Custer chronicle. [volume] (Custer City, Black Hills, D.T. [S.D.]) 1880-1890, 1889-06-01
GOOD BILLS FOR SCRAPS.
NOVEL WORK OF THE GOVERNMENT
REDEMPTION BUREAU.


When a small portion of a United States
note IS returned to the treasury with
sufficient proof that the remainder Of it
has gone out of existence, the treasury
will give tho full value of the original
note. Naturally the greatest destruction
Of money is wrought by fire, and bits of
bills with charred edges are constantly
coming in for redemption.
But several instances have occurred
where men, in their desperation at their
loss, have simply boxed up lot of ashes,
in which there vas not the slightest
trace of the original material, and de-
manded hundreds and thousands Of dol
lars for them. Such requests are, Of
course, refused, and the senders are in
formed that their only recourse is to ask
congress by special act to indemnify
them.
MICE WITH EXPENSIVE NESTS.
Next TO fire the young baby is put
down in the department rs the most de.
structive agent. Innumerable atiidavits
are received in which John Jones. or
whatever his name may be, being duly
sworn, deposes and says" that his in
FAINT son did chew up and swallow the
missing portions ~ certain S. bills, and
that the said missing portions were
thereby wholly destroyed and are now
no longer in existence.
The fashion of keeping small pet dogs
has also been the cause of many solemn
ailidavits being sen to the department
Your pug and Your poodle seem to take
especial delight in masticating the fruit
and reward of the many days of severe
toll Of the head of the house.
The fancy Of mice for $40 bills as lin.
Ing for luxurious nests has been impress
ed upon the redemption bureau by a long
series of examples. Only "A few days
ago several hundred dollars worth Of
nest lining was redeemed for q southern
man who had for many years given up
al idea of finding his missing treasure.
There was 500 Of it in the first place,
notes OF almost the first issue made by
the government early ia wal times. 1t
bad been hidden away in a place sup
posed To be secure, and had disappeared
y quarter Of a century later. in repair
ms the porch of the old house, the nest
Of the wealthy mouso had been discov-
cred, and enough Of Che fragments re-
covered to securc more than half Of the
original deposit.
Also from the south came most Of the
moldy, worm eaten bills which have
been hidden in bottles or buried in the
earth for years. There are not . many
savings banks in the south as in thrifty
New England, and hiding places are
used.
Bat the habit of using the parlor or
kitchen stove as n safety deposit vault -
not confined to any II section of the
country. Neither is the custom of burn
ing up this treasure by ON other mem.
Der OF the family who is all unaware of
its value. Years ago the clerks in the re-
GcmptiOn bureau ceased 70 dcClaim upon
the stupidity OF such people, It has be-
come . matter Of course with them, and
they expect about 50 many letters every
week from people who have warmed two
pair of hands with 81 600 worth Of silver
certificates.
FROM TIE DEAD LETTER OFFICE.
There are not many attempts to de-
fraud the government through the re-
demption bureau, and none have beer
successful. The sending of the two halyes
OF u rote Of large denomination by diff
fcrent people, each one swearing thai
the other half is destroyed, and asking
for the full value of the note, frequently
looks like al attempt to defraud, but the
officials think that III most cases TIC
sendcrs believe they arcteliing the truth.
Counterfeit money ONE from every
part Of the country mutilated, probably
by design, with requests for lis redemp-
ticn. 1t i always indelibly stamped
"countCrfcit' and returned to the sender.
The redemption bureau is, not a good
place for Showing the queer even in u
fraEmentary condition.
There is in the treasury vault a brown
wooden box eighteen inches long, a foot
wide and eight inches deep, which con
tains paper money Of the nominal value
of several hundred thousand dollars. 1t
is not worth a dollar. The queer thing
about it is the manner III which it was
collected. Every bit of it came from the
dead letter office of the p%ostoffice depart
mcnt. Some portion of it is counterfeit,
but the most Of it was genuine money
many years ago. The banks which is
sued it and the officers who signed it
are gone and forgotten. 1t was all sent
over to the treasury department some
years ago, and Assistant Treasurer
Whelpley undertook t trace up the
various banks and get as much as posi-
bic Of it redeemed. Occasionally he
found descendants OF these old bank of
iicials, themselves bankers, who were
willing TO redeem some Of the notes for
the sake of the signatures of their
fathers, and in this way he succeeded in
getting several hundred dollars worth of
it redeemed.
But of that remaining, not a bill can
be redeemed. \ little Of it is Con
fcderate money, but most Of it is of
banks, state and private, that went out
of existence many years ago. The oldest
notes are dated back as far as 1919. One
package contained S54, 900 and another
50, 0G0. The mystery is how SO much
money could have been lost in the mail.
Neither the men who sent it nor the ones
to whom ~ was sent coulI no found bx,