Fairhaven herald. [volume] (Fairhaven, Wash.) 1890-????, 1893-02-28
MUTILATED MONEY.
HOW DAMAGED CURRENCY IS RE-
DEEMED BY THE GOVERNMENT.

Treasury Expert In washington--A Few
Cases In which bills Were Apparently
Hopefessfy Destroyed.
The redemption division Of the treas
pry department is one Of the most inter
tsting Of its branches. It is here that
hutilated money comes for identified
lion, and tho form in which it comes
tells TO the chief Of the division many
romance and many tale Of woe. There
Ia much that Is humorous and much
that is pathetic in Mrs. Browns public
experience. That experience ranges over
nearly eighteen years now, aud in that
time millions Of dollars have passed
through her hands, most OF it in such
condition as to be beyond Identification
/ by ordinary means.
| There is hardly any way you can think
Of In which money IL not mutilated or
partly destroyed. Men light their CT
gars with IL when they are drunk; rats
gnaw it into tatters, and fro crisps it
into brown ashes Whenever there il
sudden cold snap at the beginning OF
winter tho redemption division has q
perfect harvest Of mutilated money. Ono
Of the favorite hiding places which WON
en- have for their savings is the oven.
When cold day comes the woman
probably forgets all about the money,
builds fire in the stove and cooks the
bills TO what is known in tho cookbook
as "rich brown"
An interesting case is that Of a woman
living near Hamilton, o., who was
burned TO death. She had pocketbook
with her containing seventy dollars.
Her children sent tho pocketbook with
It's charred contents 10 the treasury do
partment, and Mrs Brown picked out
the seventy dollars and identified it. A
great deal Of the money that comes in is
partly burned. Wherever n part Of tho
burned money can DO identified and
satisfactory affidavit is furnished as 10
the facts the government restores the
amount TO tho owner. But IL note il
entirely destroyed the government is just
10 much ahead.
Much Of the money which comes in for
redemption has been damaged in rail-
railroad wreck no attempt Is made by
the express company 30 remove the
money from the safe The safe is sent
direct 10 tho treasury department and
opened there. The money is usually in
q pretty badly charred condition. II il
taken out, and the treasury experts go
over it and identify as much Of il ~ can
DO recognized. Two years ago pack
age containing 322 900 was taken from "A
wreck near ST, Louis, and all Of the
money was identified and restored to its
owners.
A favorite hiding place for money with
men who have no faith in banks il In
their cellars A Philadelphia man sent
$3.50 which he had buried In tin box
under his cellar floor. When 10 took az
the box no found the money widowed
and rotten. The package as it came
into Mrs. Browns hands looked like q
bunch Of tobacco leaves II was almost
impossible 10 distinguish the character
Of tho notes with the naked eye. Mrs.
Brown was picking apart the pieces bit
by bit and arranging them on slips Of
brown paper cut 30 the size Of dollar
bill. She said that she expected 10 iden-
tify the whole Of IL.
One man sent in some time ago forty
two dollars which had been taken from
the stomach Of goat. The goat was not
worth forty-two dollars, 80 he was sacri-
feed. The Identification Of this money
was not a very nice task, but II was com
paratiyely an easy one. When Mrs.
Brown dropped the sticky mass into a
basin Of water the bills came apart and
were very easily identified. This Is not
the only goat case which has come 10 the
redemption division, and it has happened
that even cows and pigs have been sacri.
feed 10 recover money which they bad
swallowed. There il one case on record
where a baby swallowed some bank
notes, and AN emetic saved the money
and possibly the baby. Babies do not
often swallow an entire bill, but many
affidavits are received accompanying por.
tons Of bills which say that the missing
portions were swallowed by babies and
therefore wholly destroyed"
Usually when mutilated money il sent
In for redemption the owner has close
II not perfect idea OF the amount which
is represented, but one old German In
tho west sent in some years ago what ha
claimed 10 DO the remains of 5000, and
after a long, long investigation Mrs.
Brown fully identified f7,1OO in the
package, A secret service agent was
sent out 70 investigate the case, bat be
could discover nothing that would throw
light upon the mystery, and 20 the mis-.
take was charged up 10 the old mans
stupidity, and the department sent q, 100
10 him.
The redemption division receives very
frequently pieces torn from bills, &C.
conpanied by affidavits saying that the
remainder Of the notes has been destroy.
ed by mice. But the experts Of tho
treasury department can tell in minute
whether a piece has been torn of OF eaten