Sullivan republican. [volume] (Laporte, Pa.) 1883-1896, 1894-03-30
A BIG BURDEN OF PAPER.
QUESTION OF HOW TO DISPOSE OF
OLD MONEY ORDERS,
The Government Cannot Afford to
Destroy Them-A Remarkable
Case of COunterfeiting Orders,

Y money orders? They
have been accommodating
on his hands for nearly thirty years,
and not one of them has been de-
stroyed. More than two billion dol
lars worth of them in value originally
represented are now stored away in
the various buildings belonging to the
Postoffice Department at Washington,
occupying thousands of cubic feet of
precious space. To hold them all
would require several ordinary sized
houses, and still they continue to pile
up. 1t is the same way with many
million dollars worth of postal notes.
Inasmuch as they are vouchers for
money paid out, it would hardly do to
burn them. The Government, in re-
lation to the money order system, acts
as sort of trust company. Citizens
place their cash in it's hands, and the
cancelled orders are evidence of the
fulfillment of the trust
Besides, things are constantly hap
pening which render it necessary to
refer to the back-number orders. A
man writes to the depar rtment, saying:
81 am the administrator of the estate
of John Jones. Among his private
papers have found certain money or
ders, dated some years back. Please
send duplicates, in order that l may
cash them" Now, it frequently hap
pens that the orders discovered in such
ways are from ten to twenty years old.
By turning to the files it can be ascer-
-. 4.
curities have been redeemed or not.
Or perhaps William Smith will
write: ''Two years ago James Robin
son, of Podunk, sent me money or
der for $50. 1 did not receive it,
Kindly furnish me with a duplicate. "
The order referred to is looked up and
found in the files cancelled, bearing
William Smiths signature to the re-
ceipt. Smith, on being informed of
this fact, declares the signature n
forgery. A postoffice detective is then
put on the case and investigates it.
May be he decides that Smiths claim
is good; but since the money order
system was founded in 1865 there have
not been more than 200 cases of for
gerry of this description.
When a money order is missing q
duplicate can always be obtained
Three hundred such duplicates are is
sued by the department at Washing
ton every day, on an average. The
originals disappear in oil sorts of
curious ways. Farmers, through mis-
take, frequently keep them as re-
ceipts, instead of forwarding them
through the mails. After awhile the
unsophisticated agriculturist is dunned
for payment by the keeper of store
in a neighboring town. ''Why," he
says, 81 sent you the money by post
some time ago, and here is the receipt
in my pocket" With that he exhibits
the money order. But it often hap
pens that the payee, learning that
cash awaits him at the postoffice, ap-
plies for duplicate. Railway postal
clerks sometimes steal letters and find
money orders in them. To get rid OF
them, they burn them. Then the own
ers ask for duplicates.
In the history of the money order
system only two instances OF the coun'
terfeiting of these securities have been
recorded. The first and more remark
able case was in 1873. John \. Young,
who had been employed in the money
order division of the Chicago Post
Office, thought that he had discovered
a way to get rich easily. His scheme,
being without precedent, might have
been fairly successful, if he had worked
it skillfully; but he carried it out very
clumsily indeed For $50 he hired a
drunken printer to set up type for an
imitation of the regular money order
blank. This was not difficult, mas.
much as the kind of blank used by the
department has always been severely
simple. However, the type setting
was so badly done as to call attention
almost Immediately to the fraud.
Nevertheless, the swindler managed to
obtain cash for number of his orders.
They were for $50 each the maximum
allowed at that time. Allof them bore
the stamp of Oshkosh, Wis. They were
to be paid To fictitious names in lndi-
annapolis, Ind, Springfield, ILL.,, and
other cities. Young managed to steal
a number of official envelopes and lad
vice blanks" to help out his game, but
he had none OF the regular postoiiice
stamps, and So was obliged to employ
ordinary postage stamps for making
his letters of advice to postmasters.
This was calculated To excite attention.
The rogue applied for the money at
the different postofiiees under the ttetl
tlous names which he had employed.
He would have been caught IA Clncln.
natl, but the postmaster, who hal heen
warned in advance from Nashiu ston,
stupidity let him get away when he pre-
sented his bogus orders, telling him g.
call again Of course he did not come
back Finally he was caught ia
Florida. Ca his way north he jumped
from the train. but Sas subsequently,
reeaptnred and eventually landed "a
the ponitentiary Washington star