The Opelousas courier., 1891-09-26
HANDLING BUSHELSOF COIN
COUNTING A STREET RAILWAYS
DAILY RECEIPTS.


DAILY RECEIPTS.
Over $500 Pecks of Specie Collected
in a Year-The Gauntlet Run by
Each Fare.
The system and method by which the
Broadway Railroad Company of New
York City is enabled to handle several
times a day nearly $4,000 in coin with
out loss OF error is a marvel Of perfection.
Think of nearly two bushels of coin
daily? Seven hundred bushels OF shin
ing coin taken in and counted each year
without the loss of a nickel Last year
the receipts in coin were over 81, Sol, 600,
and this all passed through the regular
channel, from the conductors hands to
| the Sub-Treasury, without loss.
The stakeholder even who hands his
niekle to the conductor and wa ches to,
see it ''rune in has no idea of TIE jour
ney travelled by that small coin before it
| returns to him In the form of a dividend;
but when he realizes the amount OF work
| required to watch that coin in its various
| changes from hand to hand, he will
cease to grumble at the salaries paid to
the men through whose hands it passes.
The Offices of the company are at No.
761 Seventh avenue, and there, under
| the same management, are three lines OF
horse railway, the Broadway, the Seventh
avenue and the Broome street lines. 1t
is an immense building, covering the
whole block, and the cars of the three
lines are stored there when not in use.
On the ground floor is the receiving
| office, where all the conductors are re-
CURED to report and turn in their cash
after each trip.
The outside portion of the room
where the conductors enter is partitioned
off by a low PARTITION, above which ex-,
tends a heavy wire screen running to the
ceiling.
Behind the screen is the space where
the receiving clerks stand and take in
the mass of nickels, dimes and dollars
which the conductors collect from the
travelling public. /
This space is about thirty feet long by
five and a half feet wide, and two re-
ceiving clerks are On duty at the same
time, working about seven hours on each
'%'relief," from five in the morning until
two the following morning.
When a conductor returns from a trip
he enters in pencil on his ssday card"
the amount received during the trip and
passes his card and the money into the
receiving clerk. The latter inserts the
figures in ink and enters the amount on
an immense book lying open before him,
then returns the card to the conductor,
and at the end of the day the conductor
foots up the amount on his card, enters
it on a slip called the presidents slipj"s
which goes directly to President Thomp-
sons office, and turns in his day card to
the receiving clerk.
With the car register this makes three
separate reports from the conductor
daily. Each receiving clerk, after his
seven hours of duty, balances his book
before leaving. He then gathers up the
mass of coin he has taken in, and care
fully counts it, piece BY piece. This in
itseG is nc small task when it is con-
sidered that his receipts during d single
tour of duty will average 1000 pieces of
coin.
After counting the money he weighs
it, puts it in bags properly tagged, and
sends it to the counting room above by a
dumb waiter.
In the counting room is a large safe
in which each receiving clerk has a spe-
cial compartment, and in this safe he
places the money, taking the receipt of
the counting room clerk by count and
weight both, and there the coin remains
until ready for deposit, which is made
by the counting room clerk every morn
ing except Sunday.
Because of the bulk of the coin it was
found to be impracticable to deposit in
any bank and the deposit is therefore
made at the United States Sub-Treasury
and the Treasury receipt is deposited in
the bank to the credit of the company.
In the early morning the counting
room clerk takes the receipts Of the pre-
yious day from the safe and weighs each
bag of coin separately but they do not
estimate the money in pounds and
ounces, but bya series of special weights,
prepared by Mr.. Ramsey after trying
various methods.
By weighing many different lots of
$500 in dimes, in quarters, and in half
dollars, and $50 in niekels, an average
weight Of coin In use was made, and
weights were prepared accordingly.
Thus, for instance, a bag said to contain
5000 in quarters is placed upon the
balance opposite the proper weight, and
If found to be light q sufficient number
of quarters is added to make it balance,
and the bag is then opened and re-
counted.
"But,n said Mr.. Ramsey, s'this is not
infallible, for I remember weighing a
bag Of quarters ice which was too
light by three, but on counting it was
found to be correct. This method is
usually sure, however"
aWhat is done with mutilated CONT"
was asked.
.sOh, we have very little mutilated
coin, as our men are very particular, 7
said he.
aWhen we do get any we send it to
the Assay Office and have 1t melted, and
then sell the silver bar. When you con-
slider that we handle nearly seven hun
bred bushels Of coin in a year, il re-
markabIe that we not get more bad
mGneF. That is one disadvantage of
depositing at the Sub-Treasury. There
is no appeal from their decision in re-,
gard to bad coin. or shortage, and we
have to make good any claim they may
make in regard To either defect.