The World. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1891-1896, 1893-01-26

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some little time. work and patience. he
said he wanted TO start I'd Philadelphia
that night, and he guessed he wouldn't
take the trouble on the slim chance Of
getting anything. In this and all sim
liar cases the real feeling Of the appli-
cant almost invariably is that any ef-
fort 10 regain what is lost Is simply
time thrown away, and SO he dismisses
the matter.
Nj Barlow, mentioned above as be-
ing connected with the cashiers Office
In the post Office department, has a
great many applications for assistance
In getting mutilated currency re-
deemed, and as he prepares the afi-
davits for the parties he makes him
self thoroughly acquainted with the
circumstance of each, and can narrate
some Interesting cases. An old mar
living out in this county came In one
day ~heartbroken over the loss Of sew
eraI thousand dollars which no had
placed under the hearth for safe-keep-
Inc. and which mice had almost totally
destroyed II took some correspond
ence, but he finally got new bills for
the old ones Another man had twist
ed up a wad Of paper without looking
at il and lighted his cigar, when he
found that his new cigarslighter was a
ten-dollar bill. An interesting ease WINS
that Of an old negro from down Ia one
Of the adjoining counties, who was at
the Union depot about a year ago
buying a ticket home. lie had a roll
Of bills In his hands and a
couple Of St Louis tuughs jumped
on him and tried TO rob him.
In the scramble that ensued the bills
were torn 10 shreds and the pieces
strewn over the floor, but the old ne
gro held onto most Of his wealth, while
tho thieves. falling in their attempt
made their escape. The Africans
walls over his misfortune brought the
suggestion from some one that maybe
the treasury officials would help him,
and he went up to inquire. A few
afidavits' and a little time brought him
IN entirely new lot OF bills in exchange
for the pieces. Mary Davis, an elderly
negro living over on Morgan
street, came to Mr.. Barlow some
months ago ''in a peck o. trouble. She
had a twenty-dollar bin, which she
was treasuring as the apple Of her eye,
and being aboutgto make a visit one
Sunday afternoon she thought the best
place for her fortune would be In the
oven Of her stove, where she carefully
placed it Returning late in the even
ing she built a fire without thinking
Of her treasure, and 1t was some time
afterwards that she attracted the at
tention Of the household and her
neighbors by dashing water over the
hot stove and screaming at the top Of
her voice. The charreds remains Of the
bill were nearly destroyed by the
water, but enough was saved to sat-
isfy b government as to the truth of
the story, and Mary got a brand new
twenty-dollar bill
Perhaps the most interesting case
that has come up before the depart
ment In ST. Louis was the one OF young
Miss H., which was taken before Mr..
Barlow for an affidavit some months
ago. Her father, who lives out on Dor
cas- street. andis an employee in n Of
the Wholesale drug houses, had made
her presents Of little sums till she had
sixty-ive or seventy dollars saved
up. Her pet dog one day got hold Of
II and whenihis young mistress came
In it was all torn 10 pieces and most Of
Il chewed into pulp. She was In terri
bic distress, and not wishing her papa
70 know Of her loss, she, at the sug-
gestion Of a friend, applied TO the sub
treasury. Part Of the pieces were
large enough to come within the three
ffths rule, and SO about one-third Of
the amount was cashed at once. The
rest had to go through the process Of
satisfactory proof, but in due time She
received a draft from Washington for
the full amount
Instances like the foregoing could be
given in great numbers, though the in
stances in which the losers ..pocket'
their losses, to use an old but ommon
expression, are much more numerous
The amounts range all the way from a
n dollar bill Tower which sum one
man Of some means spent two months
Of correspondence a year or SO arol up
70 packages containing thousands Of
dollars. Perhaps the largest 4
ever redeemed at st Louis after total
destruction vas the instance whichYoc
CURED about four months ago. The
treasury at Washington had shinped
by express to the su~b-treasnry at that
point a package Of currency amounting
to forty thousand dollars. The express
car with all its contents was burned
and the express company was RESPONSE
BILE for the loss Of the forty thousand
dollars under its contract. Realizing
this, the company took Chief Clerk
kicker OF the .snb~-treasury and
mad him present when the safe was
opened very carefully, and the cbarred
remains Of the money examined. The
packages could be plainly seen and
identified as to the amounts. a. paner
burned will sometimes retain its
Yettering, and so these bundles OF
burned paper were carefully shipped "a
Washington, from which point forty
thousand dollars in crisp new bills
came back.
We realize the immense amount
q money that is lostor DESTROYED eyerv
year 2 never found or made good,
We can appreciate whata sum Uncle
gam has constantly accommodating for
2 right side Of hisproft and loss ac-
count Of course many losses oc.nr
which are total and cannot IA maae
sgood, because i would be practically
Impossible IN some Of the cases to sat
isiy the United States treasurer to such
an extent as to preclude the posi-
putty 4 fraud But there are also