Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1879-05-23

SOME CURIOUS CASES WHICH CONE BFFjRE TIL
UNITED STATES TREASURER.

SOME CURIOUS CASES WHICH CONE BETjRE THE
UNITED STATES TREASURER.
Whenever anybody mutilltes a national
bank or legal tender note, whenever any
body comes into possession Ji a WORKOUT
note. or whenever by accident any bcdy's
money Of this character becomes 50 far &C.
strOycd that it will not pass, he sends it to
the Treasurer OF the United States Tine
mutllated currency goes to the redemption
division OF the Treasurer office, and there
Judgment IL passed on 1t. OF course every
precauti0n il had against fraud. Quito
often woebegOne piece OF note will be
sent in. and after the crucial test will turn
out to be the relic Of counterfeit bill
Sometimes the aiiilayits accompanying the
fragment Of what was once q greenback
are a. manufactured. In such cases the
replies that the sender gets to his request
for redemption are more pointed than
polite.
Among the curious cases which have come
Up, says the Washington Star, was that of
poor old woman IN Philadelphia. She
was saying money in order to accumulate
enough to secure her admission to some
charitable institution, and hal got
together So. DistruStiul Of savings
banks, she put her money on q
she'll, well concealed. Ii soon d-ap-
pcar,l. She was eel AN it had been stolen.
Some OF her q 'shbn1 persuaded her to tear
up the floor She did 50. and. after close
search. the fragments of her SCI were
found in u rats nest, the proprietors OF
which had been exercising their nibbling
prOponsites on the money. She gathered
up the fragments and sent them to the Treas
ury. Most OF the money was in national
bank notes, which were mutilated beyond
the possibility OF recognition. For them
she could regain nothing. OF the legal
tender notes but IS could be redeemed so
the old lady lost So bErats
Another case in winch there was dis
trust OF hanks was that of farmer living
in Illinois lie always kept MS money in
tho house or about his person. A short
time ago he hal Sll 900 in ready cash and
carried 1t in his Goa. pocket. lie went to
bed, leaving his coat on chStr- Ills wife
complained of the GOODNESS of the room, and
he got up to stir the fire. lie had been back
in bed but short time, when the room
filled with smoke and the well-known oGOr
of something burning lie jumped up
to lind his coat pocket burnt out and his
Sll 900 charred mass. Fortunately there
was enough dl>tlnguishable about the notes
to secure him. upon his sworn and attested
athdaylts OF the facts, n new set complete.
lie may ra.ronizo the banks hereafter.
Perhaps one OF the most remarkable
cases that has ever come before the redemp-
ton division occurred last week. A Ne
braska backwoodsman dropped his pocket
book containing one hundred dollars into
the camp fire. Before he could &c. it out
the heat had so acted on it that the book
had shriyelled up into hard burnt ball.
lie did not attempt to open it. but sent 1t
on with a statement of the facts. The ball
was cracked Just as a hickory nut would be
u order to get al Its contents. Inside was
found, perfectly intact and unchanged, the
twenty and ten dollar bills that went to
make up the one hundred dollars.
The old boot figures quite frequently. 4
Tennessee man put up Sl35 into boot and
secreted his boot IN the smOke-hOuse. When
he went back for it he lost his bearings and
could not find it. Six months afterwards
he stumbled across the old boot exactly
where he had left it. The money inside had
furnished nOurshment for c0ckrOaches and
wood lice. \ handful OF small pieces was
all that was left to tell the tale. Sending
item on to the treasury they were cxamin-
ed, fixed together and enough were iden-
titled to give the man $50.