Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1893-10-14
GOVERNMENT BONDS.
Two Millions of Dollars Which MAY
Never Be Paid.
THEY ARE NOT EASILY LOST,
And Often Turn Up in Very Queer
Ways.
HOW NEW ONES ARE ISSUED.

nMHE PROPOSITION
'to issue government
bonds to relieve the
~ financial stringency
and the discussion Of
the amount Of the
n public debt has call
!: ! ! !" J: !. !.
I'd - ed attention to the
.\%WH\N Nv fact that there are
nv called bonds and
lWE4NT other securities Of
the United state IS
|%SSS&&&M~ now outstanding to
NSSWWMV the amount of more
wv than 100000. This
amount Is increasing every year. It is
small In comparison with the public debt
out II would make a nice little fortune for
some one If he could only gather together
all Of the claims for bonds DESTROYED and
all of the bonds that are now hidden away
and have been forgotten. The missing Sc
ccriues run back to the loan of 1S4I At
long intervals a SIS bond issued under the
bounty land scrip act Of February H. 1S47,
comes TO the treasurer of the United States
for redemption. Under this act any hon
orably discharged officer or soldier who
served In the Mexican war for more than
twelve months received. at his option, 100
acres OF land or certificate for 500. Those
serving for less period than twelve months
under the same conditions got forty acres
or $2o certificate. Certificates to the
amount OF $23S,075 were issued under this
We.s D caI1ad interest at per cent They
issue. and OF course interest on them ceas-
co. But there are still outstanding certifi-
Gates Of this issue to the value Of about
deemed last year.
Then there is the loan of February, 1851,
tne oregon war debt loan and the
loan OF July and August, 1861. of
Inc treasurer redeemed last year $1,000 Of
the loan Of 1862; 1000 Of the loan Of June,
1864; y, $50 Of the consois Of 1865 ION which
the interest ceased in 1879; $500 of the
consols Of 1851 (on which the interest had
ceased in 1870, and $4,000 of other loans
on which the interest had ceased between
make an issue of bonds it can count on
profit.
The proportion of bonds unredeemed is
Of the currency and loan division of the
Treasury Department, because bonds are
usually in the hands OF people who pur-
chase them for investment, and who take
spect from money, which passes from hand
to hand. Besides, the smallest denomina-
ton Of bonds is $50. and they are very much
larger than bank notes or money, and are
correspondingly more difficult to lose"
Fortunate Incident.
Nevertheless. the government at intervals
comes across remarkable and even a ro-
mantle story in bonds presented for redemp-
ton. One Of the most interesting of these
was the case Of an old woman who attend
ed an auction sale Of furniture fifteen years
ago and bought an old-fashioned book case.
for her best crockery. When she got il
home she found In one Of the drawers five
papers OF greenish tint, with figures and
pictures on them. She could not read, and
M no OH nnfa ~
papers. Her children saw them and asked
for the pictures. so the papers were given
to them to play with. Fortunately they
were not destroyed by the little ones, and
they were still in evidence when the parish
priest called a few days later. He opened
his eyes in establishment.
DO you know what your children are
playing within he said.
"Oh, yes" said the woman; 'just some
papers found in my new cupboard
These papers are worth $1,000 EACH"
and could hardly believe him. He went to
the auctioneer and tried to learn from whom
the desk had come. 1t had been lying in
the auction room for number Of years
and all trace of the original owner had been
lost. So, with that duty performed the
priest brought the five bonds to Washington
and took back 5000 to the little woman
enough to make her rich for life.
At the time Mr.. Morrill, was Secretary of
the Treasury a prominent southerner left
among his effects certificate of Texas
indemnity stock" for $4,000. His widow
supposed that 1t was a receipt for taxes on
some Texas land. Some years later this
lady was in Washington in reduced circum-
stances and she consulted Mr.. Riggs, the
banker. about the sale OF some Texas land.
He knew that her husband had been a
holder of this Texas indemnity stock, and
he asked her what had become of it ALL
She said that she did not know anything
about 1t, but later she remembered this pa
per which she had thought to be tax re-
ceipt and she told Mr.. Riggs about 1t. He
asked her to send for 1t without telling her
Of its value. When 1t came he turned 1t
into the treasury for her and received the
original $4,000 and about $500 in unpaid
interest, all in gold. 1t was a remarkably
fortunate discovery for the southern
woman.
The Treasury Department receives every
week millions Of dollars of mutilated money
for redemption, but 1t Is not often that mu-
tilated bonds are received. But about five
years ago great mass Of greenish pulp
was sent to the treasurer with the state
ment that 1t represented large sum in
the compound interest notes of 1864. These
notes had been in the safe Of a Mississippi
river steamboat which was burned. The
safe had been at the bottom Of the river
for nearly a year. The green pulp was
dried out and 1t proved all that was claimed
for 1t.
When Judge Folger was Secretary Of the
Treasury an old man from New England
came to the treasurer's office one day with
a collection Of papers yellow with age He
said that he had found them among the
effects Of an uncle of his and had offered
them to a banker in Boston for 5000. The
banker refused to give him anything for
them. The treasurer looked over the pa
pers and found that they were United
States securities and worth $40, OOO That is
the amount that the New England farmer
took away with him when he left Wash
ington. He probably Haunted it in the face
of that Boston banker.
A remarkable find was that of an army
officer. Nearly twenty years ago he was
In the tepee Of Sioux Indian, which had
been deserted. The walls of the tepee were
decorated with clippings from newspapers
and other specimens of low art. But
among these clippings were compound in
terest notes Of the United States to the
amount Of 5000. They had undoubtedly
been found on the person Of some white
prisoner and the simple red man had val
ued them only for the engraving on them.
The officer produced some very lurid
chromos which he had in his collection Of
periodical reading matter and offered them
in exchange for the little green pictures on
the walls Of the tepee. The other Indians
Of the tribe accepted them gladly and the
officer. after making an effort to find to
whom the money belonged, accepted it as
a gift of Providence
Few Bonds Are Lost Now.
1t Is not entirely the fault Of the gov