The Middlebury register and Addison County journal. [volume] (Middlebury, Vt.) 1883-1885, 1884-07-18
UNCLE SANS BANK NOTES.
HOW OLD ONES ARE REDEEMED BY
THE TREASURY.
The Work Done by Fifty-sovcn Em-
ploycs, Mostly ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
of the Redeemed Notes.


pIOycs, Mostly MISUNDERSTANDING
OF the Redeemed Notes.
One of the most complete of the gov
eminent workshops, says the Washington
Star, is the national bank redemption
division of the treasury department. The
work done there, while of complicated
nature and requiring great accuracy, is
30 systematized that it runs without a
hitch. Even if mistake should occur
in handling and counting the vast sums
of money which constantly pass through
the bureau, the system of checking and
receipting is so perfected that it would
be discovered in very short time, and
its origin traced almost simultaneously.
The fifty seven employees of the bureau,
mostly ladies, who are locked in long
room on the west side of the building, are
the ones who count and sort the old
worn out bank notes, which are sent to
the department for redemption. Each
counter has separate table with com
partments for different notes. The casual
visitor to the department gets partial
glimpse of the ladies behind the wire
screens, rapidly lingering the soiled and
torn money which has Just been with
drawn from general circulation, but, for
precautionary reasons, visitors are seldom
admitted to the interior.
The bureau is in existence ten years,
and the work accomplished by it is in
valuable. Since its origil there has been
redeemed 1891, 494, O9715, or over
twice the national bank circulation.
"What is the average life of a bank
note3" asked a Star reporter of one of
the officials.
about five years." was the reply.
"Of course" he added, 'we have no
other way of finding out than by com
pairing the amount annually redeemed
with that in circulation, about twenty
per cent. of the whole circulation being
redeemed every five years. The life of
the legal notes, being of smaller
denomination, is only about three years. "
The amount of money received from
year to year varies from $50, 000 600 to
$240, 900, 900.
A Star reporter was escorted through
the division by Superintendent Rodgers,
and the modus operandi was kindly ex-
planned. money sent here to be re-
deemed goes through three separate pro-
cesses," said that officer. packages
are received from banks, and Just in the
shape they come are taken by the coun-
tiers, who give their receipts for them to
their tables, and are there sorted out by
denominations. These packages, con-
tanning bills according to denomination,
are turned in at night, and the next day
the counters divide the bills into groups.
We have fifty-two of these groups. which
include all the national banks, arranged
lphabetically by towns in which they
are located. New York has group OF
its own, and so has Boston, on account
of the large number of banks located in
those cities. The group packages are
deposited in the vault, to be gradually
withdrawn and the bills separated accord
ing to the banks of issue. This consti-
tutes the third and last process. Bank
notes which are fit are returned to the
banks of issue, and check gen
. orally given on sub-treasury sent fol-
those which are not fit. While
the first two processes are daily, the
third is of course not. The groups are
taken from the vault in order, and the
whole tifty-two are generally gone
through with about twelve times year.
When the redemption is under S1OQ,
600, 900 in year about seventy-five pei
cent of the notes received here have to
be destroyed, very small portion prov
ing fit to be used again. When, how
ever, the redemption is much over that
the proportion of fit notes is much
larger
II see the ladies are allowed to have
comfortable seats while at work has that
always been the case2" asked the Star re.
porter.
"No; several years ago they were COM
PEELED to stand at these large cases and
perform their work. But the con-
slant strain from standing and from the
use of the muscles of the shoulders in
handling the money, was very injurious.
The systematizing of the work however,
permitted changes in the manner of per-
forming it. After five years of study in
the old way woman would be almost
entirely used up"
"This book, " continued Mr.. Rodgers,
turning to a rather small account book,
''shows the workings of this division
since its organization to the present day,
giving the result of each days proceed
ings. 1t is balanced daily, and from an
inspection of it, the workings of the di-
vision can be seen at a glance. If bank
sends more money than is marked on a
package, or not as much as marked, it is
noted here. On May you will see that
there was shortage of $500. That is
rather peculiar, for the package of money
came from the National metropolitan
bank of New York, just day or so be-
fore it suspended. The officers of the
bank must have received the letter from
the department noting the mistake on
the very morning of suspension, but
guess they were too busy with more i'm.
portant matters to pay any attention to
it. That was the fourth time that there
were large shortages in the packages
from that bank in the past ten years, but
every time before the bank would not
own the mistake, but insisted that the
trouble was in this office. Very often
banks send more money than they mark
on the packages In fact the lovers
have exceeded the shorts, amounting