Spirit of the age. [volume] (Woodstock, Vt.) 1845-1913, 1894-12-12
BANK TELLERS.
Their Marvellous Experiences in
Counting Money.
peculiar and Exacting Duties Of
the Position.

Ihoomonnt of money that passes
d"y by day through the hands of pay
ing tclIcrs Of New York banks is some
thlhg enormous On the first day of
the month recently at the close of the
d"y business the siXty.tive banks that
are members of the New York Clear
ing House held in legal tenders up
ward, of $l32, 900, 900 in legal tenders
aud S92, 900, 900 in specie.
Ihe payment of these holdings by
teHrs of the various banks, the
handling of the money backward and
forward with the care and response
biIity attached thereto, was no small
matter The duties of the paying tel
lcr are, moreover, confning and eX-
octingand the health of many of them
gives way while they are yet young
men
Among the necessary qualifications
for a paying teller, quickncss of wit
and readiness are foremost He must
also he good Judge of character. In
a long line Of customers he must make
his judgments quickly and accurately,
without pausing to refer to cash books
or ledgers, to consult with the other
bank officials or to cross-examine the
person presenting checks.
Two questions always confront the
paying teller when Il check is pre-
sented fer payment. FIRST, is the sig
nature genuine? Second, has the
drawer enough money deposited to
cover the check. Then comes the
question as to the right of the holder
to the cleck to draw the money. 1t
is not always easy to come to con-
clusion on these points, but the pay
ing teller has to do it and to do it
quickly too and the wonder is that
mistakes are not more often made.
Yet, as matter of fact blunders are
rare.
The bank president said to me that
ii is queer fact that book keepers
and expert accountants rarely qualify
for the work of successful paying
teller. The tellers are almost always
selected from among subordinates in
the tellers department.. Time and
constant training for the peculiar
duties of the position seem to be es-
scruiaI
The paying teller, in addition to
the physical labor that devolves upon
him, is supposed to know the stand
ing, in a general way at least, of all
the banks depostors and customers.
The balance ledgers of the bank are
kept by him always, and he has to
consult these constantly during each
day, if at all uncertain as to checks
1t is generally the rule in city banks
to place in the hands of the paying
teller sufficient money to cover the
days transactions. This sum may
range from $50, in a small bank
TO $500, 900 in one of the greater ones
All of this money has to be counted
each morning by the paying teller.
The small bills are checked off in
packages, the big ones singly.
In the smaller banks where deposits
and Withdrawals are made by individ-
mls, small tradesmen and the like in
comparatively little amounts, the pay
ing teller's work is especially exact
ing
Yet these men have reduced their
work down to the point where it may
almost be called an art. Years of ia
miarity with currency gives them a
wonderful sense of touch. They are
experts in the matter of tint and en-
craving of notes, and some of them
are so we'll acquainted with the texture
and thickness of the notes that pass
through their hands that they can de-
feet bad note by feeling it and with
ont looking at it. State bank notes
used to give good deal of trouble,
but National bank notes are, to nse
the language of an expert, "dead
easy"
OF course some errors will occur
FROM time to time. Some years ago
teller in New York bank by some
sort OF hocus pocus managed to give
out ten 81, 900 gold certificates instead
OF one, This fit of mental alteration
cost him his position. Another teller
gave ont two packages, each contain
100 ten-dollar bills, where he should
have paid ont but one package. A pin
in the band of one package caught in
that OF another. The money was re-
turned.
Tellers are, of course, under bonds
unnlng from 81, 900 to $50, 600. Their
salaries run from 81, 900 to So, 600 per
year. Some of them have become
bank presidents and bank directors
but in general way really reliable
paying teller is jewel whom bank
presidents like to keep where he is
most valuable. New York News.
Seeing by Night
Nocturnal creatures assume night