The Washington critic., 1890-04-23

It Causes Great Alarm Among the
TreaaurV OmcIals.


Treasury OnlcIals.
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 Gov
ernment, says tho Washington CORE
spondent of the Baltimore SIN in to-
days issue. 1t was twenty dollar
note or a ten-dollar note, Just according
to which side was up, for, by some re-
markable mistake, the one side was
printed with the figures and devices of
twenty dollar bill, while the other had
all the figures and devices of ten.
The note was returned to the Treas
ury by the cashier of the First Wash
ington National Bank of Jersey City,
who sent 1t with a rather sarcastic note,
intimating that his bank was not going
into the freak business, and added that
as the Treasury had counted that bill
for twenty, he would trouble them to
send him an ordinary $50 note. The
affair created sensation, for no one
had ever seen such wonderful note
before. The matter was referred to
the Department of Issue, from which
the note had been sent out to the Jer
sey City bank. The mistake was
promptly corrected and an immediate
investigation was begun.
A consultation was held with General
Meredith, the chief of the Bureau of
Engraving and Printing. He was at
first thunder struck, but his amazement
soon gave way to intense alarm at the
palpable evidence of some glaring over
tk-1t 4, nl,a ht,r ie ann
sidered marvel of perfect surveillance
and continual check and counter. check
on every little detnil. This mistake
having occurred in one note, 1t must
have occurred in more. All bank notes
arc printed in blocks of four on one
sheet and 250 sheets in one bundle, so
that there are always thousand notes
worked off at one printing. The
thought occurred 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
Meredith found the cause of the trouble
1t seems that the four notes printed on
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
printers. They were examined and it
was developed that one sheet of four
notes, after having been printed on one
side, had fallen off the bundle to the
floor. The assistant who picked it 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 the second side
with twenty face on the reverse of a
ten, and one of the three ten faces on
the reverse of the one twenty Of the steel.
Hence, there were two 'ten-twenties" in
the lot. Thus the mistake was corrected.
But no good explanation was offered,
or can be offered, 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 discovered. Every person in
the bureau who handles note is held
responsible in the strictest way, and II
is almost incredible that none of these
people should have discovered the mis-
take. In the Department of Issue there
are not less than six counters, whose
business it has been for years to count
the notes before issuing them to the
banks. They are considered the most
expert counters in the world, and yet all
six of these wonderful experts allowed
such bill to pass through their hands.
No trace has yet been found Of the sec.
ond hybrid, so that it must be wander
ing around the country. The Treasury
Department is anxiously waiting tc
hear from it. The two notes will be
kept In the Treasurer's Office as rare
curiosities.
The April "Century'' contains some
"Suggestions for the Next Worlds Fair
The fair In the next world will wear wings
and any suggestions offered them now will
be loves labor lost. Norristo,cn Herald.