Los Angeles daily herald., 1889-06-30
DAILY HERALD
MUrILATED BANK NOTES.
strange Adventures which the
Treasury Gam Tell.

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 Treas
ury will give the full value of the orig
inal note. Naturally the greatest des
truction of money is wrought by fire, snd
bits of bills with charred edges are con
stantly coming in for redemption.
But several instances have occurred
where men, in desperation at their loss,
have simply boxed up lot oil ashes, In
which there WAS not the slightest trace
of the original material, and demanded
hundreds and thousands OF dollars Tor
them. Such requests are, oil course, re-
fused and Henders are informed that
their only recourse is TO ask Congress by
special act to indemnify them,
The extreme limit in this direction was
reached in recent case which is still
pending. A Texan wrote to the Treasurer
that certain large amount OF money
belonging to him had been burned, and
that he had forwarded the remains by
express in box. The box came all
right, properly wrapped and with seals
unbroken, but when il Was opened there
was absolutely nothing but air inside Of
if. Evidently that was all that was left
of the mans money, but the Department
sent him letter inquiring whether that
was his meaning or, II he had forgotten
to put in the pieces. His reply has not
yet been received.
Next to fire the young baby is put
down in the department as the most
destructive agent. Iunumerable afii-
davits are received in which John Jones,
or whatever his name may be, "being
I,,l., - InNAcas an1 LIT l.,
infant son did chew up and swallow the
missing portions of certain So bills, and
that the said missing portions we're
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
affidavits being sent 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 inn
pressed upon the Redemption Bureau by
long series of examples. Only few
days ago several hundred dollars worth
Of nest lining was redeemed Tor South
ern man who had, for many years. given
up all hope OF finding his missing
treasure. There was 800 of ;t
in the first place, notes of al
most the first issue made by the
Government early in war times. 1t has
been put away in place supposed to be
secure, and had disappeared. A quarter
OF century alter, 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 original deposit.
Also from the South come most of the
mouldy, worm eaten bills which have
been hidden in bottles or buried in the
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 safety deposit vault is
not confined to any one section Of the
country. Neither is the custom of burn
ing up this treasure by some other men,
Der 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. 1t
has become a matter OF course with
them, and they expect 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
queer way in the bureau occasionally.
Mr.. Blank sends on the half Of $40 note
with torn edge and an affidavit that
the remainder OF the note has been de-
stroyed. Presently comes the other half,
with correspondingly ragged edge and
an affidavit from Mrs. Blank that the
first half has been destroyed. Then the
redemption people knew 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 the middle.
There are not many attempts to de-
fraud the Government through the re-
compton bureau, and none have beer
successful. The sending Of the two halves
of note OF large denomination by diff
ferent people, each swearing that the
other half is destroyed and asking for
the full value of the note, frequently
looks like an attempt to defraud, but the
officials think that in most cases the
senders believe that they are telling the
truth Washington Post.