Essex County herald. [volume] (Guildhall, Vt.) 1873-1964, 1894-10-26
CLEVER MONEY HANDLERS.
NEW YORK BANK TELLERs DEAL
IN MANY MILLIONS DAILY.
What is Required OF Them-TheIr
Duties Are ConfinIng and Exact
iug-SOme Specimen Errors.

&, IN the world. Inc amount
of money passing through their hands
is something enormous. At the close
of business on the first day of the
month the sixty-five banks that are
members of the Clearing House held
in legal tenders 1921, 900, 900 and in
specie S9l. 900, 900, which will give an
idea of the extent of their business.
The payment of these holdings on
various accounts makes the paying
teller a most important person
age, and in many respects he Is
indeed very remarkable combina.
ton of activity and industry.
The paying teller Of New York
bank has no 'soft snap" The duties
of the position are combining and ex-
acting. They involve immense re-
sponsibility and hard work and so
heavy is the strain that the health of
many of them gives way at very
early period in their career Asked
to explain just what the paying teller
is and is expected to do, one Of those
officials connected with prominent
bank gave some interesting facts in
conversation with n Commercial Adj
yertiser reporter.
First of all, said he, "the Office
requires quick-witted man, and es-
pecially is this true in establishments
transacting n large business and where
there is long line of customers await
ing their turn. He must form his
Judgment instantaneously; he has no
ledger or consult the cashier or presI-
dent or cross examine the holder with
a volley Of questions.
you may safely regard it as n well
determined rule that every paying
teller unconsciously propoundsto him
self these three questions whenever a
check is presented for payment: Is
the signature genuine? Has the drawer
an amount OF money in the bank SAT
icient to cover the same? Is the
holder of the check entitled to receive
the money? With these questions
answered to his satisfaction the rest is
clear enough.
Strange rs it may appear, 1t is but
rarely that bookkeeperS and expert ac-
countants qualify for the work Of a
successful bank teller As rule the
men selected for that position have
previously been trained in some branch
of the teller's department. There is IA
general notion that the teller's duties
are confined to the simple handling of
the money to be paid on checks, This
is quite erroneous. As matter OF
fact he is compelled to know the exact
standing in general way Of all the
customers aud depositors. The bal.
snce ledgers are used for this purpose,
and these he consultS frequently dur.
ing the day if uncertain how to pro-
coed.
"In most banks certain sum Of
money is placed in the hands of the
paying teller every morning. These
amounts vary according to the extent
of the average daily transactions. In
some of the smaller banks the sum
thus given to the teller is not over
$50, 600. In some of the larger banks
again rs much AS $500, 0 Is placed in
his hands every morning All Of the
money thus received is carefully
counted by the tellers, the small bills
being checked off by the package and
not handled singly. In the smaller
banks the tellers count of every
single bill, the smaller as we'll AS the
larger This counting of bills il al
most fine art with many New York
tellers. Years of familiarity with
paper currency have made them ex
pert in the tint, engraving and thick
/ ness of the bank notes passing through
their hands. In old times the State
bank notes gave considerable trouble,
but since the adoption of the National
Bank currency the labors of the
tellers have been greatly reduced,
though the occasional appearance of
counterfeit National Bank notes keeps
them constantly on the alert.
when the Clearing House for the
New York banks WAS established forty
years ago our bank tellers hailed the
movement with great delight Previous
to that time each bank employed II
messenger for the purpose of visltia :
the others, and the tellers were re.
| quired to cash all checks thus pre-
sented the same rs in the case Of in.
dividual holders. Imagine such
methods in Use at the present day
| The burdens of the tellers have been
much relieved since the establishment
of the Clearing House, and now all
checks are sent to one central office.
The amount of money represented by
these checks sent to the Clearing
House is something enormous. A
single bank in this city has been
known to thus send checks represent
ing SIS, 900, 600 on Il single day.
"What is known as counter bust.
ness, which represents cash paid out
by the various banks, is also very ex
tensve. The checks drawn on vari.
Gus banks in this city represent about
800, 900. 900 daily, Of which it Is est.
mate that Sl5, 900, 900 is paid over the
! counter every twenty-lour hours III
the year.
"The handling of this large sum is,
of course, not unattended by frequent
errors, and it is only surprising that
| they do not occur oftener. Not many
years ago bright teller of excellent
reputation paid out ten $1,000 certifi'
Gates instead of single certificate.
The error cost him his position. An
other expert bank teller was careless
enough to hand over the counter two
packages each containing 100 ten-dol-
lar bills instead OF single package, a
pin fastening the band of one package
having caught in the other. In this
instance the overpaid amount was re-
covered.