Elmore bulletin. [volume] (Rocky Bar, Idaho) 1889-1906, 1891-05-23
GOOD BILLS FOR SCRAPS.
NOVEL WORK or THE GOVERNMENT
REDEMPTION BUREAU.

Destroyed-Fi Fire. the tsaby and tho Pet
Dog Among the chief Agents of de-
struc,ion-Se Chance to Detraud.
When small portion Of United States
note Is returned To the treasury with
sufficient proof that the remainder of IL
has gone out of existence. the treasury
will give the full value of the original
note. Naturally the greatest destruction
Of money Is wrought 10y fire, and bits of |
bills with charred edges are constantly
coming in for redemption.
But several instances have occurred
where men, in their desperation at their
loss. have simply boxed up lot of ashes.
in which there was not the slightest
trace Of the original material. and de-
manded hundreds and thousands OF dol
lars for them. Such requests are. Of
course. refused. and the senders are in
formed that their only recourse is TO ask
congress by special act TO indemnify
them.
NICE wITH EXPENSIVE NESTS.
Next to fire the young baby IL put
down in the department as the most de
structive agent. innumerable affidavits
are received in which John Jones. OF
| whatever his name may be, being duly
sworn, deposes and says" that his in
fant son did chew up and swallow the
missing portions Of certain s. bills. and
that the said missing portions were
thereby wholly DESTROYED and are now
no longer in existence.
The fashion OF keeping small pet dogs
has also been the cause Of many solemn
aflidavits being sent to the department
Your pug and your poodle seem TO take
especial delight in masticating the fruit
and reward Of the many days of severe
toll of the head OF the house
The fancy of mice for $40 bills as lin
ing for luxurious nests has been impress
ed upon the redemption bureau by a long
series of examples. Only a few days
ago several hundred dollars worth of
nest lining was redeemed for southern
man who had for many years given up
all idea Of finding his missing treasure.
, There was S700 of it in the first place,
notes Of almost the first issue made by
. the government early in war times. II
, had been hidden away in place sup
/ posed TO be secure. and had disappeared
A quarter Of century later in repair
Z; ing the porch Of the old house, the nest
e of the wealthy mouse had been discov
4 cred, and enough of the fragments re
5 covered To secure more than half OF the
. original deposit.
a Also from the south came most of th'
Y moldy. worm eaten bills which hav,
been hidden in bottles or buried in tn
earth for years. There are not SO man,
savings banks in the south as in thrift,
o New England. and hiding places ar
used
But the habit Of using the parlor o
+ kitchen stove as a safety deposit vault |
J. not confined 10 any one section of tn
g country Neither Is the custom of burn
y ing up this treasure by some other mem
u ber OF the family who is all unaware o
Il It's value. Years ago the clerks in the r.
u demption bureau ceased To declaim npo
y the stupidity of such people. IL has bs
II come n matter of course with them, an
they expect about so many letters ever
y week from people who have warmed tw
ii pair of hands with 81 900 worth of silvs
y certificates.
y FROM THE DEAD LETTER OFFICE.
le There are not many attempts to d.
@ fraud the government through the RI
n demption bureau. and none have bee
10 successful The sending OF the two halv,
2 OF note of large denomination by di
= ferent people, each one swearing tin
OF the other half Is destroyed. and askir
CO for the full value of the note. frequent
y looks like an attempt To defraud. but d
y officials think that in most cases q
~ senders believe they are telling the trut
y Counterfeit money comes from evel
" part of the country. mutilated. probab
by design, with requests for its REDEEM
ton. 1t is always indelibly stamps
counterfeit" and returned To the sende
ld The redemption bureau is not a go,
1t place for showing the queer" even in
in fragmentary condition.
ot There is in the treasury vault a brow
bd wooden box eighteen inches long, a 20
n wide and eight inches deep. which CO
n tains paper money of the nominal vail
Ia of several hundred thousand dollars
id is not worth dollar. The queer thin
e about it is the manner in which it W
d collected Every bit of it came from d
in ment. Some portion of il is eounterfe
Of but the most of il was genuine mons
IN many years ago. The banks which
's sued II and the officers who signed
are gone and forgotten. II was all sc
II over TO the treasury department son
ve years ago, and Assistant Treasur
q Whelpley undertook to trace up Il
ld various banks and get as much as pos
n BILE of IL redeemed Occasionally
= found descendants of these old bank c
Is, licials, themselves bankers, who we
Se willing 20 redeem some of the notes {
n the sake of the signatures of the
~ fathers, and in this way he succeeded
II getting several hundred dollars worth
sh il redeemed.
But of that remaining. not bill CT
be redeemed little Of 1t is Co
federate money, but most Of IL 10
a banks. state and private, that went o.
,e of existence many years ago. The olde
81 notes are dated back as far as 1912. o.
= package contained $5i 900 and anoth
~ $9.O00 The mystery is how so mn,
10 money could have been lost In the ma
Of Neither the men who sent Il nor the on
to 10 whom il was sent could be found
En- the postoffiee department, nor could NJ
IL Whelpley find any trace Of them or the
"A descendants The 81. 900 package w
= sent from Brandon, Miss. TO Jackso
- Miss, in 1870, and the letter accompan
&C ing it shows that il was sent in cons
nc quenee of repeated demands. The mo
OF diligent search fails TO discover u