Indian chieftain. [volume] (Vinita, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 1882-1902, 1889-05-09

IN his town. who had paid him thou
sands OF dollars previously, ro-
fused to cash the check unless he
brought somebody TO identify him.
What should he doe The bureau cor
respondent answered him courteously
that the bank teller was undoubtedly
following instructions aad was doing
right He should take man 20 identify
him. Back came another long letter.
with further complaint about the
bank teller
This time tho treasury sent him a
S5 hill and thought IL had
done with him Not So All tho
letters sent out are signed by the
treasurer as a matter OF form. but the
man who actually writes them puts his
initials az the upper left-hand corner
ofthe sheet and under them is printed
The direction, please quote these
initials In replying" which, OF course,
is for the convenience OF the depart
ment when the reply Is received, so
that the writer OF the first letter can
be readily traced. Now, after tho
Pennsylvania man had got his money
and had no further business with the
department, he writes another long
letter inquiring why he should always
be asked TO quote those initials He
did not see that he had ever gained
any thing by IL, and be would like to
know why he should continue to quote
those initials.
Another courteous letter explained
this matter to him, but he replied that
he did not understand the necessity,
and since It had never done him any
good to quote these initials he would
be blessed IL he would do II any more.
This did not seem TO require any re-
ply and mona was sent but the re-
demption bureau is daily expecting
another letter from HIM.
There Is in the treasury vault n
brown wooden box eighteen inches
long, afoot wide and eight inches deep
which contains paper money Of the
nominal value OF several hundred
thousand dollars. II Is not worth a
dollar The queer thing about IL Is
the manner in which it was collected.
Every bit Of it came from the dead let
ter Office OF the Post Office Depart
ment Some portion OF It is counter.
felt, but the most OF IL was genuine
money many years ago. The banks
which issued 1t and the officers who
signed 1t are gone and forgotten. II
was all sent over to the Treasury
Department some years ago, and As.
sistant Treasurer Whelpley undertook
TO trace up the various banks and get
as much as possible Of II redeemed.
Occasiouallylhe found descendants Of
some of these old bank officials them
selves bankers. who we're willing TO re-
deem 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 tire
deemed. But OF that remaining, not a
bill can be redeemed. A little Of 1t Is
Confederate money. but most Of il is OF
banks, State and private. that went
out OF existence many years ago The
OAhNob nObCo tlTt utbcu Udlh Us luF a.
1872 One package contained $54, 0OC
and another $1,000. 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 IL was
sent could be found by the Post-Ofice
Department, nor could Mr.. Whelpley
find any trace OF them or their de.
scendants. The $4,000 package was
sent from Brandon. MISS. to jackson.
Miss, in 1910, and the letter accom-
panying It shows that II was sent in
consequences OF repeated demands. The
most diligent search fails to discover
the slightest trace Of any such banking
company as that at Brandon, Miss,
which issued the notes, most OF which
are OF the $1,000 denomination. The
notes are handsomely executed. as are
large majority OF those in the box
Washington Post