Dodge City times. [volume] (Dodge City, Kan.) 1876-1892, 1884-07-24
STORY OF A BANK CHECK.

S00eNcibSsu OO ksusb4CT ny 0u Sbt3pH4U
CheCse-uow - Portion Of tho Money was
1SSc0voresl.
What + inve tD Tell Is absolutely true.
Il did happen exnctly ~ / shall try u
writo it. The only things Twill omit are
tho names VI Tire persons and tho place
where II happened I,hight Ivy length
eniDg out the story show tho play Of
those fell passions, greed and cpvctous-
ness, but / trust what have TO say will
not lose its puils from brevity. Tic
moral is Sffe seiule uAti tritc one, Nlat
honesty Is the best pulley. When b mar,
is tempted To commit o wicked action
Il often happens that tho injury dome
smother becomes irreparablo There is
a sequence in Ill dishonest transactions
which escapes the cvil-,loes. Effect
follows cause. This may como instant
~, as quickly ss IN explosion when the
hammer Ut ti,e gun-iOck strikes the CAP,
containing the fallninate, or the fire
may hang back, but it viii como Some
day or other. This Is longer proam-
bic than thought would be drawn from
my pon, but - al not a young man !
may indulge in SUCH comments, because
10 the life II atry ono who hos passed
tho half century tho fosco vi the inevit-
able constantly occurs to him. A man
IF my atse has been lung enough in the
World 10 have seea passing before him
many u sad drama, liz has been present
at the very first scene. AMI his been sn
unwilling witness Of the terrible CON
clusioik
1 supposo few people wllU have had
direct transactions with banks arc not
aware that errors sometimes happen.
The heads Of tirnls rarely are acquaint-
ed with such mistakes IL is tho bust
ness VI clerks who have Tire checks
casllcd to see that ttc anlounts paid
them are correct. Paying tullers, if they
do err, sre rather likely to pay too
much than too little. Should they give
more IuOney than the face Of the check
calls for, II tho receiver of the money ts
dishonest then tho payer docs not al
ways heT about 1t. Ii he underpays,
tho demand for She difference is invari-
ably INSIDE Ut ones. I am rather in
clined 70 repeat the assertion that in
such mistakes " arc made IN the rush
of business II Is the connlioher ol1ur to
pay too much. Sometimes very tined
NAH, whose brain has been too long on
Tho stretch, or who Is Ill or nervous,
mistakes the number vi the check for
the anFUaiht, aud pays away some thou
sands instead Of hundreds. I have
known this to happen In Few York
bank 10 b yottnt, friend of mine. He
had sufiiciont gVod Judgment not to en-
barrass the paying teller by making
any noise about IS. He resumed his
place In the line, handpd back his bank
book, politely rvques,ed the teller to
hook at tho check fto had presented. the
amount he bad received, aud il was Ill
30 quietly done that be made for life q
Crst friend ot'a csrefal aud expert bank
teller. I have two or three times been
overpaid BY bunk teller. reoplc who
Shop hRvo WY often mistakes made in
their change TO their a,ivantage. Need
it DO said that without waiting IN IN
slant restitution should be mades
was clerk In house when tho In
cEient a,n about telling happened.
We did large business In the city of
~ aud our check-boOk was In CON.
stsnt demand made out the checks
Snd kept tho bank account, but did not
have the signature of tho firm. Gener-
ally for creator security. when tho
amounts were largo, l drew out The
money myself. A great many of the
transactions We were engaged in re-
quired US 70 pay; at once to the individ-
ual the hssd cash.
The paying-teIler Of our bank 4, the
business season had ali he could attend
10. Tbs money 10 be paid for IN agri-
cultural product very much In demand
would on some days make the cash dis
bursements of this bank amount TO
$750,o remembered that on one
occasion, looking 1t the teller, he
seemed tired and depressed. Present.
ing my check for something less than
81, 600 - Wanted by me in i've and ten
dollar bills-l1c overp:.id me 500. He
had counted the teoney over twice be-
fore passing 4 to HE. I tecouuted the
money, found tho error, and, being
pressed ~ time, cUuld not return the
$50 until after three o'clock. The
taller ws5 Obliged 10 me, bat Noticed
ke bore 3 worried leoh. 4 month after
this w had some baIAtcs 10 pay css-
fqa,cr uxinX cut Of the city. snaunting
ktl0a & oaeg& was afs~a b. an