Alma record. (Alma, Mich.) 1878-1928, 1886-11-05
TRACING A BANK-NOTE.

York. One day gentleman, who an
nounced himself as the British consul ut
that port, entered my fathers Office, say
Ing that he wished TO speak with Mr.. NJ.
"That is my name" replied.
"Pardon me-" said the consul "but
WA under the impression that Mr.. Nj,
whom am desirous OF seeing. was an
older man than you are"
"Ahl IL Ii my father, then, whom you
want. Unfortunately he is confined to
the house by indisposition. Can you com
municate to me the nature OF your bust
ness, and II may be in my power TO attend
to II In his absencei"
al am obliged TO YOU" said the consul
"Well," he added, after some slight hesita-
ton, al should like To speak with you In
private for few minutes, if convenient"
''Ccrtainly;" and having shown the old
gentleman into an inner room requested
him to he seated and waited for him to
breach the matter concerning which he
had sought the interview.
Without preface the consul took out
from pocket-book $50 Bank of Eng
land note, handed it to me, and said be-
lieve this note passed through your
fathers hands about two months ago"
'Nery possibly" replied rather sur
prised mt the question. "But j can ascer
tain for certainty in moment" Then
summoning junior clerk desired him to
bring Inc the rough cash-book. On look
Ing over its pages soon came across an
entry regarding Bank of England note /;
the amount. date, and number OF which
correspondcd with that before me.
al find" i said THAT this note was in
my fathers possession at the time you
mention. But may ask the object of
your making the inquiryg"
at Is this Some fourteen months
since this note was distracted from let
ter posted at Glasgow for Aberdeen. Moth
Ing was heard Of the stolen money until
five weeks age, when the note was stopped,
on being paid into the Bank of England by
q firm OF private bankers. They stated
that it had been received by one OF their
customers in the ordinary course OF bust
ness. The customer, when applied to,
said that ii had been RENTED 10 him by
Mr.. M, of New York. / have there
fore, been instructed by my government
to trace, IL possible the note during the
period il was in this country. Can you
inform me from whom your father had it,"
"Easily"I said, referring TO the book
before me- alt was bought OF Mr..
White, who has an exchange office in
Wall street. But fear" added, "you
will find 1t very difficult, If not quite I'M
practicable, TO carry the matter further,
since 1t IS the usage with brokers to buy
English bank-notes offered for sale with
out asking any questions, being aware
that, even If they have been stolen, the
innocent holder can legally enforce the
cashing OF them"
"That is true. | agree with YOU that il
Is most unlikely that Mr.. White Will be
able to let me know who was the person
from whom he bought the note; however
! shall call upon him without delay, since
1t is Just possible that he may have it in
his power TO afford the information /
seek" Then, after thanking me for my
courtesy in the matter, the consul took
his leave; and presumed that / should
hear nothing more of the affair.
However, some months later, / was din
ing one day when the consul entered the
room. Recognizing me, he came over 10
the table at which l was seated and took
q chair beside me. In the course of con-
Version he said ..You recollect the cir
cumstance of my calling upon you some
time ago with respect TO a stolen Bank OF
England noteP'
perfectly"
"Well, after all, was successful in
tracing the note
How was thatw I inquired.
"When / left your Office | went to that
Of Mr.. White. He referred to his books
and found that he had changed the note
for the manager of one OF the agencies of
the Central railroad company. | then
called upon that gentleman. He had no
recollection of the individual from whom
he had received the money and, dis
appoiufa oil \ ,ync Ieayiurr 40 &c nh iSbt nnpt
when clerk interposed, and, addressing
his employer, he said Mr.. Suydam, we
had the note in question from man who
bought a through ticket for Chicago. He
came in TO inquire what was the fare TO
that city. ! told him. He said that he
would go by our line, but that he must
first change some English money at a
brokers'. Informed him that this was
quite unnecessary, as l would take it in
payment of his ticket at the current rate
of exchange. To this he agreed. and thus
tho note came into our hands. Why /
remember SO clearly the transaction Is
that the mans name was n rather un-
usual one -Blenkiron, and | had to ask
him how he spelled II. Mr.. Blcnkiron
mentioned incidentally that he was going
west to fill n situation in n large manu-
featuring establishment, but he did not
say the nature Of the business nor the
name Of the firm which had engaged him /
FURNISHED with these particulars"
continued the consul, IL met the difficulty
of putting myself in communication with /
the man IN this way / wrote to him, !
stating the information / sought, and adj (
dressed my letter TO him at the Poste
Restante, Chicago. At the same time
caused advertisements To be inserted in
two OF the leading daily newspapers i'm that (
city, notifying Mr.. Blenkiron that there /
was n letter for him at the head postofiice. .
Well, some days afterward had a reply .
to my communication, informing me that |
the writer had received the bank.note /
from an uncle in Bombay, whose address
he gave me. This information | forwarded
TO the postal authorities in England, on
whom, OF course, devolved the duty of ,
pursuing all further inquiries with respect
TO the matter and for some little time
thereafter / heard nothing more about
the business. However, subsequently l
learned the sequel of it. The Mr.. Blenkiron
resident in Bombay, when communicated
with stated that the note had been sent