Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1885-08-03
BANK NOTE REDEMPTION.
EXPERFNEsS IN THE
TREASURY DEPARTMENT.

tramped about the country until they
have become ragged and vagabond, and
have reached the lowest depths of degra-
dation, they are bundled up and sent to
the Treasury Department for redemp-
ton. Many millions of these vagrants
are received at the department each year.
They have to pass in review through the
National Bank Redemption Agency,
where those that are utterly depraved
and good for nothing are sentenced to be
chewed up, and those that have got in
through the force of association,
but are still not so far gone that some
good may not be got out of them, are sent
back INTO the service. In the place Of
those that are condemned nice, new notes,
crisp and clean, are sent out. The eXpe-
Tience of these notes is varied, and in
some cases very novel and interesting,
but their tale is told only by their ragged
and dirty appearance when they get back
to the department. The average length
of time that new note can keep up re-
spectacle appearance is about three
years. Some have been found at the end
OF twenty years to be as crisp
as on the day of their issue, but these
are exceptional cases, where they have
fallen into the hands Of people who made
pets OF them and carefully guarded them
from rough usage. The wandering note
soon becomes tramp. 1t trapidly goes to
pieces If 1t starts out for the West, stop
ping'al0ng at the crOssrOad inns, or if it
frequents drinking saloons and falls i'll.
with low company. Bad habits tell on a
bank note very quickly. Ii is hard luck
when it falls in with a bloOdy-hngered
butcher. Some have been known to be-
come good for nothing under such circum-
stances in a few weeks. They are sub
ject, too, to all sorts of misfortune by fire
and water.
Many thousands get burned up. Then
their charred and blackened remains are
sent to the Treasury for redemption. One
lady in the COmptroller's office in this
case has charge OF them, and they are
sent to her for identification before they
can be redeemed Her name is Fltz-
gerald, and she is said to be very expert,
seldom falling TO identify note, giving
its proper name, date, and classification,
no matter how badly burnt 1t is. Some
times packages of several hundred, done
up to be expressed, are sent in all stuck
together and burnt clear through to a
black crispy mass. She then separates
them one by one with a very thin-bladed
knife, and places the charred remains of
each one separately upon a glass slab and
examines 1t very carefully with a magni
flying glass. She is familiar with all the
peculiarities OF the issues Of the various
banks, and note must be reduced almost
to ashes to be beyond her recognition,
though to an inexperienced eye it might
not be distinguished from piece of gro
GERS paper which had gone through the
fire.
All those notes otherwise mutilated 90
directly to the Redemption agency. The
degree of expert efficiency displayed
there is something remarkable. This
branch of the service was organized
about eleven years ago by Gen. Spinner.
Prior to that there WAS no systematic re-
dempti0n of the paper currency as 1t be.
came too worn for circulation, and q
good many ragmufiin notes we're wander
ing about the country. The service be-
gan with about l52 people employed in
counting and asserting the notes that
came in for redemption. Very nearly the
same amount of work is now done by
ftty-seven. The counting and asserting
Of the notes requires great care, and it is
only after long experience that IL can be
done rapidly. There is an average
Of about 150,00O,00O notes per year
handled, and they have to be counted
about five times If there is no hitch in the
count, and Oftener if any mistakes are
made. But the amount is variable from
year to year, and even from month TO
81. when go, 200, 600 were redeemed, and
from that it has run up as high as 240,-
O00, 900 In a single year. Some months it
runs as low as 100000 or 5000, 600, then
again it runs up in other months To 49,
900, 900 or 20 000. 900. The months Of Jan
uary and June always take the lead, those
being The periods just after the fall and
spring trade respectively, when the cur
rency, worn out from the rough usage IN
IA il nd in to ka
placed By new notes
Tho force of 81, all except two or three
Of whom are ladies', can handle just half
a million notes each day. This Is very
expert counting. The notes when they
come TO be judged have first to be "cOunt-
ed in" This requires the "counter In" TO
90 over them twice, and she must make
no mistake and pass no counterfeit, or the
loss thus caused will be deducted from
her salary. She is given from 0,O00 10
10000 notes, for which she gives receipt;
then she counts them In; then she counts
them back, and II the two counts agree
she is given credit for them when she
settles up in the evening, turning ia
the money bound and labeled, with
her name and amount on each package.
II the packages, or any OF them, are
found short, she has to make good the
deficiency. Next, the notes have TO be
dtNOIItNs AhpoH III EOOu IbNhiklOl lIOLl
those IN bad condition; then they have TO
be grouped as TO denomination; then dis
tributed into banks Of issue, and then
into denomination, under the heads Of
banks. Then they are "cOunted out"
The "cOunter in" has 10 handle them
twice and the counter out" thrice, but
the former has the most responsibility,
and must be more expert. The counter
In handles from 5000 % 1000 notes twice
or counts 1900 70 10000 per day, while |
the counter out handles from 1000 10 1000 !
three times. or counts from $4,000 20 q 900 /
per day. This is provided they make no
mistake, which makes recount neces- /
sary and doubles the work.
To do this requires constant attention
and Is a great strain on the nerves, as each 1
note has 70 be sorutinized very closely 20 /
aee that II Is not counterfeit, and the /
''counter In" must know The name OF I
every bank that has a counterfeit upon 10, I
aud have IN bis mind fun description OF /
the false note, 20 as 10 be able 20 detectit az /
sight. The superintendent says counter /
felt notes are thrown Outby these experts 4
without hesitation every time they come I
20 them. They have a line OF notes pass
ing before their eyes all the time, and any /
naw or defect they notice on the instant.
Two hundred and forty appointments 1
have been made during the eleven years |
OF the agency's existence, and forty Of the 1
nfty-soyen employees now there have /
served from The first. A n0w hand ie do 1
inR remarkably well N be or she learns iu 1