Lancaster daily intelligencer. [volume] (Lancaster, Pa.) 1864-1928, 1889-04-20
GOOD BILLS FOR SCRAPS.
NOVEL WORK OF THE GOVERNMENT
REDEMPTION BUREAU.

note Is returned to the treasury with
sufficient proof that the remainder OF IL
has gono out Of existence, the treasury
will give tho full value Of tho original
note. Naturally the greatest destruction
Of money is wrought by Ere, and bits Of
bills with charrcd edges arc 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 wns 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 pct to indemnify
them.
NICE WITH ExPeNsrvE NESTS.
Next to fire tho young baby is put
down in tho department as the most de-
structive agent. Innumerablo aiiidavits
arc received in which John Jones. OF
whatever his namo may be, "being duly
sworn, dcposcs and says" that his in
fant son did chow up and swallow the
missing portions Of certain s. bills, and
that the said missags portions were
thereby wholly desse0J "a and nre now
no longer In existence.
Tho fashion Of keeping small pet dogs
has also been the cause Of many solemn
aiiidavits 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.
Tho fancy Of mice for $40 bills as lin
ing for luxurious nests has been impress
cd upon tho redemption bureau by long
series of examples. Only n few days
ago several hundred dollars worth of
nest lining was redeemed for q southern
man who had for many years given up
oil idea Of finding his missing treasure.
notes Of almost the first issue mado by
tho government early in war times 1t
had been hidden away in place sup
posed to be secure, and had disappeared.
A quarter Of century later, in repair
ing tho porch Of the old house, tho nest
of the wealthy mouse had been discov-
cred, and enough of tho fragments re-
covered to secure moro than half of tho
original deposit.
Also from tho south came most of tho
moldy, worm eaten bills which have
been hidden in bottles or buried in the
earth for years. There are not 80 many
savings banks in the south as in thrifty
New England, and hiding places arc
used.
But the habit Of using the parlor or
kitchen stove as safety deposit vault is
not confined to any ono section of tho
country. Neither is tho custom Of burn
Ing up this treasure by some other men,
Der of tho family who is oil unaware Of
its value. Years ago the clerks in the re-
demption bureau ceased to declaim upon
the stupidity of such people. 1t has be-
come a matter of course with them, and
they expect about so many letters every
week from people who have warmed two
pair of hands with 81 900 worth Of silver
certificates.
FROM THE DEAD LETTER OFFICE.
There are not many attempts to dc
fraud the government through tho re
demption bureau. and none have beer
successful. The sending of tho two halve!
| of note of largo denomination by diff
fercnt people, each one swearing thai
! the other half is destroyed, and asking
| for tho full value Of the note, frequently
looks like an attempt to defraud, but th,
| officials think that in most cases the
senders believe they arotelling the truth
Counterfeit money comes from every
| part Of the country, mutilated, probably
| by design, with requests for its redemp
ton. II is always indelibly stamped
counterfeit" and returned to the sender
Tho redemption bureau is not goot
place for showing the queer" even in {
fragmentary condition.
| There Is in the treasury vault brown
wooden box eighteen inches long, foo
wide and eight inches deep, which con
tains paper money Of tho nominal valu,
of several hundred thousand dollars.
is not worth dollar. The queer thini
about it is tho manner in which it wa
collected Every bit of it came from TIN
dead letter Office of the postofiice depart
ment. Some portion of it is counterfeit
but the most Of it was genuine none,
many years ago. The banks which is
sued il and the officers who signed
are gone and forgotten. 1t was all sen
over to tho treasury department som
years ago, and Assistant Treasure
Whelploy undertook to trace up tn
various banks and get as much as poss
bic of it redeemed. Occasionally h
found descendants OF these old bank o
hcials, themyN Ives bankers, who wer
willing to redeem somo Of tho notes fo
the sake of tho signatures of thci
fathers, and in this way ho succeeded /
getting several hundred dollars worth c
| it redeemed.
But Of that remaining, not bill ca
be redeemed. A little of it Is Cor
federate money, but most Of 1t is c
banks, state and private, that went ou
of existence many years ago. The oldcS
notes are dated back as far as 1912. On
package contained S5i 900 and anothC
$4,000. The mystery Is how so muc
money could have been lost i'm the mai
Neither the men who sent IL nor the ono
to whom it was sent could be found b
the postofiice department, nor could Nj
Whclpley find any trace of them or the
descendants. The $4,000 package WI
sent from Brandon, Miss, to jackson
Miss, in 1910, and the letter accompan!
ing it shows that ii was sent in cons
quence of repeated demands. The mo-
diIigent search fails TO discover I'll
slightest trace Of any such banking con
pany as that at Brandon, Miss, whic
Issued the notes, most Of which arc (
the 81 600 denomination. The notes al
Handsomely executed, as are large M
jority Of those in the box.-Washingtc
Post,
He Never Struck His Children.
Il have never struck my two CHI