The Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1877-1885, 1883-04-04
THE BANK OF ENGLAND.
What a Yankee Correspondent Found in
Conversation With the Chief
Accountant.

The first person that | met on enter
ing the Bank of England was a venera-
BILE porter in a quaint uniform, which
dates back. | think. ii hundred years or
| more; it left a green and buff impress
sion on me, but | can not accurately
describe its details. The porter led me
to 81 room where the executive officer of
the bank was to be found. The officer
MIR. GRAY, is entitled chief account
ant, ;" and his position corresponds very
much To that of cashier of one of our
banks Mr.. Gray, who sat ut his desk
surrounded by n corps of busy clerks,
and who is a gentleman of the most
courteous and unassuming manners,
gave me cordial welcome, and under
his guidance l visited every department
of the bank, and had everything which
| did not understand at glance ex-
planned to me. The capital of the bank
is 9l4. 800, 900; its circulation in the
hands of the public about f25, 900, 600;
its deposits, on no portion of which is
interest paid, average in these days
about f32. 900, 600. With its customers
it has two kinds of account, deposit and
discount ! was told that in order to
get a discount ut this bank it was abSo-
lutely necessary to have n deposit ac-
count. but ii can hardly be possible that
a banking institution with such an
enormous working capital, amount.
ing to nearly 1890, 900. 900, is ever
obliged to buy paper in the open market
in order to keep up loans. The bank
discounts no bill having over three
months to run; the smallest city bill
which it discounts is E100i smallest
country bill $50. 1t circulates no
smaller note than E5, but this seems to
ha l,a .t.1xr limit to q
frame in the building is Cancelled note
of the Bank of England for a f100, 000,
900 and, if | remember rightly, the
bank poet Rogers had hanging in his
library a Cancelled note of the same in
stitution for ESQ. 900.
| have heard that a note for G10,000
once had a singular history. 1t was
paid out to one of the directors of the
bank, who soon after lost it under such
circumstances that he was satisfied, and
succeeded in satisfying the bank, that it
had fallen into his fireplace and been
destroyed. He was given new note,
for which he returned a proper receipt
and guarantee. Many years after the
original note was presented for pay
ment; the bank endeayored to disown it,
but could not, for it was genuine and in
the hands of an innocent person, and
the bank had to pay ii. Its history was
then looked into, and it was ascertained
that, instead of being burned, it had
been carried up the chimney by draft,
and had found a safe Judgment in some
Granny in the fiue. Here it had re-
manned until alterations in the house
necessitated the removal of the chimney;
then it was discovered by a workman.
who regarded it as legitimate find.
and who presented it for payment.
Right here / may as well relate an
other story of the bank, of which there
are many. both in print and as legends,
but of which / will let these two serve
as specimens. A sewer workman,
while poking around under ground,
found that by raising flagstone he
could penetrate into the bullion-room of
the bank Amazed at the discovery, he
pondered over it, and finally concluded
that he would utilize it to his pecuniary
benefit without stealing. He therefore
wrote to the directors, asking what re-
ward he would receive if he should meet
them ut any appointed hour of the night
in the bullion-room, and thus reveal to
them mode of ingress of which they
were entirely ignorant. They named
a sum which would make him indie
pendent for life, and TO their over
whelming surprise he kept his promise
by popping up through the sewer, for
which re received fI0 900 or so. This
is supposed to have happened long ago.
Cor. Boston journal