Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1893-09-16

Such cases occur. and are called to their at
tention at the rate of about one a week all
the year around
You see. the way it happened was this
A man, who shall be nameless. went to bed
a Few nights ago and took his wad of $500
In good bank notes with him He put them
IN the BREAST pocket of his nightshirt, con-
sioerlng that safer than beneath the pillow
Neat morning he forgot ALI about the
money. He went off to business and his wife
sent the robe de mutt to the laundry TO-
gether with other family washabies In the
course OF the day a thought of the cash
flashed across the mind OF the ANONYMOUS
person aforesaid. He remarked, "Goshr'
and started for home.
After .pausing a moment to storm and
swear, he made dash for the laundry
or course nobody had seen anything of his
S2OO. 1t was not to be expected His night
shirt was already In the tuba sort of re-
volving wooden cylinder, full of water, soap
ana several dozen unassorted garments.
That part Of the machinery which con-
troiied the action of this particular cylinder
one or many OF the same kind-was STOP
ped. and the robe de mutt was extracted. In
the breast pocket was the wad but such a
wad! AS has been said. It was a mere mass
or papier mache. Those OF the bills which
We're in the best condition were split, the
faces being separated from the backs.
The Money Wns Returned.
In this shape the money was received at
the redemption division. with a letter ex-
planning the accident. Its condition was
quite as bad as that of a roll sent in some
time ago. which had been swallowed and
partly digested by goat. But 1t did not
discourage the trained experts of the Treas
ury Department. They took the wad apart
piece by piece and put the bills together
again. All that they required was proof
that the $3.50 was there. So much being &C.
comDlished, the entire sum, in crisp, new
notes, was sent to the loser by express. His
delight may perhaps be imagined
There was a big fire in Chicago only the
other day, and one mans trousers were de-
voured by the flames. Although they were
the only pair he possessed. ii would not
have mattered much perhaps IL IL had not
been for the fact that the rear pocket of
the garment contained leather wallet full
Of bills. He forwarded the wallet with it's
contents to Washington In cigar box. The
notes were reduced almost to ashes though
they had retained their shape like leaves
of a book which have been consumed by
fire. But, while perfectly black, even the
numbers on them could be made out and
the loser will recover every cent.
This was not a very bad case Often an
containing only few charred frag-
ments will be all that is left of sum of
money burned In such instances the most
care Is employed in scrutiniZ-
Ing and putting together the pieces Ere
quently a powerful magnifying glass is
called into requisition. The law used to re-
quire that at least three-fifths of a note
should be supplied in order to secure its re-
demption at full value If less than that
was offered 1t was paid for in proportion
That Is to say, one-half of a $40 bill would
fetch %. But the regulat lions in this regard
have been amended, and now full value is
given Tor the smallest fragment Of q piece
or paper money, II ii Is sufficient to show
the denomination. In such cases however
an affidavit Is required certifying that the
whole of the rest of the bill has been totally
aI lint nit =, ~
site that the name of the bank shall be de-
A scrap with a part of the sig
nature of one of the banks officers will SUI
hce for this purpose.
The Experts Are Women.
1t may be that the redemption division
gets cheated once in awhile. The experts
are human and therefore fallible But II
must be precious seldom that a swindle
gets past them. They are responsible for
every cent that goes through their hands,
and II any sum Is paid out without proper
they are bound TO make q
good incidentally, they must be clever de-
tectors OF counterfeits. 1t Is easily tmae-
med that dishonest persons might partly de-
stroy false paper money and send il in for
redemption. trusting to it's DETACHMENT TO
conceal defects of engraving. &c In fact
attempts of this sort have been made.
The circumstance that the experts res
(erred to are of the gentler sex is a marked
tribute to the cleverness and keen judg-
ment OF women. Through the hands of
theSe iadies millions of dollars pass in the
course of every year. But one case of dis
honesty In the office has ever occurred
Inat was the famous instance of the en-
ploye who invented a scheme for making
ten notes out of nine This she would accom-
plish by an ingenious system Of patchwork.
NO such thing had ever been thought of be-
Tore. and for considerable period she con-
tlnued to earn from $50 TO $50 a day by the
operation without being suspected Per-
maps she might have gone on with II indef
nitely II 1t had not been that she could not
resist the temptation to make display of
her wealth. With such an income she could
well AFFORD to keep a carriage, and she
iroVe TO the department and home again
every day. She wore diamonds and fine
short, exhibited such gorgeous
ness that the envy of her fellow clerks was
excited. Suspicion was aroused and an in
resulted in her arrest.
People try all sorts Of plans for cheating
the redemption division. Hung in a frane
On the wall of the treasurer's room is n
800 bin composed of slices taken from
nine different notes. This piece of work
was done by bank clerk. 1t did not de-
,eive for a moment, because the pieces used
differed In their tints, thus rendering the
composite nature of the document evident
It was boy employed to sweep out a New
York bank who sent in a lot of scrans OF
paper money awhile ago. He said that thew
$500 which had been eaten by
mice. but examination showed that the
amount was at least 81 200, IL ANYTHING
But the fact was that the youth had pick cd
up the scraps from the sweepings about
the desks of the tellers They were mostly
corners that had been accidentally torn OF
from the bills. The applicant was asked
to furnish an affidavit as to the loss, but
he weakened at that.
Attempts Mt Fraud.
The experts we'll know the differences in
appearance which mark bills that have
been torn, chewed, burned, washed and
buried. When a claim Is not honest thew
IAN almost invariably tell off-hand. There
8 usually some symptom Of fraud on the
very face Of the application. Something in
the wording of the letter gives it away. or
the amount Of money forwarded does no.
agree with the statement made Now and
then 1t happens that a person. finding that
with a different account Of the loss in
cured But that does not do any good.
False affidavits are rare, because the pen-
atty for perjury Is severe. Besides thev
must always be accompanied by certificates
Of good character signed by individuals of
known standing. People sometimes claim
that the pieces of a note, the middle mart
If which has been destroyed. represent sew
eral notes. but that does not pass When
the experts are satisfied that an applica-
ion is Of doubtful honesty they return the
money remains with a refusal to redeem
hem.
An instance In point occurred not very
ong ago. Three thousand dollars was
forwarded to the department in a lurnp
That Is to say, a lot of paper scraps al
eyed to represent that sum were sent In
,ame letter from man who stated that
he had put the money under carnet for