Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1886-02-12
INSIDE OF A BANK.
Interesting Talk With q Handler
Of Cash.
Transferring Thousands of Dollars in Coin
in a Single Handful-Bank Robber-
les, East and West Bret
Harte's Tale-Silver in
Bulk.

An Alta reporter droppedinto a lead
iEing bank a day or two since. 1t was
near the close of a busy day, and the
ttired teller was skimming through a
)few hundred pounds of double eagles
with lightning-like rapidity. When he
Iat length came to the reporter the lat
lter remarked on his expertness. and re-
|ceived a modest disclaimer of any
|unusal merit. anybody ought to
handle double eagles easily" he said,
,'''for they are the most convenient sized
coin that is made. When the Govern
Ement stops coming them and ten-dollar
Ipieces take their places, as has been
fordered to a certain extent, the average
bank teller's heart will be broke"
"Why? Because there will be more
pieces to handle"
"No, not for that reason, but on &C.
count of their being so much nicer to
handle in every way. Sea- roll of
7twenties just fits the hand and the
space between the first and fourth
fingers. Another thing, twenties are
the only coins thatyou can risk a count
on by sizing one stack up with an
other. We never count but one stack
here. Then all the balance are sized
up, with the exception of the last stack,
which is counted, as a check on the
first count"
rcoins?"
''They get too badly worn to make
them come out evenly. In a stack of
Efives you will often find the difference
jof an entire piece, and even tens are so
uneven as to make stacking them unre-
liable"
The nimble-ingered young man then
proceeded to illustrate his meaning
Iwith two trays of coins. One tray con-
tanned 500. 900 in twenties, $500 to the
stack, had the tops of the stacks as
level as a billiard-table, and no IL
stack was higher or lower than it's fell
flows to more than the thickness of a
piece of cardboard. The other tray,
filled with tens and fives, was so uneven
las to bear the resemblance in places of
coin having been removed. This was
not due to the minting, he explained,
ibut to the Wear of the coin in
circulation. Twenties wear. too, of
course, but the average mar does
not have his pocket full of twenties,
and they get less wear than their kim
drcd of smaller denomination. Eyes.
twenties are the boss coin if YOU have
much of it to handle" he concluded:
and the reporter thought so, TOO, us a
depositor dumped $4,000 on the coun-
ter and the teller picked up 81, GOO in
one hand and $500 in the other, tocon-
yey it to the trays four feet behindhim.
That's a pretty good load. isn't it?'
80, no." replied the teller, cheer
fully; $4,000 is what we consider a
fair handful"
Seeing the reporters look of doubt,
ne gave another Illustration in proof
of his assertion. -Four stacks of $500
each were aid on the palm of his left
hand; three others went on top of them,
and the remaining three necessary to
complete the $4,000 were lifted with
one clasp of his right. II could take
another $1,000 by laying a couple of
rolls on my wrist" he went on. ''but it
is seldom necessary. If a deposit
w = tlittil Pt.OOO, L SCU oil
empty tray over on the counter and
load it there"
81 should think it would be easier to
make two trips Of it, where it is but a
step from your counter to the trays. 1t
certainly would take no more time than
it would to stack it up the way you do
on your hand
''My friend. l don't want to make
you feel bad, but l never turn my back
to the counter for a single second when
there is coin on it.. No matter if you
were the only person in sight, and you
were my father, it would be just the
same. Eternal vigilance is the price OF
S2O-pieccs in this business
Just at this time a miner came in
from the mint with the result Of his
summers labor in brand new, glisten-
ing double-eagles. His deposit
amounted to but little oyer IS, 600, but
it was noticeable that the teller took a
tray to effect the transfer from counter
to shelf.