Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1891-08-23
Large Amount Of Important Business
Transacted at the Clearing
House Every Day.
MANY CHECKS on OTHER HOUSES
Reported Every Morning from Different
Banks, and All Settled Up Until
the Following Day.
HOW THE WHOLE PLAN is OPERATED.
A Systematic Mode of Balancing Up Is Found to
Save Hours Of Labor.

Money with business man is anything
that viii pay debts This is not the idea
however. Of filthy lucre entertained by mos
people, nor even by all economists who have
written books Only about one-twentietl
OF the business of a civilized country, or Al
least one that calls itself civilized, IS done
in coin and bank notes. The rest is in Other
forms of money. The first is pecunia and the
latter peculiun. Anything that does the
work Of money is money, no matter whether
cashiers checks, drafts, bills of exchange, ol
mortgages. All titles toproperty are money
and the function of banking is to facilitate
the exchange of these according to the
necessities OF those who have them and can
thereby acquire credit.
The enitome of banking is the Clearing
House, which bv its connection with all
other clearing houses, unites all the princi-
Tai banks of a city, the country and the
world into one bank. Most banks in towns
or cities in this country connect themselves
in one or more other cities than New York
and thereby become part of the clearing
house system OF those cities; and each is
connected with some New York bank, and
thereby becomes a part of the New York
Clearing House. The New York banks,
through private bankers, branches of for
eicn banking houses, connect with London,
50 that every bank of consequence is con-
nerJcd with all others of consequence
throughout the civilized world, and at
present and for a long time past, the final
Clearing House of the world is, and has
been. la London, though some people think
II viii some day be in New York.
T't. clearing house in secondary cities is
generally carried on in one of its banks In
tni- city the Bank of Pittsburg is the one
chosen. Ia some cities banks deposit a
small per centage of their capital, but this
deposit does not practically lessen the capi-
tai of the bank making it, for the reason
that the deposit is counted as a part of the
reserve of the bank making it, that the law
requires it to keep.
THE PLAN IN SMALLER CITIES.
At fixed hour of each day in some cities
messengers from all the associated banks
meet Al the. Clearing House, each having
every check his bank has paid during the
day previous on any other bank in the city.
With his checks each messenger presents
Clealiug House memorandum having the
name OF every bank printed on it, between
debtor and creditor columns Against the
name Of each bank in the debtor column
tie messenger, before he leaves his own
bank, enters the aggregate of all the checks
hls bank has II the package upon that
bank and carefully foots up the debtor
column The footing shows the total of the
checks his bank has on all other CITY banks,
OF. in other words, on the Clearing
House. Each messenger in succession
calls of the total of the checks his bank has
on each OF the other banks As he calls
them of, each of the other messengers enters
In the creditor column, against the bank call
inc. the total Of the checks that bank has
on his bank. The list having been COM
pieusd, each messenger adds up the creditor
column The difference between creditor
auI debtor columns of the Clearing House
memorandum each messenger has ther,
shows the amount due the Clearing House
(ali the other hanks) from his bank, or to his
bank from the Clearing House.
Next. each messenger calls off to the
Clearing House clerk the totals of the debt
or or creditor columns of his memorandum,
which the clerk enters on his records.
After each messenger receives and verities
the checks each of the other banks has
uEainst his, racl gives check to- or re-
calyes a check from, the Clearing House as
the balance may appear, and the days work
OF the Clearing House is ended
This Is the plan adopted in some small
cities where the business is not large In
this city. however, the messenger is simply
what he title implies, and he usually is
one who is learning the banking business.
There are l9 Of them. and also there are 10
g., .riES -i1.4 l-,a ba hu l9+In
MEN WHO DO THE WORK
The man who bosses the job is John NJ
Chaplin, Clearing House Manager. The
banks represented and the gentlemen who
a clerks represent them are:
BANKS. CLERKS
Bank oi PittsOurg. II. d. Fleming
Exchange National Bank w. B. Patterson
Mer. and Man. Nat. Bank. George McMoran
Citizen National Bank. .Thos. =. keown
Iron City National Bank. Mr.. Seaman
Mechanics National Bank.Joseph 5. .Bollman
AlieEhcny Nationri Bank. Wm. Montgomery
First National bank. Thomas c. Griggs
second National Bank j. u. Young
Third National Bank......C. +. McCombs
Farmers Deposit Natl. " Fleming
Jnton National 8ank...-..W. p. Barker
Peoples National Bank. Fred Way
German National Bank. II. p kumer
ilst Nat. Bank OF Allie
Pitts. Nat Bank Com
lsi'' IL - MCfluOWnY
y. Holmes 4 sons. .--...-.. Z. ). Esgcrs
Tm3o-mcu's Nat. bank Mr. Miller
Diamond National Bank. L. W. Belfour
These banks do the clearing house bust
ness Of other banks, city and suburban, the
latter clearing through those named, several
through one bank These So men. assisted
by the manager, do in 20 minutes each dav
what would otherwise require the services
Of 200 men Tor the greater part of the time
gathering In the checks. Banks which
clear through other banks must put their
checks INTO those the evening previous,
or early IN the morning of each dav in
order 10 get through. The clearing house
holds lis short session between $50 and 10
o'clock 4. NJ Between II and II 30 o'clock
the banks owing balances paw them and
those to whom they are owed get them be-
tween 1880 and y o'clock. Thus in %
minutes the banking business OF the city
and suburbs each day, ranging from g.. .OOO,-
Oyo 10 -, 900, 600. according 10 the activity
Of trade, is settled, and mistakes are so
rarely made that one not initiated is unable !
10 comprehend how what appears at first !
sight q mass Of complexity can be so speed !
lily slaughtered out.
BUSINESS Di9IASDED A CHANGE.
The Piusburg Clearing House was es- |
tabllsaeG in 1866, by which time the busi- |
ness OF the city had grown 50 that the Oli |
system OF each bank sending messenger to |
every other bank, returning the checks on
il and receiving its own and receiving or
paving the balance due. as the case might
be, had grown 100 cumbrous You can see
Jhat If yoG gave man a check on the Dia-
moud National Bank. for instance and he
ii 10 his credit in the Allegheny
Bank, there must be some
method Of settlement between these
two banks. This settlement is made