The Douglas independent. [volume] (Roseburg, Or.) 187?-1885, 1882-08-19


oily is held by Cooper Spier. who fur.
nishes all the kegs and packs them. get.
ting So for each one completed. In
shipping specie there are many matters
OF detail which the experienced man
knows to be of prime Importance, but
winch to person unacquainted with
the business seems valueless. For in
stance, in making ready shipment of
Sl ,O0O 900 to Europe the ordinary indi-
vldual would be quite as willing to
bag five-dollar pieces as double eagles.
Not SO the shipper who has his eye on the
main. chance. He demands the double
eagles every time. Chief among the rea-
sons for this choice is the fact that specie
shipped IN any quantity for any consid
cradle distance always loses in weight,
and consequently IN value, from abra-
slen. While fve-thousand dollar bag
made up OF ive-dollar coins would con-
tain one..thousand pieces, the same sum in
double-eagles would contain only $50
pieces. In the latter instance there is
not much if any more than one-fourth
the chance for abrasion which exists in
the former. Eight fve-dollar pieces
show greater surface and have much
sharper coinage lines than do two dou-
bie-eagles and the loss by abrasion on
long, rough ocean voyage, must, of
course, be considerably greater than
coins of lesser value. The uninitiated
would be apt to smile incredulously
when told that there is loss-and one
OF consequence-by this abrasion of coins
Circumstances, varying On different voy-
ages, OF course, produce variance in the
extent OF the abrasion. "On an aver
age, said prominent shipper yester-
day, "a million of dollars sent across
from London will lose-will lose-well, a
few dollars" Pressed to estimate more
definitely, the shipper said: ga few dol
lars. Oh, that is definite enough" What
the Wall street man considered "a few
dollars was shown by reference to the
account-books of one of the heaviest
houses in the street. Taking shipments
OF 81 600. 900 recently made, one was
found to have fallen shore in the voyage
a fraction more than nine ounces, another
fraction more than nineteen ounces,
while in a shipment of $3.50, 900 there was
loss OF a fraction more than twenty
ounces. The average loss can be safely
estimated at sixteen ounces on 81 ,000, 900
shipments. Gold being worth SIC an
ounce, sends the s'few dollars" up to
about $3.50. Any movement will have
similar effect. In Great Britain it is
declared that a shipment from the Bank
OF Edinburgh down to the Bank of Eng,
land will cause the loss of an appreciable
percentage, and government
officer said yesterday that bag
OF coin cannot be carried down
Wall street single block from the sub
treasury to the custom house without an
abrasion which is discoverab ble The
only protection to be found against
abrasion lies in the shipment of gold
bars, instead of in coin. Until quite
recently, however, gold bars have not
been readily obtainable. To secure
them the shipper has been obliged to
pay premium, and generally so high
was the premium placed by the bullion
brokers commanding the situation, that
the possible loss by abarision would not
by any means balance it. But not long
ago change came over this condition of
affairs, and law has been passed re-
Gently by congress allowing the sub
treasury here to pass out fine gold
bars from its vaults in exchange for
nationals coin. This is to the govern.
ment's advantage in that heretofore
specie has been obtainable without any
charge for the one fourth of per cent
coinage cost. The issuance of the bars,
moreover, will tend to keep the United
States coin at home. This new law went
into effect June 1st, and its appreciation
in Wall street is shown by the fact that
81, 300, 900 in bars bas been bought
within the past fortnight. Another
IS, ,O0O, 900 has been nodded and is in the
vaults of the assay Office ready for de-
livery. The bars or ''bricks" of gold
average value of $4,000. Carefully
by the government, they are
with their weight, quality and
value. The bars are packed in specie
kegs. but the canvas bags are not used,
sawdust being substituted, a further
of abrasion It is popu-
larly supposed that all gold received
from this side of the ocean by the Bank
of England is reassayed there before ac-
ceptance. This is probably strictly
true of gold shipped in bars, and also,
perhaps, of coin which shows much wear
or loss by abrasion. The Bank of Eng
land managers have tried to convince the
world that they assay every ounce of
gold received; but the president of a
prominent Wall street bank recently
this assumption as one of
the pretty humbugs" which fill the
breathed out from behind
the counters of the Bank of England.
II always placed some faith in this
statement of reassay of all gold taken
IN by the Bank of England" added he,
until year or so ago, when there was
sudden influx OF gold into United States
from England. Fully two thirds of that
gold came here in the shape of United
States coin, and this, too, in face of the
fact that we had shipped no such guam
tity of coin to England in long time.
This coin came from the vaults of the
bank of England, where it evidently had
been treasured, and not melted and as
sayed, as the directors of that big institu- 4
ton would fain convince us poor Yam
KEGS. Yes, indeed, there's vast deal of
about the Bank of Englands s
pretensions in matters such as these"
There is occasionally an interesting
item of expense of another nature, the
mere entry OF which on an account book
would be apt to puzzle the man not ac-
quainted with all the petty details of
shipping. "Sixty bags" is the charge re-
Gently sent from London to one big New
York shipper. This signi6ed that the
cooper here in fastening the iron bands
upon the specie kegs had driven his
nails through the bags containing the
coin. The result was that the London
agents of the New York house were
obliged to repack every bag so torn, be
the note ever so slight. before it could