The Northern Pacific farmer. [volume] (Wadena, Minn.) 1878-1885, 1883-11-15
BANKS AND BANK NOTES.

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BANKS AND BANK NOTES.
A Few ( che Stories Told in the Gre at
est Bank in the World. q. <.-z
From All the Year Round.
On one occasion the bank of England
proved much too accommodating for it's
own interests. Somewhere about the
year 1870, 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, a. 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 oft Thread
needle street he told his colleagues what
had ha ,pened., and they gave him a
second note upon MS unuertaKlng 10 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
.mount to the bank.
Thirty years afterward. when he had
ong been dead and his estate distribu-
cd among his heirs, the supposed nou-
existent note turned up at the bank
'ounter where it was presented for
,ayment. All explanation of the circum-
tances connected with it were lost up,
III the presentee-the note had come
T., him from abroad in the course of bus
ness, and it must be honored without
lelay. There being no help for it, he
was paid the thirty thousand pounds,
application was made to the representa-
tlvcs of the defunct director to
refund the money, but they promptly
lisclaimed their inability, and the bank
oerforce had to put up with the loss.
The story goes that it was discovered
(how or when We are not informed) that
the builder employed to pull down the
lead mans house preparatory to rear
ing new one on the site, had found the
note in a crevice in the chimney, and
kept it and his own counsel until he
bought it was safe to reap the reward
ot his patience and unscrupulousness,
and so became rich man at a stroke.
The executors of Sir Robert Burdett
found 10 less than e27u,O00 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
existance of such valuables, much less
advised were the executors of the gen.
tleman who left behind him scrap OF
paper marked, "Seven hundred
pounds in TILL" although they failed to
interpret its meaning until they had
disposed of all the dead mans belong
inys. Then one of them recollected that
his library had contained solio edition
OF 'TiIlotson's Sermons, and wondered If
Till" had any reference to it. The
books had been sold to bookseller,
who luckily had not found a customer
for them, although he had sent them on
approval to gentleman at Cambridge,
who haa returned them as not answer
ing his expectations. The executor
bought the TlIlotson back again, and
going carefully through the volume, re.
covered notes to the amount of $4,000.
The Waterman Of a factory at New
Haven, America, afforded the admins.
traitors of his estate no clue whatever as
to the hiding place Of the savings Of
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 {
large Cartridge shell, within which lay
notes of 81 500 value, which, but for {
mere chance, might unexpectedly have
enriched purchaser Of secondhand
clothing.
Some sixty years since Bank Of Eng
land e5 note was paid into Liverpool
merch .nt's Office in the ordinary course
of business. On holding it up to the
light to test up its genuincness, the cash
Ter saw some faint red marks up.
on it. Examining them closely
he traced sO.ne half
eFaced words between the printed lines
ami upon the margin of the note, written
apparently in blood. After a 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 liately commune ated
with Mr.. Dean, and he lost no time in
bringing the matter before the govern
ment. Enquiries were set on foot, and
the unfortun te man disc overed and
ransomed. He had been slave to the
Dey of Algiers for eleven years, when
the message he had traced with splin-
ter of wood dipped in his own blood,
reached the Liverpool counting house,
Liberty, however, came too late; the
privations and hardships Of the galleys
had Slapped his strength, and. although
he was brought home to England, it Was
but to die.