Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1891-05-16
TREASURE OF AVIATION
Counting Out the Stores Of Money
IN Uncle Sans Big Golfers.
vALUABLEs BEsIDEC CASH.
Whole Rooms Chock-Fun Of Silver and
Collaborating ss0o.O0o.ooo in Paper
Money-Jewels and Other valuables In
the Treasury-The Conscience Fund"
Written for The Evening Star,

Written for The Evening Star
TNHE NEW TREASURER OF THE UNITED
l. States has nearly finished counting ont his
money. 1t has taken some time because 1t is
no small job to reckon over four thousand five
hundred tons of coins, and this apart from
three hundred millions or so in bank and trees
ury notes. All this week the busy clerks have
been engaged in clinking the gold and silver
which fill Uncle Sans huge cash boxes, tolling
over the shining pieces, weighing them out and
sealing them up in bags. One gets
notion Of the magnitude of the task
when it is considered that one of the vaults
beneath the ground floor of the national treas
ure house, containing 5000, 900 silver dollars,
is 100 feet long. 60 feet wide and IA feet high
chock-full Of coined precious metal. As you
walk around this huge lattice-work box Of iron
ana view its dimensions you begin to realize
the actual magnitude of SO vast sum. To empty
the receptacle with coal shovel would re-
quire many months Of hard labor if you had to
do the work unaided. When the great French
actress Rachel. who had always been very poor.
was suddenly placed in possession Of large
heap OF gold coins, she put them into q basin
and poured them over her bare arms delight
edly, with ecstatic enjoyment Of q literal wash
In wealth. You might fairly swim in gold and
silver in these immense Golfers at the treasury.
gold and $60, O0O, 900 of silver also.
HOW THE COUNT Is MADE.
In counting these masses Of silver and gold
each bag containing 1000 is removed from
the vault and first examined to see if the seal
is intact. II SO it is placed upon scales and
weighed. On one side of the bS1ance are put
one thousand unused dollars and the sack
must be found an equal counterpoise. Sup
posing that it is light, it is opened and the
money in it is reckoned piece by. piece. Coin
| suffers more or less loss of weight by
| abrasion, even when not in circulation,
and it might be that bag would be less
heavy on this account. though having in it the
| required 81 ,0O0 Also, when a seal has been
| disturbed the contents of the sack are poured
out stacked up, counted and put back again.
The sacks which are opened are resealed, but
ordinarily the seals are found all right and the
weight is correct, in which case the bags are
computed as representing SO many thousands
and no further trouble is taken with them be-
fore putting them back into the vaults. When
the gold is gone over a particularly rigid in
specton is exercised by the overseeing officials,
because the value is 30 much greater.
NOTES COUNTED BY LADIES.
1t is very interesting sight to watch the
millions in paper money-bank notes, treasury
notes and gold and silver Notwithstanding
counted by deft-fngered young women in a
big room beneath the treasurers Office. Every
dollar has to be numbered before the new
| guardian of the national cash box gives his re-
| ceipt in full to the outgoing incumbent. The
| stuff is all kept, save such small change as is
needed to transact government business with,
| in the shape of packages, each about one foot
cube, which are stored away on shelves
in vaults. Cash in the shape of gold
or silver takes up great deal Of
room, but in bills enormous sums require
very little space to hold them. One OF the
| vaults, which is nothing more than big safe
| about as large as an extra-siZed closet, alone
contains S15O, .000 Each package holds
| four thousand notes, is done up in ordinary
| brown paper, and labeled on the outside in red
| figures designating the amount inclosed. Hitis
| parcel OF twenties, the bundle represents
$50, OOO if hundreds, 100000. Just such a
package was made up few years ago that held
$40 900 GOO in gold certificates of SO 600 each.
very comfortably.
| INDIVIDUAL RESPONSIBILITY.
| The packages of notes are brought down on
little trucks by the elevator from upstairs and
wheeled into the room where the counting is
DONE They are fetched by the assistant cashier
| in person, and the committee in charge of the
| reckoning receipts for every bundle. Each
| parcel is opened in its turn and the contents
handed over to Of the skilled young
women, who is responsible for it and signs a
| guarantee Of its correctness before it leaves
her hands She runs over the crisp, I'M
used bills with fingers marvelously rapid,
| taking note not only as to whether there are
| 1900 of them inclosed, but also regarding the
numbers on the notes themselves, which must
run in regular order. If there is a number
wrong her practiced eye detects it swiftly; or. if
a bill is defective in its printing, she
| removes it, and il is sent back to
the bureau OF engraving and printing
to be replaced with another. When the bundle
| has thus been found correct the notes are put
4 nn6a IAN m tn rQdn
them to the least possible bulk, new wrapper
| of brown paper ia put around them and a seal
| with red wax completes the operation, at the
| conclusion OF which memorandum is made of
| be sent back to the vaults with its fellows
DEFICIENCY OF THREE CENTS
| At the close of the last count that was made
of the money in the treasury the cash was
found $40 short but the amount was subse-
quently swept out of the corners of one of the
vaults in the shape OF some stray silver coins
1t is said that deficiency of this sort has ever
| occurred save once, when the specie turned
over to a new treasurer proved to be just 3 cents
| short, and the outgoing official was obliged to
| make up the amount out of his own pocket If
I it should ever happen that an unexpected hole
in the assets was made by an ENLIGHTENMENT or
otherwise, the treasurer would be responsible.
| but Congress would undoubtedly make it I'D to
him by special appropriation. 1t is hardly
| likely that such thing can occur, however,
inasnuch as things at the treasury are
SO arranged that not even the treasurer
himself can possibly steal dollar, nor vet
the Secretary of the Treasury, nor the register.
| nor the cashier, nor any one else unless a con-
spiracy were organized. Furthermore if any
! one succeeded in breaking in from the outside
| he could not very well get away with moro
than 200 pounds of gold which only represents
| about $50 000 A million dollars worth of that
metal weighs one ton. This would be dis
couraging.
VALUABLE TREASURES.
Not long ago there were certain treasures Of
considerable value in the treasury in the shape
of articles made of gold and silver and precious
stones, which had to be looked over and re-
ceipted for as well as the money. Most of these
| things were presents which had been made
/ to various Presidents Of the United States
and to other officers of the govern
ment by foreign powers and potentates,
| and which they could not accept on account OF
| the existing law forbidding the reception of
such favors. Among them was bottle Of altar
of roses, given to President Grant by the Imaun
of Muscat, which held pint of thu valuable
fluid; also bottle of pearls, another bottle of
diamonds, gold sword scabbard, o diamond
snuff box, ten beautiful sabers from Ali Pasha,
/ Bey of Egypt, and lots Of other such tribes.
vALuABLEs STOLEN BUT UNCOVERED
The patent Office was o sort of museum of
curiosities, and these gifts and other valuables
were deposited there. A large part Of them
| were stolen twice, and ON the occasion Of the