The Forrest City times., 1891-01-16
PROFIT IN PAPER MONEY.
UNCLE SAM HAS MADE MIL
 LIONS BY IT.
yarious Ways In Which Paper Currency Is Destroyed and Never Redeemed by the Government-Money Kept as
 Curiosity, Also

! It is most interesting fact that nearly all the paper money destroyed by accident meets its fate on the rail. Whenever a railway disaster occurs fire usually eDsues. and the express car is burned. Now. an express car almost invariably carries a safe with more or less money in it, among other valuables. The safe, unless it is one for transporting government money, is apt to be of the portable kind and not fireproof Thus it Is an almost everyday occurrence for one of these safes 10 arrive at the treasury here. says Washington letter, with its cash contents in the shape of more or less hopeless ashes.
 For example, take an accident that occurred in Kentucky. Two trains met in a tunnel. one Of them loaded 1 with passengers and the other a freight, carrying coal and iron. For thirty hours the wreck burned, and such was the heat generated that the iron was melted and flowed like water. In the express ear of the passenger train was a safe with sl,6o0 cash in it. besides a lot of jewelry. It was all paper money aud was reduced to ashes. Seven hundred dollars is all that the redemption division has been able to get out of it in condition for purchase with fresh United States notes. This, the authorities say. is the worst ordeal through which an cX- press safe has ever passed.
 You would be astouished to see how little in the way Of remains is re quired. when passed under the hands Of the treasury experts, to procure the Identification and redemption Of burned paper money. A few bits, so hopelessly charred as to seem to the ordinary eye but small umula- tion of ashes, may be redeemable for thousands of dollars in bright new bills at the paying teller's desk. All that the originals Of the notes have beer really destroyed. Morsels no bigger than your finger nail are every day redeemed for the face value Of the bills they represent As to this it is largely matter of chance. II the morsel were merely corner. i. would not be likely to suffice for the identiti- cation of the note. Supposing that the case is that of bank note, it Is absolutely essential that the bank should be determined, else payment cannot be made. But let the bit pre- sented show the name of the bank. its number, or even q portion Of one of the officers signature. and 1t goes. Until very recently portions Of notes sent in have been redeemed on the discount principle -tenths of Il ton-dollar bill bringing SC, and so on but now the law is that the smaller portion is redeemabe at full face value. if only 1t is accompanied by satisfactory affidavits as to the loss Of the remainder. Some few attempts have been made to swindle the treas ury in this way by false afildavits but ] the department believes that 1t has al- ways ulscoverea them.
 Uncle sam has made good deal of money by his paper cash that has been accidentally destroyed. Of course. every penny Of 1t that is not handed ip at the treasury for redemption is so much in his pocket. In this way he has found his issue Of fractional cur rency most profitable. These small notes for , cents. 10 cents. 2j cents and 90 cents- were easily destroyed, especially during war times The first issue was made in 1863. and of the 5-eent notes then put forth, nearly one-half more than 45 per cent, ac- curately speaking has never been asked payment for, The same thing is true of SO per cent of the l0- cent notes, 20 per cent of the 25-cent notes and II per cent of the 50-eent notes. It is shown by the figured treasury total that Of the $2o, GOO. GOO worth of these notes first issued more than S4.0o0. 600 still remains in the clothes Of the government There wore four more subsequent issues of fractional currency some of their output in 3 and l5 cent notes es-aCgregating about SAY, ,0o0. 900. and of this lump sum more than sll. 600. 600 has not been called for. This leaves Uncle Sam ''on velvet to the extent of $l3. oO0.- GOO. so far as his fractional notes are , concerned. In other words, he seems to have made about that amount of money clear on the five issues
 Now. what has become Of all this small changer In 1870 treasury commission. not appointed by law in any proper form. made up its mind that SS. GOO, ,o0o had been lost or de- stroyed, aud congress accordingly turned that amount out of the $l0. o00,- . 900 originally appropriated for the re- demption of the fractional notes over for the payment of pensions. Since then threaexperts in the department, . making their calculations independ- entiy one of them Accountant Lentz of the national banking division have arrived approximately at the same con- ciusion. that not more than Sl.000. GOO of he fractional currency has been ! destroyed or lost and that $l4, 900, 600 yet remains outstanding According ~f,,t. ( ].