The Hawaiian gazette. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1865-1918, 1885-12-15
Naluaiian 01azettr.
Tuesday, DECEMBER Is. 1885
,p.nt Mote. are Redeemed.

How BANK Noeoa
svt,, becomes Of old bank note 2 Is a
-.,,s,;an ,slcd and answered in graphic detail
~ a correspondent Of the EreHi9g fos''
.syyben nc national bank notes have trampeu
.l,,r, ,be country until they have become rag
"a - ya-ahond. and have reached the low
est denths Of degradation, they are buna'eu Up
and sent 10 the Treasury Department ioi
demptinn. Many millions OF these NaG -,
received at the Department each year.
have 10 Pass in review through Tue Na''u JUG,
Rink Redemption Agency. where tnOse va
are utterly dcpraycd and good iur hotninS az
sepicuced 10 be chewed mp, and tnose 'nS1 -
r,t il, through the force Of association, but are
s,;i1' ~ f,r conc that some good may not
y, ,-,,t ont Of them, are sent back into the ser
yice In the place Of those that arc condemned
,;rc new DCtes, crisp and clean, are sent out
IT. ,,periepce of these notes is varied, and ia
sona rases very novel and Interesting; but
their tale is told only by their ragged anu
dirty appearance when they get back 10 tbe
DEPARTMENT. The average length oil time tua'
new note can keep up respectable appear
apce is about three years. some nave peen
found al the end of twenty years to be as crisp
As on the day Of their issue; but these are e1-
ceptional cases, where they have fallen INTO
Tho hands Of people who made pets oil them,
and carefully guarded them from rough usage.
The wandering note soon becomes tramp. IL
rapjiIy goes 10 pieces if il starts out Tor lie
West stoppinC along at the crOssroad iDns, or
II II freoneuts drinking saloons and falls IN
Win had company Bad habits tell on
4 bank note very quickly. 1t is hard luck
when il falls in with bloody fingered butcher.
some have been known to become good Tor
nothing under such circumstances IN lew
weeks They are subject, too, TO all SORTS oil
misfortuues By FIRE aud water.
MANY thousands get burned up. Then their
charred and blackened remains are sent TO tie
Treasury for redemption. One lady III the
controllers ufi.e, in this case, has charge oil
them, aud they are sent to her for idendihca-
ton before they can be redeemed. Her name
Is Fitzgerald, and she is said to be very expert,
seldom failing to identify a note, giving It's
proper name, date and classification, no mat
ter how badly burnt it is. Sometimes pack
ages Of several hundred. done up TO be eI-
pressed. are sent in all stuck together and
burnt clear through to a black crispy mass.
She :hen separates them one by one with
very thin bIaded knife, and places the charred
remains Of each one separately upon glass
slab, and examines it very carefully with
magnifving glass. She is familiar with all
pecularilies Of the issues Of the various banks,
and a note must be reduced almost to ashes to
be beyond her recognition, though to an mex
perieuced eye it might not be distinguished
from a piece Of grocer's paper which had gone
through the fire.
The force Of ifIy-sevcn, all except two or
three Of whom are ladies, can handle Just hall
a million notes each day. This is very expert
counting The notes when they come to be
Judged have first to be counted in This re-
uuires the counter in to 20 over them twice,
and she must make no mistake and pass no
counterfeit, or the loss thus caused will be de-
Quoted from her salary. She is given from
6 900 to 10000 notes, for which she gives
receipt; then she counts them in; then she
counts them back. and If the two counts agree
she Is given credit for them when she settles
up IN the evening, turning 10 the money, bound,
and labeled with her name and the amount on
each package. II the packages, or any of them
are found short, she has 10 make good the de-
hcieuCy. Next, the notes have TO he assorted,
those in good condition from those in bad con-
ditiou: then they have to be grouped as 10 de-
nomination; then distributed into banks of
issue, and then into denomination, under the
heads Of banks Then they are counted OUT
The counter in has to handle them twice and
lhe counter out thrice, but the former has
the most responsibility, and must be more eI-
pert The counter iu' handles from 5000 to
1000 notes Twice, or counts $4,000 TO 10000
per day, while the counter out handles from
5 900 10 1000 three times, or counts from 49,
600 to q 900 per day. This is provided they
make no mistake, which makes a recount nee
cssary, aud doubles the work."