Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1889-07-12
MUTILATED BANK NOTES.
Strange Adventures Which the Treasury Ca
Tell OF GreeDbacAs.

Strange Adventures Which the Treasury Can
Tell OF GreeDbacAs.
When a small portion of q United
States note is returned to the treasury,
says the Washington Post, with sufficient
proof that the remainder of it has gone
out OF exlstenc, the treasury will give
the full valoe of the original note. Nat
urally the greatest destruction is wrought
by fire, and bits of bills with charred ed
ges are constantly coming in for redenp-
rlou.
But several instances have occurred
where men, in their desperation at their
loss, have sim ply boxed up a lot OF ashes
In which there was not the slightest trace
of the orr. inal material, and demanded
hundreds aud Thousands of dollars for
them. Such requests a:e, of course, re-
fused, and the senders are informed that
thelt only recourse is to ask congress by
special act to Indemnity then.
The extreme limit in this direction was
reached IN recent case which is still
pending. A Texan wrote TO the tressGr-
er that certain large amount of money
belonging to him had been burned, and
that he had forward ed the remains by ex
press In box. The box came all right,
properly wrapped and With seals unbrok-
Ell, but when it was opened there was alb
solutely nothing but air inside of il.
Evidently that wss all that was left of the
mans money. But the department sent
hi N letter inc airing whether that was
his meaning or If had forgotten to put in
the pieces. His reply has not yet been
rec lived.
Next to fire the young baby is put down
IN the department as the most destrGcs
i've agent. Innumerable sffi1avits are re-
ceived in which John Jones. or whatever
his name may be, being duly sworn," de
poses and says that his infant son did
chew up and swallo v the missing portions
OF certain IS oiilz, and that the said miss
ing portions were thereby wholly destroy
ed and are now 10 longer IN existence.
The fashion of keeping small pet dogs
has also bsen the cause of many soieInp
afidavts being sent to the depart ment.
Your pug and your poodle seem to take
especial delight In masticating the fruit
and reward Of many days of severe toll
of the head of the house.
The fancy of mice for SO bills as lin
ing :or luxurious nestE has been i'm press-
ed upon the redemption bureau by a long
series of examples. Olly few days az o
several hundred d ollars worth OF nest lin
lng was redeemed for a southern man
who had for many years given up all idea
of finding his missing treasure. There
was 500 of 1t 10 the first place. notes of
almost the first Issue made by the govern.
| ment early in war times. 1t had been
put away In place imposed to be secure
and had disappeared. A quarter of a
century later, In repairing the porch OF
the old house, the nest of the wealth y
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
| mou'dy, worm-eateu bills which I'VE
| 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 OF
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 mem
| Der Of the family who is all unaware OF
| it's value. Years ago the clerks in the re
| demption bureau ceased to declaim upon
the stupidity OF suoh people. 1t has he
| COuS d OF course Win Inem, anC
! they expect about so many letters every
| week from people who have warmed
81 pair of hands with 81, 900 worth of sill
Yer certificates.
Evidence of a family row crops out il
a queer way in the bureau occasionally
| NJ. Blank sends On the half of $40 nott
with a toru edge and an affidavit shat the
remainder of the note has been destroyed
Presently comes the other half, with
CORES pondIngly ragged edge and an eff
davit from Mrs. Blank that the first half
has been destroy ed. Then the REDEEM p
ton bureau people know that there hal
been al exciting time over money in the
Blank family, and there is before them
vivid picture of Blank clingiLg to on,
| end of the note and mis- wife 10 the othe
end until it parts in the middle.
| There are not many attempts to de
fraud the government through the re
demption bur eau, and none have beer
successful. The sending of the tw,
halves of note of large denomination
by different people, each ore swearing
that the o'her half is destroyed and ask
| ing for the full value of the note, fire
quently looks like an attempt tt
uetraud, but the officials think that il
most cases the seuders believe they are
telling the truth.