The Cambria freeman. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1867-1938, 1892-01-15

q. cours>. such Il case Il hopeless II
il usually llitchen-stove catastrophe
Kitchen stoves burn mp more cash
every wear than i lost in any other one
way People will conii,lc their boards
to them for hiding, and when they are
lighted the Zrrccnbacks go up in smoke,
The greatest sum ever consumed bT
fire in this country MAS $1,000, O0J. That
amount went up in smoke ut the sub
treasury, but the government was able
to replace il AT the cost of paper and
printing, 1t has been estimated that
one per cent. of all the paper money
issued i lost or destroyed. OF tic old
fracsionsil cuIr cncy II Is rccll"afca that
~ pos 900 has been totally lost
a few days ago an old cGsorcd man
from across the Potomac iR NirGinil
l,nop%ht to she treasury an cKtraordi-
nary locking lump of metal He said
that il was lot of silver dollars,
halves AMI quarters. which ne had put
in Il tin can some years back and hid
den in the stone wall of y barn by re-
movine;a stone and plastcring mp the
,orificC When recently he took ont the
box IN. found that tricisling water had
ruStcG il almost away covering the
coins with oxide of iron and sticking
them together in pnaes- Assistant
Treasurer Whelplcy had the lump put
into acid and treated with Iyc ana saw
dust, 50 that the silver pieces came ont
asPrct " and bright a. when they were
minted, and the old mau carried them
away delighted
olc day this week d - note on the
national bank of RhoIc Island at
Newport came in for REDEEM ptiOn. On
Is he face il looked quite new, but the
aDacl was washed perfectly clean, so
-that not a mark was left On it The
Joke of it is that the bureau of engrav-
ing aiopted the brown back for such
bills ON the ground that II could not b.
washed off, as the green back can BE-.
1t was intended in this way t. prevent
countcrfcitcrS from procuring treasury
paper by rendering notes of small de-
nominations blank with acids and print
ing big ones ON ,hcm. This i the first
tirnc that confidence in the in lclibility
of the brown ins has been disturbed.
Even the seal sun the front, which is
done in the sanc ink, has entirely dis
appeared in the bin described. Whether
the thing was done for jest or by
cident the authorities do not pretend to
say.
The new designs soon to be made
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 for
midablc task. 1t is not on this ac-
count that Chief Engraver CasiIear
thinks the proposed alterations un-
wise. His opinion Is that II Is It mistake
to change the appearance of currency
more often than Is absolutely neces-
sary- The people do not readily accept
paper cash that has a strange look
To illustrate this Mr.. Caslear
told how Ire happened to he III
New York at one time during the war
looking out for a gang of counterfeit
crs. To avoid making his presence in
the city conspicuous he put up al a
second-rate hotel where he was un-
known. For some purpose h e handed
| to the clerk st the desk n hrand-new
tifty-cent note: 1t was an issue Just out
with Gen. Spiuner's portrait on ii, the
! likeness having been substituted for "A
picture of Justice with her scales
, which the forrers had initiated very
! successfully.
Inc clerk locked at the note with
I evident suspicion, and handed it back
Il never saw anythi ng like that be-
fore" he said.
1T is good, Z ass urc you," replied
| Mr.. Casilcar.
II don't believe it. sa id the clerk
Very WE'LL rejoined Mr.. Casilear
! 1t doesn't matter, though know it is
good. because | made it myself
The ,.lprly G,uileH
THAT is just what occurred to me, -
he said Therefore l refused to ac-
eept it"
Mr.. Casilear fett that the joke was
on himself. SO he treated himself to a
| bottle of sOda-water at the bar and left
| for Washington that evening-Wash-
| inptOn Cor y. Y. Sun