The Cecil Whig. [volume] (Elkton, Md.) 1841-current, 1891-01-17
PROFIT IN PAPER mo

rev NT,lIion Dollsrs-n
is Redeemed. considerapio
' Tsssso' 9' at s. time yea.
its means are invariably III
0nss o, a Sau svs Of boarding paper ,i %su
f h"nv ., that of hiding it away IN - .um
, "..d s it, room stove during the
me, msf autumn. ,,nv the cash goes up 10 , to
and them the owner makes app"''
have the ashes redeemed .;,, division
A" "Tba chief of the redemption ~, u,, snob
said Yesterday that not less than . NV fall.
sa,a we're submitted to him ever, tso far
saSus ines es the remains are not 700 -
Consumed for Identification Ou', ,sv is
puls ,hi. method of destroying money nc S"1s -
f f to be sngularly effective ana n0p =,
Lass. There was received yes'eru"s =, a
the Treasury $12O, IN the sns s into a
| small quantity of ashes pa0A''
thimble, from Texas ,.,s ,oO had
"The woman who owned 'n' 80; al
dr.v the sum from bank and depos' -. ..
it in a stove for safs keeping with s sns
| usual result. Unfortunately 'n o,bsr
are undistinguishable from ap'
ashes and so she will lose the amount
1T is a most interesting fact ,na az
nearly all the paper money DESTROYED yga O'
accident meets it's fate on the rail- "n'n
ever a railway disaster occurs n'' ,o.,
allv epsues, and the express car almost
invariably carries safe with mOis s,..
| less money in it. among other Va'uAO'0.
The safe, unless it is one Tor 'rAn'p' =,
ing Government money, is apt TO 10 "
the portable kind and not nre-Pfoo''
Thus it is an almost every day ocourfen00
for one of these safes to arrive az luz
treasury here with its cash oon'eps' -
the shape of more Or less hopeless aSne'.
"For example, take the accident sna'
occurred in Kentucky only the other Gay
Two trains met in a tunnel, one oil toem
loaded with passengers and the other - .
freight carrying coal and iron. for 0O
hours the wreck burned and such was
the heat generated that the lion "a'
melted and flowed like water. In the eA
press car of the passenger train was
safe with $1,000 in cash in it besides iol
of iewelry. 1t was all paper money anu
was reduced to ashes. Seven hundred
dollars is all that the redemption oiVi
sion has been able to get out Of it in con
dition for purchase with fresh Unitee
States notes. This, the authorities sa!
is the worst ordeal through which an e1
press safe has ever passed.
you would be astonished to see ho7
little in the way Of remains is required
when passed under tho hands OF tn
Treasury expects, to procure the identin
cation and redemption Of burned pape
money. A few bits, SO hopelessly char
red as to seem to the ordinary eye but
small accumulation OF ashes, may be re
deemable for thousands Of dollars il
bright new bills at the paying teller
desk. All that is required is sufficien
evidence that the originals OF the note
Fave been really destroyed. Morsels n
bigger than your finger nail are ever
day redeemed for the face value of tn
bills they represent. As to this 1t
largely matter OF chance. If the MOI
sci were merely corner, it would not
likely to suffice for the identification Q
the note.
"Supposlng that the case is that of
bank note, it is absolutely essential tina
the bank should be determined, else pay
ment cannot be made. But let the bi
presented show the name Of the bark, ii
number or even a portion of one Of th
officers signatures, and it goes. Unt
very recently portions OF notes sent i
have been redeemed on the dscouu
principIe-nine. tenths of 10-dollar bi
bringing 50, and SO on-but now the Ia,
is that the smallest portion is redeemabl
at full face value if only it is accomp panic
by satisfactory affidavits as to the loss
the remainder. Some few attempts hav
been made to swindle the Treasury i
this way by false aflidavlts, but the d.
partment believes that is has always di,
covered them.
''Uncle Sam has made good deal {
money by his paper cash that has bee
accidentally destroyed. Ofcourse, ever
| penny of it that is not handed in at tb
Treasury for redemption is SO much ,
his pocket. In this way he ha
found his issue Of fractional Gu
currency most profitable. These sms
notes-for cents. 10 cents, Is cents, an
30 cents-were easily destroyed, espec
| ally during war times.
THE first issue was made in 1863 an
of the 5 cent notes then put forth, near
one baltimore than As per cent, accu
ately speaking-has never been aske
payment for. The same thing is true
30 per cent. of the 10 cent notes, 20 ps
cent. of the 25 cent notes aud II n.
cent. of the so cent notes. 1t ia shov
by the figured Treasury total that of tb
$40. 600, 600 worth of these notes fir,
issued more than 81, 600. 900 still remain
in the clothes of the Government.
There were four more subseonsr
issues of fractional currency-some
their output in three and fifteen cor
notes-aggregating about SAT-. COO M
and Of this lump sum 81, 1000, 900 has pe
been called for. This leaves U ncle s,,
'on velvet to the extent of SIS, 900 M
80 far as his fractional notes ara co,oo,
ned. In other words, he seems to b.v
made about that amount of monev o,o,
on the five issues.
Now, what has become of all RI,
small change? In 1870 treasury com
mission, not appointed by law in an
proper form, made up its mind tina, a.
600, 900 had been lost or DESTROYED ON
Congress accordingly turned that amorn
out of the s;O,ooO,oOO originally appron
rated for the redemption of the fraction
al notes over for the payment of nan
sions.
Since then three experts in the depar.
ment, making their calculations indan..
dently-one of them Accountant. Ian.-
of the National Banking Divisiop-h,n,
arrived approximately at the sams ,,u
clusiou, that not more than 81 Ooo ooo :
the fractional currency has been dss,ro,
ed or lost, and that s14, 900, 600 va, =,
mains outstanding Ao,oJ.