Sharp County record., 1890-07-03
HYBRID BANK NOTES.
One of Them Returns to the Treasury
and the Other Is at Large.

and the Other Is at Large.
There was received at the Treasury
Department day or two ago one Of the
most peculiar bank notes ever seen
among the millions upon millions OF
currency notes printed by the Govern
ment. 1t was $50 note or $40 note,
just according to which side was up, for,
by some remarkable mistake, the one
side was printed with the figures and
devices of $40 bill, while the other had
all the figures and devices OF ten.
The note was returned TO the Treasury
by the cashier OF the First Washington
National Bank of Jersey City, who sent
1t with rather a sarcastic note, intimat-
ing that his bank was not going into the
freak business, and added that as the
Treasury had counted that bill for $50,
he would trouble them to send him an
ordinary $40 note. The affair created a
sensation, for no one had ever seen such
a wonderful note before. The matter
was referred to the Department of Is
out to the Jersey City bank. The mis-
take was promptly corrected and an i'm
mediate investigation was begun.
A consultation was held with General
Meredith, the chief of the Bureau of
Engraving and Printing. He was at
first thunderstruck, but his amazement
soon gave way to intense alarm at the
palpable evidence of some glaring over
sight somewhere. The bureau is con-
sidered marvel Of perfect surveillance
and continual check and counter check
on every little detail. This mistake
having occurred in one noteit must have
occurred in more. All bank notes are
printed in blocks of four on one sheet
and $50 sheets in one bundle so that
there are always thousand notes work
ed off at one printing. The thought oc.
CURED to him that possibly the banks
might be flooded with these hybrids,
which would mean disgrace and ridicule
on his administration.
A particularly aggravating feature
was the fact that Mr.. Graves, General
Meredith's immediate predecessor, had
been in the Treasury when the mistake
was reported and had learned all about
it. The investigation was prosecuted
with vigor, and yesterday General Mere
dith found the cause of the trouble. 1t
seems that the four notes printed on Y
sheet are not all Of one denomination.
There are always three Of one kind and
the fourth of another; thus, in this case,
three tens and twenty, 1t was an easy
task to learn just when this bundle had
been printed and by which plate print
ers. They were examined, and it was
after having been printed on one side,
had fallen off the bundle to the floor.
The assistant who picked IL up, by some
unfortunate oversight, turned the sheet
upside down when she placed it on the
bundle.
The rest is easily understood, This
sheet was printed on tho second side,
with 20-face on the reverse Of 10, and
one Of the three l0-faces on tho reverse
of the one 30 of the steel. Hence, there
were two '10-20s" in the lot. Thus the
mistake was corrected. But no good
explanation was offered, or can be offer.
ed,why these two bills, passing through
score Of hands, each one of whom Is
supposed to examine every bill most
carefully, should not have been discov
cred, Every person in the bureau who
handlesa note is held responsible in the
strictcst way and 1t Is almost incrcdi
Bile that mono Of these people should
have discovered the mistake. In tho
Department of issue arc not less thar
six counters, whose business 1t has beor
for years to count the notes before issu
ing them to tho banks, They are CON
sidered the most expert counters in the
world, and yet all six OF thoso wonder
ful experts allowed such bill to pass
through thoir hands. No trace has yet
been found OF the second hybrid, so thai
1t must be wandering around the coun
try. The Treasury Department is anS
iously waiting to hear from IT, The two
notes will be kept in the Troasuror's
oilico rs rare curiositos, Baltimore
Sun.