Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1882-01-11
Handling Millions q Day.

In n small room ON the main GOOr Ci
the Custom House, San Francisco, and
occupying the southwest corner of it, the
cashier, with force of fifteen clerks, re-
ceives all the money for duties levied by
| the Government on imports, excepting the
small amount assessed on passengers 8
baggage, which is collected on the wharf
Some idea Of The amount OF business done
in this office may be gained when 1t is
stated that the money received in a single
day has several times lately amo lnted to
81, 900, 000, and the number Of entries
made has exceeded 200. The manner
in which this large amount of money is
handled is as follows: The merchant or
brokers' clerk, after first making out his
entry In the rotunds Of the building where
the amount of duty is calculated on the
entry by the entry clerks, takes his place
in the line before one Of the receiving
clerks, and deposits the amount of his
entry in small box, and with it ticket
en- which he has entered the merchant's 8
name, with the date and sum lnclosed,
whether in gold, silver, notes or certif-
Gates. Gutts-percha boxes are used to
prevent unnecessary noise from the clink-
ing of the coin. The receiving clerk
takes the box of money aud hands it TO a
teller to count from the entry In blotter
The teller does not look at the cash ticket
until he has counted the money and mark
ed it on the back of the ticket, He then
turns il over and II the count Is correct he
checks it and returns it to the receiving
clerk, who then signs permit for the de-
livery Of the goods. The entries then go
to the book keepers, who enter the amount
on Sheets" and at the close of the day
the money is counted and compared with
this record OF the book keepers. SO care
fully is this system carried out that there
is rarely q variation Of q cent between the
money and the accounts, and the office
has thereby gained the reputation OF be-
ng mere exact than any other similar in
stitution in the country which handles
such an amount of money coming in SO
many different payments, from 30 to
s., ,O00 Should any discrepancy occur,
the clerks carefully compare both sides OF
the tickets with the clerks blotter and
then the blItter is checked of with the
book-keeper's sheet. By some of these
methods the error il certain to be dis
covered. As account is kept of each
kind of money separately, the tellers can
see at glance If a mistake is made in the
gold, silver, certificates or notes.
! When Il coin has been counted and
put in small canvas bags, it Is placed in
boxes holding $50, 900 in gold These
boxes are put in hand cart outside the
building and wheeled to the sub-treasu;y,
which gives receipt to the Custom
House for each deposit. Nearly ton of
coin has TO be transferred daily In this
manner. An officer fully armed accom-
panies the porters, and there are also
armed men in the cashiers office. Tne
cashier, clerks and tellcrs are men of
efficiency, and the responsibility of the
Office makes iheu position more perman-
,nt than that of the average Custom
Hous. officer. The tellers acquire great
skill in detecting ceun.erfeits as well as
in rapid counting Some Of the ways OF
counterfelting, which came under their
notice are crrious. The Chinese IN San
Francisco are expert enough TO split $40
gold piece, cut out the centre, I'LL 1t With
base metal and join it together SO nicely
that only an expert could det sct the fraud.
Inc patient Chinese man also finds it
profitable to sweat gold by shaking the
com in bag and gathering the dust
which ascimu,ate from the a bras on OF
the metal Another device is to file gold
coin ACROSS the edge, thus destroying the
raised milling. All silver and nickel coins
are counterfeited, from the Scent piece
to the legal tender dollar. They are first
stamped from base metal and then plated
with silver. Even tits the counterfeIters
do not buy, but obtain by immersing silver
com in acid, which removes from the coin
enough silver for the counterfeiter's use,
while the "sweated' silver can sill be
passed at par. Tne cashiers office per
forms only small portion of the work oi
the Custom House in all it branches, but,
as it is one OF the main-resources of the
public purse. it Is perhaps, the most in'
teresting. AS one passes along the dingy
corridor, he catches sight of three lines Of
men cramped and crooked around in th'
little room, boys and gray haired men
with their Int lie gutta percha boxes ready
to be emptIed in the capacious pockets o
Uncle Sam.