The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1892-06-25

iace that they differ from the ones cut out
Is at once noted by the paying teller, and
pay ment Is stopped until he Ands out
whether II IL mistake or q crime that has
caused the discrepancy.
Stlll another machine for the protection
OF men whose signatures will be honored at
.ne Dank looks like little brass hat box. Ii
Is In reality self-inking stamp. In its
workings it Ia much like the perforating ma
onine just described, but instead of cutting
the ngures OF the amount out of the check it
Stamps them on is in red ink Thus, IL
nave made check for $40, putting the
written figures on In the usual way, save
that check FROM the possibility Of alteration
~ printing with this machine $40 In some
Dlank spot. 10 doesn't matter where. With
tine printing machine, as with the perforat-
Ing machine, the safety figures are closely
preceded and followed by printed dash or
otner mark. to prevent anything being
added 10 them.
PRECAUTIONS BANKS TAKE.
But the makers OF checks are not the
only ones wh9 take measures TO guard
against fraud. The banks spend a good
deal Of time and money as means toward
the same end. Bank cashiers are chosen
partly for the quickness Of their eyes in
detecting signs Of crooked work on checks
as well as bank notes ana coins and can tell
at a glance whether a signature, If it is
familiar one, is genuine or not. II they are
not familiar with IL their only safe course is
TO refuse to cash the check, or to require the
ADDITION OF some name that they know as
an Endorsement.
For an idea Of the great growth Of the
custom OF using checks, take the records Of
our Saturdays business for the last three
weeks. Saturday, for several reasons. is
our busiest day while It lasts. In the first
place, the half holiday has cut the hours for
keeping open down to two, and in the sec
ono place, there ia generally a miniature
run on the bank by big firms that are
making up their pay rolls. On Saturday
May %, we paid out 1913 900 In currency
over the counter, against a total output Of
Sl,2ol 900. June the total was 81, 1872, 900,
OF which only S65, 900 was In currency.
June II the gross payments amounted to
o., oS3,NO. OF which precisely 1913, 900 wac in
currency. The two Saturday hours are try
Ing ones. The bapk is crowded with people
from opening time until closing time, and
every man behind the counters is run at
high pressure. The rush Is sometimes so
great that have wondered il the half holi-
day plan were not In reality an evil instead
Of a blessing.
COUNTERFEIT CURRENCY.
Yes, there are twenty crooked dollars In
coins aud bills brought to US for every one
in crooked cheoBs. There are, too, many
bad coins floating around that are not
oounterfeits. Five dollar gold pieces that
have been punched are very common.
They are good only for bullion. The punch
holes do not always mean that string has
been put through them so that the coins
could be hung about she baby's neck.
Many coins have been punched by people
who will work harder to steal than they
will to earn an honest living, wholly for
the purpose Of holding back the trifing
amount Of gold taken from the hole. Ii
would be necessary to punch anywhere
from five to eight IS gold pieces in order to
steal 81 worth Of gold, so that the practice
cannot be regarded as a particularly re-
munerative one
"All kinds Of counterfeits Of bills are pre-
sented to us. l have seen a counterfeit
which was made wholly with pen. The man
who did it must have devoted months to the
work, yet it was only 800 bill. In the
same length of time he could have earned
i've times that amount by honest labor. In
the course OF year, however, the amount
OF money the bank loses by counterteits
would not pay the car fare for our smallest
Office boy"