The Kimball graphic. (Kimball, Brule County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1905, 1883-11-16
BANKSAND BANK NOTES.
A Few o f the Stories Told in the Gre at
est Bank in the World.

~ cW VI Iuc otoFleS lOiu III Inc 1re at
est Bank in the World.
From All the Year Round.
On one occasion the bank of England
proved much too accommodating for its
own interests. Somewhere about the
year 1S40, one Of its own directors, a
man of wealth and Of unimpeachable
honor, bought an estate for thirty thous-
and pounds, and for convenience sake
obtained note for that amount. On
returning home, just as he was about to
put it under lock and key, he was called
out of the room, and placed the note
on the mantelpiece, On coming
back, few minutes later, no
one was to be seen. No one
had'entered the room in his absence,
and, after an anxious search, he came
to the conclusion that the precious bit
of paper had fallen into the fire and
been consumed. Hurrving off to Thread
needle street he told his colleagues what
had happened, and they gave him a
| seconu note upon MS unuerLaKlng TO re-
store the lost one if it should come again
nto his hands, and. in case of its being
presented by anybody else, repay the
tmount to the bank.
Thirty years afterward. when he had
ong been dead and his estate distribu-
ed among his heirs, the supposed non
existent note turned up at the bank
counter where it was presented for
| payment. All explanation of the circum-
stances connected with it were lost up.
On the presentee--the note had come
to him from abroadin the course of bus
mess, and it must be honored without
delay. There being no help for it, he
was paid the thirty thousand pounds,
! application WAS made to the representa-
tlves of the dcfunct director to
refund the money, but they, promptly
perforce had to put up with the loss.
The story goes that it was discovered
Qlow or when we are not tinformed) that
the builder employed to pull down the
dead mans house preparatory to rear
ing a new one on the site, had found the
| note in a crevice in the chimney, and
| kept it and his own counsel until he
| thought it was safe to reap the reward
of his patience and unscrupulousness
and so became rich man at stroke.
The executors of Sir Robert Burdett
found 10 less than e270,00O worth of
bank notes scattered here and there
about his house, some slipped into
bundles of old papers, some between
the leaves of books, without memor.
andum anywhere to apprise them OF the
of their whereabouts. A little better
advised were the executors of the gem
tleman who left behind him scrap of
paper marked. ''Seven hundred
pounds in TILL" although they failed to
intepret its meaning until they had
disposed Of all the dead mans belong
ings. Then one of them recollected that
his library had contained ,olio edition
OF 1illotson's Sermons, and wondered if
''HlP had any reference to it. The
books had been sold to bookseller,
who luckily had not found customer
for them, although he had sent them on
approval to gentleman at Cambridge,
who had returned diem as not answer
ing his expectations The executor
bought the Tlllotson back again, and
going carefully through the volume, re-
covered notes to the amount of S2 800.
The watchman of factory ut New
Haven, America, afforded the admins
traitors of his estate no clue whatever as
to the hiding place Of the savings oi
which they believed him to have died
possessed. Overhauling his clothes, pre-.
paratory to selling them by auction, one
of them threw an old overcoat aside,
when a dirty piece of cloth dropped out
of one of the pockets. Oh examination
this was found to I've wrapped around q
large cartridge shell, within which lay
notes of 81 800 value, which, but for q
mere chance. Knight unexpectedly have
enriched a purchaser of secondhand
clothing.
Some sixty years since Bank of Eng.
land e5 note was paid into Liverpool
merchants Office in the ordinary course
of business. On holding it up to the
light to test up its genuineness, the cash
ier saw some faint red marks up.
on it. Examining them closely
be traced some half
efaced words between the printed lines
and upon the margin Of the note, written
apparently i'll blood. After long and
minute scrutiny, he made out the words
IF this note should fall into the hands
Of John Dean, of Longhill. near Carlisle
he will learn hereby that his brother is
languishing prisoner in Algiers." The
merchant imme tiately communic ,ted
with Mr.. Dean, and he lost no time in
bringing the matte. before the govern
ment. Enquiries were set on foot, and
the un!ortun to man disc overed and
ransomed. He had been d slave to the
Dey OF Atgiers for eleven years, when
the message he had traced with spin
ter Of wood dipped in his own blood,
reached the Liverpool counting. house,
Liberty, however, came too late; the
privations AID hardships Of the galleys
had sapped his strength, and, although
he was brought home to England, it was
but to die.