Savannah courier. (Savannah, Tenn.) 1885-1979, 1891-12-17

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ures of the denomination, but she viii
get the money bacl& Mice are great
destroycrs of paper currency, and some
of the most hopeless specimens that
come in have been chewed up for beds
by those little rodents Sometimes
pill box full OF indistinguishable ashes
will arrive, accompanied by a certin-
cate stating the amount represented.
Of course, such o case is hopeless 1t
is usually a lSitchen-stove catastrophe.
Kitchen stoves burn up more cash
every year than is lost in any other one
way. People will conilde their boards
TO them for hiding, and when they are
lighted the grcenbaclis go up in smoke.
The greatest sum ever consumed by
fire in this country was 81, 600, 900. That
amount went up in smoke at the sub
treasury, but the government was able
to replace it at the cost Of paper and
printing. 1t has been estimated that
one per cent of all the paper money
issued is lost or destroyed. OF the old
fractional currency it is reckoned that
SS, 100000 has been totally lost.
A wdays ago an old colorcd man
from across the Potomac in Virginia
brought to the treasury an extraordi-
nary looking lump of metal He said
that 1t was lot OF silver dollars,
halves and quarters, which he had put
in tin can some years back and hid
den in the stone wall OF barn by re-
moving stone and plastering up the
oriice. When recently he took out the
box, he found that triclSling water had
rustcd it almost away, covering the
coins with oxide Of iron and sticking
them together in mass. Assistant
Treasurer Whclpley had the lump put
into acid and treated with lye and saw
dust, so that the silver pieces came out
as pretty and bright as when they were
minted, and the old man carried them
away delighted.
One day this week q S. note on the
national bank -of Rhoio Island at
Newport came in for REDEEM ption On
the face it looked quite new, but the
back was washed perfectly clean, so
that not mark was left on it. The
| joke of it is that the bureau of engr av-
| ing adopted the brown blc, for such
bills on the grouad that 1t could moi be
washed off, as the green back can be.
1t was intended in this way to prevent
counterfeiters from procuring treasury
paper by rendering notes of small de-
nominations blank with acids and print
ing big ones on them This is tho first
time that confidence in the inielibiity
of the brown ink has been disturbed.
Even the seal on the front, which is
done in the same ink, has entirely dis
appeared in the bill described. Whether
the thing was done for jest or by ac-
cident the authorities do no pretend to
say.
The new designs soon to be made
for the entire series of silver certifi-
Gates except the one for two dollars al
ready completed will furnish big job
to the bureau of engraving. Only the
backs are to be changed, but the
making of a single one of these money
plates, with all the lettering and geo.
metric lathe work involved, is a for
midable task. 1t is not on this ac-
count that Chief Engraver. Casilear
thinks the proposed alterationsi nm
wise. His opinion is that it is mistake
to change the appearance of currency
more often than is absolutely neces-
sary The people do not readily accept
paper cash that has strange look.
To illustrate this Mr. Casilear
told how he happened to be in
New York at one time during the war
looking out for gang of counterfeit-
ers. To avoid making his presence in
the city conspicuous he put up Mt a
second-rate hotel whore he was UNI
known. For some purpose h c handed
to the clerk at the desk, a, brand-new
fifty-cent note 1t was an issue Just out,
with Gen. Spinner's portrait on it, the
likeness having been substituted for q
picture of Justice with her scales,
which the forgers had initiated very
successfully. n
The clerk looked at the note with
evident suspicion, and handed it back.
| II never saw anytnl pg ike tnat be-
FORE" he said. ,}
III is good. \ ass are you, replied
Mr.. Casilear less
II don't believe it, said the clerk.
Very we'll" rejoined Mr. Casilcar.
1T doesn't matter, though know it is
good, because made it myself"
The clerk smiled sardonically.
"That is just what occurred to me-
he said Therefore refused to nc.
cept it," -
MIR. Casilcar felt that the joke was
on himself, SO he treated himself to a
4 bottle of soda water at the bar and left
for Washington that evening. Wash
ington Cor. N. Y. Sun. as %
That Signature of Yours. - "a