The Roanoke times. [volume] (Roanoke, Va.) 1890-1895, 1892-03-09
RICH UNCLE SAM.
How He Gives Out Change to the
People.
lie Ii Passing Thousands of Dollars,
worth OF the New Coins Over rsIs
Counter Every Day-How
II Ia Dome


of dollars daily over what NAV be
called the change counter of the nation
Ut the treasury, says the Washington
Star. 1t is done up prcttily i'm little
paper roulcaux, each containing five
dollars in dimes, quarters or halves
Also it is put up in coarse muslin ba,rs
holding fifty dollars each, with papcr
tags attached. On every such tag is
marked tho weight, which should be
two pounds twelve and onc-half ounces
for new and unabraded coins, topcthcr
with the date of weighing and the sir-
nature o." which stands for Jerry
Jones, the official weigher. Ordinarily
such subsidiary pieces are not riyen
out. over the counter in sums of less
than five dollars, but to satisfy popular
curiosity and also for the sake of get
ting it into circulation, every one is Der
mittcd for the present to procure the
freshly designed silver money in as
small quantities as may be desired.
The new coins are brought from tho
Philadelphia mint, where they all arc
made, in wooden kegs. In each l,cr arc
five sacks holding one thousand dollars
each. They are delivered by The United
States express at the basement door on
V,
wheeled on small trucks to the count
ing room. In this department dcft-
fingered young ladies sit at tables with
stacks OF glittcring silver in front OF
them. They take Il double handful mt
time, quickly spread out the bright
pieces i'll Il single layer over the board,
and pick them off the edge by the num-
bcrs necessary to ill the roulcauX. For
tnbcs arc prepared by the messengers
OF the division in their leisure moments
The rapidity with which they are filled
and closed at the ends is astonishing
Finally they are placed in drawcr-like
boxes, each of which contains exactly
two hundred dollars. So accurately arc
they made to hold just that amount
that the absence of single coin would
be likely to make tho shortage visible
Every such roll of silver il, weighed
after being filed in the same way as
the bags are
1t is interesting to stand behind the
Change counter upstairs in the cash
room and see how the business is car
ricd on. The official in charge is in
closed within IL sort of wire cage, sur
rounded on every side by stacks of
money i'll every shape. Piled on the
floor arc the bags of silver and boxes
filled with rouleaux, just us they have
been brought up by the elevator from
the counting room beneath. Besides
the smaller coins there nre bags
of silver dollars, each containing
fifty dollars or one hundred dol
lars, roulcnuX holding ten silver
dollars each, niclicls in muslin bags
of twenty-five dollars and paper bags
OF one and five dollars, and pennies in
muslin bags of five dollars and paper
bags of one dollar At the left of the
paying teller is a drawer divided into
compartments exactly the size of green
backs and filled with bank and treas
ury notes and silver certificates of cycry
denomination. The aggregate sum at
hand seems enormous, but people como
in such rapid succession to the window
that presently the supply of small bills
runs low. In response to an order con-
Heycd by messenger two packages
are brought, each a foot cuoe, and
neatly done up in brown paper with a
label. The official in charge of the
change cuts them open with his pen
knife. In one of them are found four
thousand one-dollar notes, and in the
othNr as many two-dollar notes. Whom
ever the teller needs moro cash OF any
kind he simply fills out blank and
signs his initials. The vault clerk de-
livers to him the money and charges It
against him.
All the fractional paper currency that
comes in for redemption is handed di-
rcctly over the change counter, new
money being given for it. One day
lately a package of it containing seven
ty-onc dollars and sevcnty-thrce cents
was received in this way-thc biggest
single consignment that has reached
the treasury for year. The little
notes, neatl" done mp in bundle, were
so old and worn that the engraving OH
them was hardly distinguishable. Some
curious story might have been
told about them, doubtless. Perchance
they formed a part of some miser's
hoard, hidden away ever since the war
Anyone who has n portion of Il bill and
has lost the rest can get q fresh and
whole one for it by applying at the
same counter. Three-ffchs of q ten
dollar note is worth ten dollars. Two
fifths is worth five dollars, but less
fragment must be accompanied by an
affidavit telling how the balance was
destroyed. Among the coins sent in
from banks are n good many mutilatcd
and foreign ones They are thrown ont
. in the counting-room. All old copper
cents are kept and sent to the mint for
recoining. Likewise it is with the
nick@ thrce-cent and bronze two-cent