The Newberry herald and news. (Newberry, S.C.) 1884-1903, 1893-01-25
REDEEMING DAMAGED BILLS.
Wonders Worked by Mrs. Brown In the
Treasury Department
rNeH York Press.

New York Press.
WASHINGTON, Jan. 14.-Mr. Relyea,
the chief Of the Redemption Division
OF the Treasury Department, received
an autograph letter few days ago
from Mr.. Vanderbilt. thanking him
for $3.50 which had been restored to
him through the efforts of Mrs. Brown,
the expert money handler in Mr.. Rel
yeas division. This money was part
ofa roll of 500 which went through
the fire that destroyed Mr.. Wander
bilt's summer home at Newport. The
money belonged to Mrs. Vanderbilt.
It came to the Treasury Department
charred mass of paper. Mrs. Brown
picked this mass carefully to pieces,
and with the aid of a microscope iden-
tilted all but 500 of the money.
The Redemption Division Of the
Treasury Department is one ofthe most
interesting Of its branches. 1t is here
that mutilated money comes for identi-
fication, and the form in which it comes
tells to the chief of the division many
romance and many tale Of woe. There
is much that is humorous and much
that is pathetic in Mrs. Browns
public experience. That experience
ranges over nearly eighteen years now,
and 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 is not mutt
! lated or partly destroyed. Men light
, their cigars with it when they are
| drunk, rats gnaw it into tatters and
| fire crisps it into brown ashes. When
ever there is sudden could snap at
| the beginning Of winter the Redemp-
ton Division has perfect harvest OF
| nutilated money. One Of the favorite
| hiding places which women have for
their savings is the oven. When cold
day comes the woman probably for
gets all about the money, builds fire
| in the stove and cooks the bills to what
is known in the cook books as a "rich
brown"
An interesting case is that OF Wo-
| man living near Hamilton, Ohio, who
was burned to death. She had a pocket
book with her containing $40. Her
| children sent the pocketbook with its
| charred contents to the Treasury De-
partment, and Mrs. Brown picked out
the $40 and identified it. A great deal
Of the money that comes in is partly
| burned. Wherever part Of the burned
money can be identified and a salts
! factory affidavit is furnished as to the
facts, the government restores the
| amount to the owner. But if a note is
| entirely destroyed, the government is
just so much ahead.
| DAMAGED IN RAILROAD WRECKS.
Much of the money which comes in
for redemption has been damaged in
railroad wrecks. When car is burned
in a railroad wreck no attempt is made
by the express company to remove the
money from the safe. The safe is sent
direct to the Treasury Department and
opened there. The money is usually
in pretty badly charred condition.
It is taken out and the Treasury
experts 90 over it and identify as much
of it as can be recognized. Less than
two years ago package containing
So, 900 was taken from wreck near
St. Louis and all Of the money was
identified and restored toits owners.
A favorite hiding place for money
with men who have no faith in banks
is in their cellars. Only last week a
Philadelphia man sent $3.50 which he
had buried in August, 1891, in tin box
under his cellar floor. When he took
up the box he found they money mild
ewed and rotten. The package, as it
came into Mrs. Browns hands, looked
like bunch of tobacco leaves. It was
almost impossible to distinguish the
character Of the notes with the naked
eye. Mrs. Brown was picking apart
the pieces bit by bit and arranging
them on. slips of brown paper cut to
the size of dollar bill. She said that
she expected to identify the whole of
it.
GoATHAD SWALLOWED 1T.
One man sent in some time ago $42
which had been taken from the
stomach Of goat. The goat was not
worth $42, 50 he was sacrificed. The
Identification of this money was not
very nice task, but it was comparative
ly an easy one. When Mrs. Brown
dropped the sticky mass into basin Of
water the bills came apart and were
very easily identified. This is not the
only goat case which has come to the
redemption division, ard it has hap
pened that even cows aud pigs have
been sacrificed to recover money which
they had swallowed. There is one case
on record where baby swallowed some
bank notes and an emetic saved the
r1oney and possibly the baby. Babies
do not often swallow an entire bill, but
many afidavits are received accom-
panying portions Of bills which say
that the missing portions were swal-
lowed by babies and therefore wholly
destroyed"
IDENTIFIED MORE THAN HE ASKED