Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1891-04-26
COUNTING THE CASH.
Delicate Task 0ccasioned by Treas
urer Huston's Retirement.
RECEIPT NIX. NEBEKER WILL GIVE.
There Was Shortage Of $40 When Mr.
Hyatt Gave Over the Office.
FHAKKLEssXEss OF OFFICE HOLDING
CORRESPONDENCE OF THE p1srArcH.I j

WASHING GToN, April 2b.-In turning
over the affairs of the Office of Treasurer o
the United States to his successor, Mr.
Nebeker, Mr.. Huston does not free himsel
Immediately from the responsibilities o
| Office. The Office is not properly and com
| pletefy delivered until all of the cash in tht
vaults in the great Treasury building MAJ
been counted and every dollar for which
Mr.. Huston gave receipt to his predeces
sor, Mr.. Hyatt, has been accounted for
This counting will be the work of two ol
three months, and so it will be midsummer
before Mr.. Huston is relieved entirely o.
the responsibility of Office. In the mean
time Mr.. Nebeker will be in charge, and the
daily business of the Office will proceed un'
der his direction.
The money in the vaults Of the Treasury
Department is counted by a committee Of
three. The retiring T Treasurer has the selec.
tion of one member of the committee, the
incoming Treasurer the selection of an
other, and the Secretary Of the Treasury
selects the third. All three of the appoint
ments are subject to the approval OF the
Secretary of the Treasury.
Compensation for the Count.
The law allows salary Of IS day and
expenses to the members of this com mittee;
but it is customary to select employees of the
department for the work because they are
thoroughly familiar with it, and as they
are under salary they do not receive the
per diem compensation. With the induc-
tion of the new Treasurer In Office, the COM
mittee takes entire charge, putting seal on
all the vaults and safes. On the evening of
fha 1oxy r1ar fha oh fo aoIo %ha ii
in the cash room needed for the TRANSACTION
of the daily business of the Government is
counted, and until the count of the other
moneys is completed this account is kept
free from the other accounts of the Office.
This cash now amounts to about 81, ,000,-
900. On the day following the inaugura-
tion of the new Treasurer, the committee
begins the work of counting the cash. In
the packages of currency every piece is
counted. The counting of the silver is
easier. II is done with the aid of a finely
balanced pair of scales. It is in this way
that the silver is counted as it is received
from the miuts or the sub-treasurles. The
silver is stored in two vaults At present
one of them contains about 500. 00o, 900, and
the other about $50, 900, 900 in silver. These
vaults are steel-lined, and are divided by
steel lattice work into compartments.
"SAkuinS inc DaBb oi slVefs o.
The silver is in canvas bags, each con-
81, 900. One of these bags il opened and the
pieces of silver are counted. Then the bag
and its contents are weighed. The weight
is about, go pounds. II this bag contains
new coin that fact is noted. Then o bag
containing old coin is weighed and counted;
for the abrasion received in circulation
makes considerable difference in the
weight of large quantity of coin. The
other bags of coin are then weighed. II one
Of them is found lighter than the standard
weight it is thrown aside for examination
and later its contents are counted. There
are more than 150, 900 of these bags Of silver
coin to be weighed. Stalwart laborers carry
them from the coin vaults. under the SUPER
vision OF the members of the committee and
place them on the big scales A careful
record of their number is kept
In one of the two larger vaults Of the
Treasury is stored more than SIC, ,000, 900 in
gold coin. 1t has remained undisturbed for
a long time. This will be counted" in the
same way-that is. its value will be ascer-
tanned by weight. As have said, the cur
rency will be counted piece by piece. The
current silver will be counted also. When
the count has been completed report will
be made to the Secretary of the Treasury,
and, if it appears that there is any shortage,
the retiring Treasurer will be called upon to
make it good,
Nearly Always Shortage.
For it il not at all unlikely that there will
be q shortage in the Treasurer's accounts on
the face Of the committees return. There
was shortage of $19 in the accounts of
Treasurer Hyatt when he turned his Office
over to Treasurer Huston. 1t was found in
the count of the large silver vault. This
vault had been counted under the super
vision of. Captain Meline, the assistant
cashier, and one OF the oldest employees Of
the department, when it was turned over to
Treasurer Hyatt He had charge of the
vault from the time Mr.. Hyatt came into
Office until he retired. Ee made the count
when the Office was turned over to Mr. hus-
ton.
When the apparent shortage was found,
Captain Meline went to Mr.. Hyatt and said
that he felt morally bound to make it good.
The vault had been under his supervision
from the time Mr.. Hyatt came into Office,
and if there was anything missing he felt
that he was responsible for it. Accordingly
he paid the missing amount into the
Treasury cash, and Mr.. Huston gave Mr..
Hyatt receipt for the full amount which
the report of the committee and the books of
the Treasurer's Office showed to be in the
vaults.
Where the Money Probably Il.
No one believes that there was any real
shortage. Several coin bags were found
broken open, and it was generally thought
at the time of the committees report that
some Of the silver mohev had slipped into q
crack in the silver vaults or had been over
looked in some wav. The amount was so
small that it was not worth while to have
H.
come to light and an outgoing Treasurer
will find himself credited with more than be
ought to have.
1t is related OF Treasurer Spinner, the
most famous in the long list of treasurers of
the United States, that on his retirement he
demanded a recount because the report of
the committee showed that there was a short
age of q few cents in the money in the
Treasury. The recount was had, and it
made the accounts of Mr.. Spinner balance
with the cash on hand to a cent. But in
Mr.. Spinner's day there was no such ac-
cumulation Of cash as there is in the Treas
ury vaults to-day; and although absolute
accuracy is especially desirable in the office
of the Treasury of the United States, it
would hardly pay the Government to make
a recount at an expenditure of probably
81, 500 to discover an error covering $40 or
$40 apparently missing from the cash in the
Treasury vaults.
Some Pretty Big Receipts.
Mr.. Huston gave Mr.. Hyatt a receipt for
s722, ,1S2, 500 263S; Of this. s191 ,657, ,2S2 II
was cash in the vaults. S318, 539, 900 reserve
cash, and $211, $50, 466 553S bonds. Mr..
Huston will turn over to Mr.. Nebeker about
S615, 900, 600. For the protection of the
Government against the embezzlement of
any of this money entrusted to his charge,
Mr. Nebeker gives bond for S15O 600 with