, 1888-09-30
A THRIFTY PEOPLE.
MILLIONS OF MONEY LAID By FOR A
RAINY DAY.

hS ~Ao"N OA DN'J
Depositors-
At the beginning of the year Of grace
1888 there were fifteen savings banks in
Boston. having in charge about $93, 000,-
900 belonging to nearly 1926. 900 depositors.
Since the first of the year two more saw
ings banks lave been established in the
city, SO that these figures are under
rather than over the facts at the present
moment. 1t may truly be said that in no
city in the country, or, for h a matter,
in the world, are savings banks more
conservatively, honorably and safely con-
Quoted than in Boston. These local banks
have, as a rule, had public confidence, and
their reputation leaves nothing to be de-
sired. An officer in one of the savings
banks informs the writer that the major
portion of the depositors are women.
When asked why this is so he gave it as
his opinion that the women are not SO
much given to making investments" as
the men. They prefer to put their money
in a reputable institution where they
know it will be safe" and where it will
draw a certain interest.
Post yourself in a convenient corner at
n of the leading savings banks on q
busy day and watch the crowd. AS an
opportunity to study humanity this could
hardly be excelled. At the noon hour the
depositors come by dozens, some to leave
money and some to take it. Those who
leave the money seem to ave the best of
it, if one may judge by their faces. A
man always draws on his deposit with an
air of regret, or, at any rate, there are
few cases in which this will not hold
true. At the head of the line there is a
little old woman who is not at all at her
ease. The line behind presses upon her,
and she lpaG mot ra1ich haior 1,rr;al
although it is evident that she will be
nothing loath to leave the place once she
has completed her transaction. She has
come, 1t appears, with an order from her
son, who has an account here and who is
at home i'll, and she wants $40. But the
order is not properly filed up, and the
teller tries to explain the error and inform
her with as much courtesy and pains as
time will permit, that she must go home
and AVE the mistake rectified before she
can have the money. This she does not
understand, and you can plainly see that
she entertains her suspicious of the
bank. Its her Jim's money, an she's q
right to it when he tells her to come and
get it" and she half threatens to have
the law on the place" if the cashier will
not stand and deliver.
Time is being wasted, and the crowd
becomes impatient, and, finally, some one
III tHo Lu0 assures Une Olu lazy unaU Jne
matter will be "all right" if she will
follow the advice of the cashier. So off
she goes, mumbling.S Then comes a man
of about 30 or So, looking quite prosper
ous, and holding a bank book in which q
number of bills are snugly reposing.
You can't deposit any more money,
sir, your account is full" says the re-
ceiver.
mo more money! Why, what do you
mean by that? Thought banks would
take as much money as you'd give EN-"
Eve are not permitted to allow any one
to deposit more than 81, 600, and your ac-
count has already reached that amount, 1
find"
:'Must I draw it out then?'
"Oh, nc; you can allow it to remain IN
til, with interest, it accumulates to the
extent of 81, 900. After that time, al
though you may let the money remain
here, it will draw no more interest"
Queer business, that" cxclaims the
prosperous man, who thereupon takes
himself off.
This may seem queer business" to the
person who knows nothing of savings
banks, yet it may be explained by the
fact that savings banks were not Intended
for well to do people, but for folk of hum
BILE means. OF course, if you are fortu-
nate enough to have 81, 900 in one bank,
you can go to another bank and open an
account, but if the officials have any rea-
son to suspect that you are a man of
means they may question you very close
ly, and, if they are not satisfied with your
replies, they are at liberty to reject your
financial offering altogether.
Here comes a mother asking if she will
be permitted to deposit money in her
child's name, although the child is only
two or three months old. She finds that
she can do SO, and she is delighted.
There are a great many calls at the saw
ings banks for purposes of this sort. Pa
rents, also, frequently deposit small sums
on the anniversaries of their children's
birth, and they allow the money to re-
main in the bank and accumulate until
the children come of age" Executors
often use these banks to deposit the
funds of an estate during the two years
the law allows them for settling up af-
fairs. Religious and charitable ~organiza-
tions are exempt from the 81, 900 ~restric-
ton. The average rate of interest paid
by the Massachusetts savings banks last
year was .06 per n
Two lines of people come streaming into
the bank, one line going to the receiving
teller and the other line to the paying
teller. Men, women, boys and girls make
up the crowd. Sometimes, especially on
Saturdays, a whole family will troop into
the place while dad" draws something
for the marketing, OF for clothing the
young ones; or perhaps there is a family
celebration of some kind on foot, and
they all want a share of the spoil. Boys
are generally very proud when they make
their first deposits. They already begin
to feel like capitalists, and they are gen
orally pretty faithful to their savings.
Clerks, bookkeepers, office boys, sales
girls, newsboys, bootblacks, young ex-
q~uisites whose fathers have given them
some pocket money on condition that
they will put by a certain sum every
week, mechanics, masons, Transfers,
young maids and old ones, old men and
old women, all or the most of them bear
ing marks of their respective trades or
callings, and some of them the tools of
their trades, come into the bank, and fall
in line. 1t is easy enough to distinguish