The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1891-06-08
TRANSPORTING THE CASH
HOW s2,ooo.ooo.ooo is CARRIED
ABOUT TIE COUNTRY YE ARLY.


to the Hands of au Express Mes
cautions Against Ther-Only Two
Shortages, and Their Author Under
In dictment Now.
From the NeD York Sun.
WASHINGTON. May "a few weeks ago
one of the women employed in counting
mutilated currency in the basement of the
treasury building discovered wad Of cloth
between two packages Of bills. The women
who count the mutilatsd currency sent to
the treasury for redemption are quick
witted and professionally suspicious. A bill
delivered into the hands of one of these
women and not accounted for is charged TO
her and deducted from her pay. So. as she
handles many hundred times the amount of
her salary In the course Of a moath. she is
constantly on the alert to protect herself
against a possible shortage. This
woman, when she found the we'd of cloth
between the two bundles. thought it looked
suspicious. Therefore, without disturbing
or breaking any of the bundles, she made
quick inventory of them. Comparing it
with the list which had accompanied the
package she found that three bundles,
representing an aggregate Of 81, 200 in
mutilated currency, had disappeared. She
notified tue chief of the redemption division.
be notified the Treasurer of the United
States, and the Treasurer advised the agent
of the United States Express Company,
whose office is in the building, that the
package was short.
The agent of the express company is E.
@. Platt. son of Thomas G. Plat, the
famous New York politician, and president
OF the express company. Mr.. Platt took
the package from the treasurer and
examined it. 1t was plainly evident how
the theft had been committed The pack
age had been shipped by the Old National
Bank OF Grand Rapids, Mich. 1t contained
at the time of its shipment s., 900. 10 sealing
the package the clerk of the bank should
have spread sealing wax all along the edge
OF the flap, and then should have made
the imprint Of the bank seel in the soft wax
lap over the edge Of the flap and partly
cover the face OF the package. In order to
open the package it would have been neces~
sary to break the wax along the edge Of the
flap. and in this way the seal would have
been broken. Neither the agent of the ex.
press company nor the representative OF the
governments would have accepted q pack
age thus mutilated, and the responsibility
for the theft would have been fixed on the
person ia whose possession the package was
But the bank clerk had stamped the seal
Of the bank In the soft wax 30 that 1t did
not overlap the edge OF the flap at all,
When the package came into the hands of
dishonest messenger he could break the wax
along the edge of the flap without injuriog
the seal, could abstract as much of the con-
tents as he chose to take, and then, melting
the wax along the edge OF the flap, could
restore the package to its original appear
ance, 90 that no one could detect the fact
that 1t had been opened. he had broken
open the package, distracted the three bun
dies containing 81 200 In currency, stuffed
the piece Of cloth between the other bun
dies SO as to make the package bulge out to
its original siza, and then had resealed the
package 90 that the external appearance
gave no evidence OF the theft.
1t seems that the express messenger who
had last handled the package had sealed
the bag containing Ii imperfectly. The seal
had been put on at Grafton. A number of
packages from this shipping point had been
delivered to the express messenger there,
and, as is the custom of the company. he
had placed them In a small canvas bag, on
which he had placed the special seal regis
tered Ia his name with the express oom-
pany. The canvas bags containing ship
ments OF money are triple-sealed Two
seals are placed at the neck of the bag, and
one on the tag which accompanies 1t. The
sealing OF this bag had been done hastily
and the seals were not perfect. When an
impertectly sealed package is received by
the express company's agent at the treasury
department the seals are not broken, but
the package Is cut opsn so that the respoR-
sibitty may be fixed upon the last man
who handled the enclosures if anything
should be missing. In this case the bottom
Of the canvas bag had been slit open and
| the seals at the neck of the bag were intact,
nat urh ha oLyarx
Mr.. Platt and identified as part of the CON
tents OF that bag, the responsibility for the
| theft was Immediately placed on the shout
| ders OF the messenger who had sealed it. q
man named A. E. Thomas. Thomas was ar
rested and brought to Washington. Sup
posing that the bag had been opened in the
usual way and that the seals had been
destroyed, he denied the responsibility for
the package, and in fact denied
that he had sealed it. The
| proof against him was SO positive
that the grand jury found an indictment
against him with very little delay, and he
now awaits trial This Is the second loss
that the express company has suffered on
| the run between Grafton and Washington
| The first was loss of 81 ,45O in December
last, which was never traced. 1t is now sup
posed that Thomas was the guilty party In
| this case also.
| None of the 81, 700 recently stolen has
| been found. Ii 1t Is not recovered the ex-
press company will have to recsive, receipt
for, carry, and deliver at its own risk, more
than 81 ,000, 900 OF the governments money
before it can call itself square of this par
ticular branch of its business-that is, be-
fore it will have received 81, 700 in payment
FOR handling the governments cash. And
| even then the actual cost of handling
| 81, 900, 600 will be a loss
There is not much profit In handling gov
ernment money. The United States Ex-
press Company, under its contract with the
| government, receives Is cents for each
| $1,000 which it handles, aud assumes all
the risk OF loss in transit. giving the gov
ernment bond in the sum of $500, 900 for
the faithful fulillment Of its contract. The
Adams Express Company, which had the
contract for many years, received 25 cents
thousand. The rate OF Is cents is good be-
tween any points east OF Kansas City.
The commercial rate for hand
ling money between Washington
and Kansas City is S125 a
thousand-a considerable increase on the
rate paid by the government. The govern
ment rate is shared by ali the banks in their
transactions with the government. There
Is profit, however, in this business. The
prestige which the express company gains
by handling the government business is not
all Of its profit. There is substantial cash
balance at the end of each year. As the
| government saves about 300 600 ANIMAL