The Cambria freeman. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1867-1938, 1889-06-21
DAMAGED MONEY
Interesting Work Of the Govern
mont Redemption Bureau.
Singular Ways n Which Treasury Notes
Havo E;ecn Lost OF Dcstruy@'l-Few
Attempt at Eras;d-.1 Tsr>5st.ut
Iennsylyania Correspondent.

Havo E;ecn Lost or Destr"ya'l-Eew
Atteinpt- at Fras;d-1 rsr>5stent
Pennsyiyania Correspondent
When a small portion OF n United
States note is returned to the Treasury
with sufficient proof that the remainder
of it has gone out of existence, the
Treasury viii give the fun value Of the
original note. Naturally the greatest
destruction Of money i wrought 10y
fire, and bits Of bills with charred
edges are constantly coming in for re-
demDtion.
But several instances h5ve occurred
where men, in their desperation 1t
their loss, have simply boxed up a lot
of ashes, in which there was not the
slightest trace OF the original material,
and demanded hundreds and thousands
Of dollars fer them. Such requests are.
of course, refused, and the Sculcrs arc
informed that their only recourse i to
ask Congress by special act to indem-
Nifty them.
Tho cXtreme limit in this direction
was reached in a recent case which i
still pending. A Texan wrote 70 the
Treasurer that a certain large amount
Of money be Ouging TO him had been
burned and that be had forwarded the
remains by express in a box The
box came all right, properly wrapped
and with seals unbroken. but when it
was opened there was absolutely
nothing but air inside of II. Evident
" that was all that was left OF the
man > money, but the department sent
him letter inquiring whether that
was his meaning OF it or if he had for
gotten TO put in the pieces. His reply
has not yet been received.
Next 10 fire the young baby is put
down in the department as the most
destructive agent. InnUmerable affi-
davits arc received in which John
Jones, or whatever his name may be,
''being duly sworn, deposes and says"
that his infant son did chew up and
swallow the missing portion of 4-tain
s. bills, and that the said missing por-
tions were thereby wholly destroyed
and are now no longer in existence.
Tho fashion Of keeping small pet
dogs has often been the cause Cf many
solemn afiidavits being sent TO the de-
partmcnt Your pug and your poodle
seem TO take especial delight in masti-
eating the fruit and the reward of the
many days OF severe toll of the head
of the house.
The fancy Of mice for SO bills as
lining for luxurious nests has been
impressed upon the redemption bureau
by 4 long series OF examples. Only "A
few days ago several hundred dollars
worth OF nest lining was redeemed for
a Southern man who had for many
years given up all idea Of finding his
missing treasure. There was 500 of
il in the first place, notes Of almost the
first issue made by the Government
early in war times. 1t had been
hidden away in place supposed to be
secure and had disappeared. A quar-
ter Of a century later, in repairing the
porch of the old house, the nest of the
wealthy mouse had been discovered,
and enough of the fragments recovered
to secure more than half Of the orig
inal deposit.
Also from the South come most Of
the mouldy, worm-eatcn bills which
have been hidden in bottles or buried
in tho earth for years There are not
so many savings banks in the South as
in thrifty New England, and hiding
places are used.
But the habit Of using the parlor or
kitchen stove as a safety deposit vault
Is not confined to any one section OF
the country. Neither is the custom
of burning up this treasure by some
other member of the family who is all
unaware Of its value. Years ago the
clerks in the redemption bureau
ceased TO declaim upon the stupidity
of such people. II has become a mat
ter of course with them, and they ex-
pect about so many letters every week
from people who have warmed 81 pair
of hands with 81, 900 worth Of silver
certificates
Evidence of a family row crops out
in a queer way in the bureau occa-
sionally. Mr.. Blank sends on the half
of so note with a torn edge and an
affidavit that the remainder Of the
note has been destroyed. Presently
comes the other half with a CORE
spondingly ragged edge and an affida-
Wit from Mrs. Blank that the first half
has been destroyed. Then the re-
demption bureau people know that
there has been an exciting time over
money in the Blank family, and there
is before them a vivid picture of Blank
clinging to one end of the note and his
wife TO the other end until it parts in
There are not many attempts to de-
fraud the Government through the re-
demption bureau and none have oeen
successful. The sending OF the TWO
halves Of a note of large denomination
bv different people, each one swearing
that the other half is destroyed aho
asking for the full value OF the note 5
frequently looks like an attempt 70 DC
fraud, but the officials think that Il