Gloucester County Democrat. (Woodbury, N.J.) 1878-1932, 1882-03-02

The cashiers Office performs only q
small portion OF the work Of the Gus
tom House In all it's branches, but as it
is one Of the main resources OF the
public purse, 1t is perhaps the most
interesting. As one passes along the
dingy corridor he catches sight Of the
three lines Of men cramped and crooked
around in the little room, boys and
gray haired men, with their little
gutta-percha boxes full of gold ready
to be emptied into the capacious
pockets Of Uncle Sam.
In small room on the main floor Of
the New York Custom House, and oc-
cupying the southwest corner of it, the
cashier, with force Of fifteen clerks,
receives all the money for duties levied
by the government on imports, exports,
excepting the small amount assessed on
passengers baggage, which is collected
on the wharf.
Some idea of the amount OF business
done in this Office may be gained when
it is stated that the money received in
single day has several times lately
amounted to 81. 600, 900, and the num-
Der of entries made has exceeded 1000.
The manner in which this large amount
of money is collected is as follows:
The merchant or brokers' clerk, after
first making out his entry in the rotunda
of the building, where the amount OF
duty is calculated on the entry by the
entry clerks, takes his place in the line
before any one of the receiving
clerks, and deposits the amount of
his entry in small box, and with it
ticket on which he has entered the mer-
chants name, with the date and the sum
inclosed, whether in gold, silver, notes,
or certificates.
Gutta-percha hoxes are used to pre-
vent unnecessary noise from the clink-
ing Of the coin. The receiving clerk
takes the box of money, and hands it
to teller to count from the entry in a
blotter. The teller does not look at
the cash ticket until he has counted
the money and marked it on the back
Of the ticket. He then turns it over,
and il the count is correct, he checks
it, and returns it to the receiving clerk,
who then signs permit for the goods.
The entries then go to the book-keep-
ers who enter the amount on 'ssheets," I"
and at the close of the day the money is
counted and compared with this record
of the book. keepers.
So carefully is this system carried
out that there is rarely variation of q
cent between the money and the ac-
counts, and the Office has hereby.gained
the reputation of being more exact than
any other similar institution in the
country which handles such an amount
of money coming in SO many different
payments, from s. to 5000.
Should any discrepancy occur, the
clerks carefully compare both sides of
the tickets with the clerks blotter and
then the blotter is checked off with the
book-keeper's sheets. By some Of these
methods the error is certain to be dis
covered. AS account is kept OF each
kind Of money separately, the tellers
can see at glance if mistake is made
in the gold, silver certificates, or notes.
When the coin has been counted and
put into small canvass bags it is placed
in boxes holding $2O,0OO in gold.
These boxes are put in hand cart out
side the building and wheeled to the
sub-treasury, which gives a receipt to
the custom house for each deposit.
Nearly ton of coin has to be trans
ferred daily in this manner. An officer
fully armed accompanies the porters,
and there are also armed men in the
cashiers Office. The cashier, clerks and
sellers are men Of efficiency, and the
responsibility of the Office makes their
position more permanent than that OF
the eaverage custom house officer. The
tellers acquire great skill in detecting
counterfeits as we'll as in rapid counting.
Some Of the ways Of counterieiting
which come under their notice are
curious.