The Londonderry sifter. (South Londonderry, Vt.) 1883-19??, 1889-05-09
GOOD BILLS FOR SCRAPS.
NOVEL WORK OF THE GOVERNMENT
REDEMPTION BUREAU.
Singular Ways In Which Money Has Been
Destroyed-Fire. the Baby and the Pet
Dog Among the Chief Agents of De-
struotion-No Chance to Defraud.

| ee'ee@s ''sy5 An WHiCt NhontN HAS Beel
Destroyed-Fire. the Baby and the Pc
Dog Among the Chief Agents of De.
struotion-No Chance to Defraud.
When email portion Of United State.
note is returned to the treasury with
sufficient proof that the remainder of Il
has gone out of existence the treasury
/ will give the full value of the origina
t 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 was 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 as the most de-
structive agent Innumerable affidavits
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 of 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
mas 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 impress
ed upon the redemption bureau by long
series of examples. Only a few days
ago several hundred dollars worth of
nest lining was redeemed for southern
man who had for many years given up
all idea of finding his missing treasure
There was $70O of it in the first place.
notes of almost the first issue made bv
the government early in war times. 1t
had been hidden away in place sup
posed to be secure, and had disappeared
A quarter of a century later, in repair
ing the porch of the old house, the nest
OF the wealthy mouse had been discov
cred, and enough of the fragments re-
covered to secure 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 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
It's value. Years ago the clerks in the re-
demption bureau ceased to declaim upon
the stupidity of such people. 1t has be-
come 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 de-
fraud the government through the re-
demptlon bureau, and none have been
successful. The sending of the two halves
81 note of large denomination by diff 8
ferent people, each one swearing thai |
The other half is destroyed, and asking
Tor the full value of the note, frequently
ooks like an attempt to defraud, but the q
officials think that in most cases the /
'enders believe they are telling the truth.
counterfeit money comes from every
'art OF the country, mutilated, probably t
~ design, with requests for its redemp U
ION. 1t is always indelbly stamped
counterfeit" and returned to the sender I
The redemption bureau is not a good S
'lace for showing the queer" even in u
ragmentary condition
There is in the treasury vault brown 3
wooden box eighteen inches long, a foot "
VIDE and eight inches deep, which con. Fl
ans paper money of the nominal value
I several hundred thousand dollars. It o
not worth dollar. The queer thing p
bout it is the manner in which it was NJ
objected. Every bit of it came from the :,
cad letter office of the postoffice depart "
lent. Some portion of it is counterfeit. E
ut the most OF it was genuine money
lany years ago. The banks which is
led it and the officers who signed it
re gone and forgotten. 1t was all sent
yer to the treasury department some
ears ago, and Assistant Treasurer
'helpley undertook to trace up the
arious banks and get as much as possi- pc
e OF 1t redeemed. Occasionally he be
und descendants of these old bank of he
,lals, themselves bankers, who were
illlng to redeem some of the notes for Ii.
70 sake of the signatures of their w
theirs, and in this way he succeeded in of
,tting several hundred dollars worth of
redeemed. ST
But OF that remaining, not bill can ut
redeemed. A little of it is Con.
derate money, but most of it is of
nks, state and private, that went out mt
existence many years ago. The oldest
ties are dated back as far as 1912. One
ckage contained S54. 900 and another
900. The mystery is how so much
oney could have been lost in the mail.
'ither the men who sent it nor the ones
whom it was sent could be found by :
postofflce department, nor could Mr. ON,
helpley find any trace of them or their :.
scendants. The $1,000 package was uo
1t from Brandon, Miss, to jackson sin
S.. in 1910, and the letter accompany me
!, it shows that it was sent in conse- -
ance of repeated demands. The most ~.
gent search fails to discover the Bit
,htest trace of any such banking com ant
~ as that at Brandon, Miss, which sal
led the notes, most Of which are of ;,n,
81 900 denomination. The notes are iinl
ldsomely executed, as are large ma the
lty OF those in the Washington cur
" ach
Ele
)ne dollar pays for The LONDON qua
lRY SITTER for ono vear tho bos,. 90