Arizona weekly enterprise., 1888-12-08
------------- - FUN tfJ a BANK,
Laughable Incidents That Occur in the
 Centers of fMoney-Handiing.


 Laughable Incidents That Occur in the l
 Centers of NzoneyHandiing.
 No one would imagine, to glance in upon the grave-faced business fellows who are the tellers and cashiers of banks, that they had, during working hours, any chance to make merry Yet, says the New York Graphic, it seems that they have their share of fun even in the midst of their most important duties.
 Do funny things occur around banki' said one of the gravest-looking of the boys in the Park Bank the other day. "Wel, should say so. Most people have an lGea that there is nothing except what is prosaio and commonplace in the banking business, but they are altogether wrong. Some Of the funniest scenes 1 ever witnessed hap pened right here in this bank. Iii give you sample. Years ago man whom we will call Jim Simpson, because that wasn't his name, was one of the depositors Jim was character. He kept a tavern few miles out Of the city, and dld g brisk business. He was Yorkshire EngLshman. stoutly built and over six feet mgh, with ruddy face and keen, twinkling eyes.
 "Jim used to come in every Saturday and deposit his recejpts of the week, often $2O0 or $500. Well, he invariably went through the same performance. Standing by des6 near the teller's window he wo1id take out his big cket-book, draw out hls roll of bills and begin counting them over, leaving the ones, twos, fives and tens each in a separate pile. Then he would pickup the fves, lay them crosswlse of the tens, count them again, put the twos across, go through the same process until he satisfied himself that his count was correct. It often took him fifteen or twenty minutes to get his money { inc har for
 "One day,when he had an unusually large amount of money spread out before him, a stranger entered the bank, walked up to Jim without saying word, nudged the old man with his elbow, and pointed to the floor under the desk. The old fellow supposed,
 of course, that he had dropped a bill, and
 stopped down to look for it. Quick as flash
 the other man swept the pile of bills of the
 desk, ,cramnled them into his pocket and was
 out in the street before Jim had time to
 straighten up. He looked around, saw tho
 retreating stranger, then looked at the place
 where his money had been, and broke into a
 loud and hearty laugh. Well, I'll be hangedp
 said he, then laughed more noisily than
 ever.
 "None of us in the bank had noticed what
 was going on, and we had no idea what the
 old man was laughing at. I never saw a
 person more amused than he app cared to be He haw-hawed till the walls fairly echoed
 It was some time before he recovered his
 gravity sufficiently to explain what had oc- cured. He was so greatly struck with the ridiculous nature of the trick that had been played upon him that he seemed to regard it as more than an equivalent for the money , be had lost.
 Another man who used to have an ac ], count here, whenever he drew any money always asked for small bills, twos and threes,' and he kept up the practice years ? and years after three-dollar bills ceased tC be issued. He kept some Government bonds here and came around lat regular in , tervals to request US to cut of them there cowpens' for him.
 = You have read, perhaps, of the country
 man who bought draft to pay a note whici
 was about due at some bank in distant city
 put the paper in his pocket, imagined it t.
 be receipt, and only dreamed of his mis f take when he received notice that his not l. was about to be protested. have know just such cases myself. But people ma,
 joke as they like about the country folks; had much rather do business with then than some of the smart city men who in ' aglne that they know every thing and seen :. to think cashier is woefully ignorant if b e says he does't know them.
  r afew days ago. A laboring man had bee l. given check by a we'll known contractor 7. and came in to get his money. told him '- must be identified Tho man started, nc If having the faintest idea what tho wor meant.
 l. "' Do you mean vaccinatedn he asked.
 Mo- no,' 1 replied, after turning ava to laugh Bring some body here that know e you are the person named in the check. " 'f can't pay money to people we don't know j. The man departed and returned in abor l. fifteen minutes accompanied by his wifi He seemed heartily surprised when tol , I him that her Identification of him would nt be sufficient, and that he must bring som t body who was known to the people in tt X bank. After I had wasted half an hot e making explanations the maker of the chec f. happened to drop in and l got rid of m b troublesome visitor.
 = II have seen men get so angry over ID polite request that they may be identife t- that they would actually tear up the y. checks, meanwhile denouncing loudly u g. man who paid his debts with worthle. ID pieces of paper instead of cash ,o There are any number of people, som =, times, I think, as many as nine out of te 'i who seem to think it no crime to cheat le bank. If there is a streak of meanne a anywhere in Q mans nature it will crop O Id when he Is put to the test on a question at money. Sometimes I have amused myse Is by experimenting with men to find o T whether they were honest. There is N easy way of nscertaining. For instance, y, depositor hands in his bank book, togeth Id with number of bills and checks, u - amount of which is to be placed to b
 credit.
 "He has made out deposit ticket, whit
 be holds in his hand while I count u
 money. How muchr I ask. What do V m make itr he inQuires. I name sum fl IT. dollars or ten dollars larger than I have a ed certained the amount to be. If the man ,e honest he will say that he thinks am mi w taken; but often he will turn around al ;, make out another deposit ticket, fixing u M amount to correspond with the figures 10 have given. Then, of course, count u ne cash again and announce that have ma of mistake, and to prove It hand back u al money and let him recount it. Men who or nobody would ever suspect of crookedne
 are often very quick to take advantage of as little mistake in their favor. know SC o, eral wealthy gentlemen who truly belle t, would never think of paying any sum, lar ht or small, that got into their hands throus d. bank clerks mistake.'
 m The Good Old Times. 1g gentleman who resides in Bath, NJ " recently gave the item of trip to Peori h. H., which he and his wife took thirty-fi ,l years ago. The same trip can now
 taken in two days from Portland at an e a pense of about thirty-fve dollars. < VT Bath to Portland (stage) e)............. s CT Portland to Boston (boat) ........... z ,,, Boston to Pittsburgh, via Stonington 7Il railroads and steam boats and canals 64 ok Pittsburgh to St. Louis uis.............. 50 st St. Louis-to Peorla. .................. =. 15 re Total. ...............s .s141 he The time occupied was 14115 days and t be distance travelled was 2,400 miles, an ave