into the caSh'ropm This
was the signal for the outside man to blow his
whistle, and Immediately five men or women
would be admitted at the main door. Every
| purchaser, as he or she went TO the desk, was
| carefully scrutni2cd to prevent repeating. 1t
was impossible, however, to prevent this as
| the ns" were up to all the latest tricks.
| One woman, neatly attrcd, and who con.
ccGed her features with blue veil, was par
ticularly noticeable for her skill After dcpos-
! iting $i006l, the principal and accrued inter
est. she would wheel around apparently for the
| purpose of leaving the room. Tho Waterman
would be attending to the other line and the
veiled figure would slip in again. She repeat
| ed this OpCration seven times by actual count
before she was finally forced out of tho rom.
Tho faces of the Spectators wore u very in.
tercsting expression Us n batch of buyers
would come up to the counter Despite
the warnings of the watchmSn, the spec
ulator would endcavor to thrust himself
in with the holder of his money, but this
trick was not very successful. Ont of 800 per.
SONS furnished with bonds yesterday not more
than fifty whites were accommodated, all the
rest being Hcgrocs, and they generally of the
lowest type. Some of the latter appeared us
though a one dollar bill would be tho height of
their ambition, and the farce Of their buying
and handling so many large bills pleased them
greatly. Some rather amusing scenes occurred
in the cash-room. young white woman,
in attempting to change her place in line,
dropped the interest which she had in her
hand. A colored woman behind her, under
pretensc of helping TO find the missing money,
picked up half dollar and put it in her own
pocket As she thought herself unObservcd
she made no attempt to return it to the dis.
mayed owner, who was forced to leave the line
and hunt up more interest Luckily for her
the spcculator who advanced her the money
was OH hand, and she was not delayed long
One speculatOr apparently had too much
money out to rest comfortably, for he scanned
every conner nervOusly. In several instances
, he had forgotten the men to whom he had en-
, trusted his money but they turned out honest
and made returns promptly. Tho actions
, of this spCCulatOr We're of the most
, amusing description. For instance, when one
of his new hands came up to the door he would
hold on to him until the watchman forced him
back, then he would try to peer through the
crack of the door, and, that boon being denied
/, him, he would endeavor to get into the cash
/ room. If successful he was happy, and seemed
r to have no fears. But, oil the other hand
when kept out he would pace the hall, and
whenever man came ont he would run NJ
and grab him, and hold on to him until the
+ latter proved whether or not he was an en-
, ployec of his. This was a fair sample of the
average speculator. The nervousness of the
employer in all cases was most ludicrous. Al
: 1875 o'clock Mr.. Gibson had disposed of tht
| last package of bonds, and put up sign t.
that effect. At the counter for the sale o
, registered bonds Mr.. Billy Williams had hi
hands full. These certificates could not b,
0 utilized by the spectators, aud consequent!
$ buyers were in the most cases bona .fde. NJ
! disorder occurred in the cash-room from th
: time the sales began until the designated
p, amount was disposed of, the rule of allowing
Of
I advantage to all concerned. Later in the da.
i the following order was issued by SccrctNr
u Shcrman
. After to-day no more certificates will be sold b
the Treasurer of the United States over his cOuntc
l. nor will any be furnished by him to public officer
for sale in this city or Boston, New York Phiadc
phN, or Baltimore, The Secretary desires that Tn
- remainder of the certificates unsold be distributed
u as far as practicable among postmastcrs bonded f
their sale at places other than those aboyc-mel
toned.