Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1893-04-22


wants cart-wheel dollars can get them by ap-
plying to the government, which detrays the
cost OF expressage for the sake of getting the
| coins into circulation. However, the country
seems at length TO have absorbed all the silver
| that 1t wants. SO that it is deemed advisable to
stop this privilege. The cash thus expen led
could be more probably applied to making the
transfer OF notes and certificates for redemp-
ton free.
As things are now, q corporation or individual
sending WORKOUT money to the treasury for
redemption must pay the expressage on it at
the rate OF Is cents per 81 900 each way. If
the transportation of such paper cash were
made free many people would exchange their
old bills for new ones who might not be willing
to go to even a small expense for the sake of
obtaining the opportunity. Anybody having q
torn or dirty 50 note could incIose it in an en-
velope and forward it by express to Washing
ton. receiving a brand-new duplicate of it a
few days later without its costing him a cent
The express company would collect it's charges
from the government By affording this IN
ducement to the public a great change for the
better would b, made beforelong in the appear
ance Of the notes and certificates in circulation.
MICROBES IN OLD BILLS.
Just at this time. when cholera threatens,
this matter possesses unusual interest. There
is no article or substance touched by human
beings which contains so many and such a VA
riety OF bacteria. disease producing and other
wise, as the promises to pay issued By the gov
eminent. They go through thousands of hands
ACCOMPLISHING dirt, perspiratIou and all IN amer
of unpleasan.ness. A well-worn bill is literally
a breeding ground for microbes in scores of
varieties. Naturally. the stopping of the priv
leGe respecting the transportation OF silver
would have tendency to restrict its circula-
ton. bus, to offset this the treasury seriously
contcmpiates Withdrawing the one-dollar notes
and certificates wholly. The adoption Of such
4 measure would compel the circulation Of sill
yer dollars.
The paper money now redeemed bv the
treasury averages 500, 900 day. Much OF it
has been damaged or partly destroyed in a
variety OF extraordinary and even absurd ways
PlSs, cows and goats figure among the causes
instrumental. such animals seem to swallow
considerable amount OF money in the course of
every year Partially digested masses taken
from their ssomachs and supposed to represent
s!Inis in cash furnish some of The least agree
able subjects for examination which are sub
nlt!ed to the experts in the REDEEM Dtion divis-
ION. At the same time they 60 not find much
pleasure in dlseectlng such material as was
recently offered 20 them in the shape of a wad
of bills from the decoIn posed body Of a muir
dered man and charred pocket book from the
person Of a woman who was burned TO death
Out o. all the paper money issued BY the gov
ernnlen. u Is reehoned that pct cent = lost OF
destroyed by accident. Mice nre partic ula-ly
fond Of chewing it up and making their nests
with IT. Babies are much addicted to eating
1T. With them the case is more hopeless th an
with the goat COW, because it is not usually
practicable TO cut the infant open and recover
the sun swallowed. An emetic is the most
drastic measure that can be employed in such
an instance. Drunken men often light their
cigars with SIS OF $40 notes. for no other pur-
pose than to exhibit their indiT erenca to
wealth. Subsequently they try to &c. the re-
mains redeemed, If there are any. Cash in this
shape is oft-times buried under the cellar floor.
wnerc 1t rots away.
LOSSES BY FIRE.
However, the most effective agent for the de-
struction of small boards of money is the par-
lor stove. Many people who have no faith in
banks consider thor cash secure when it is
slowed away in this household appurtenance
for the summer. Autumn comes, the fire is
lighted and up goes the family wad in smoke
just about one hundred such cases are re-
ported to the treasury ever fall by victims OF
this peculiar form of imp-udcnce. Usually
they have nothing left to show for the amount
lost but few ashes Thus $50 has been re-
quested for some charred moraels of PAGER
packed in a thimble and sent all the way from
Texas. The biggest sum eve- lost BY fro was
consumed at subtreasury. It was cool
perhaps that is hardly the proper adjective
81 COO. 900, but the government could easily
replace it.
The great bulk of the paper money destroyed
is burned during transmission by rail. Fire
almost invariably follows collision. The ex-
press car is involved in the confagration and
the cafe which it carries suffers. Express
safes are commonly of the portable kind and
not fire proof. Under such circumstances they
are taken from the wreck and sent unopened
to Washington, where their contents are
examined. Accidents of this sort occur almost
ha in att m Al
back only half q dozen years. Two trains
one a passenger express, the other a freight
met in a Kentucky tunnel. The cars were
heaped together and they burned for thirty
hours. OF the 81 500 which the safe on the
express train contained 81 was identified from
the ashes and redeemed.
Anybody who finds mutiiated paper money
will do well to refrain from giving notice that
it is a wind-fall in sending it to the treasury
for redemption. Such treasure-trove being
forfeited by law to the government is promptly
confiscated. The experts at the department
are sharp at their trade and hard to deceive.
They know how to tell torn fragment of o
bill from one that has been chewed by MICE
Yet people are constantly trying to cheat them.
One boy. employed to sweep out New York
bank, sent a quantity Of pieces Of notes which
all that was left Of 5000. which had been eaten
by rats, but examination disclosed the fact
that they represented at least 81 900. if any
thing. In such a case the applicant almost
always willis when an affidavit is demanded
In another sort OF instance a man sent in the
| charred remains OF what he stated had been
81. 900. They were found to be equivalent to
81 100. and this sum WAS paid to him after an
investigation which appeared to show that the
| error was merely freak Of stupidity.
JOKES ON THE EXPERTS.
Jokers actually do not hesitate to toy with
| the feelings Of the treasury experts. Some
time ago the color brown was chosen for the
backs of the national bank notes, because it
was supposed to be practically indelible. But
one day along comes piece Of paper money of
| this description, denomination Is, with the re-
verse side washed perfectly clean and white,
not mark left on it. Even the seal on tho
face, done in the same ink. had vanished.
Some jocular chemist was responsible, OF
course. Notes OF this kind cannot be redeemed
unless fragments remain to show the name OF
| the bank for which they are issued. Some
times the government is called upon to make
damaged coins good. For example, Virginia
negro brought in a shapeless lump of metal
which represented hoard Of silver pieces that
| he had hidden in q stone vail Of a barn. Trick
| ling water had rusted away the tin box in
| which they we're contained, covering the coins
with oxide Of iron and sticking them together.
| The mass was treated with chemicals and the
| silver pieces were restored to their owner as
bright and clean a. when they were new.
One official in the cash room at the treasury
| sorts over all the paper money TINT passes
| through the hands OF Uncle Sans cashier.
Every bit Of 1t that IL not perfectly fresh and