Aberdeen herald. [volume] (Aberdeen, Chehalis County, W.T.) 1886-1917, 1894-10-25
OFFICIAL RED TAPE.
Tho Remarkable Journeyings of a Light
weight go Goldpiece.

Some weeks ago, in performance Of
his duty, Public Printer Benedict ex'
pressed !. quantity Of waste gold leaf &c
the Philadelphia mint, with the request
that its value be returned to him i'll gold
coin. He did not advertise the gold Leaf
for ,alo, as he might have done, but
prt erred to deal with Uncle Sam di-
rect liz few days he received by
express from the mint for the waste
go!H leaf several bags Of gold coin, the
valuo Of which was $l.6l9. "a. He &C.
k..0wlc,gcd its receiTs and at once sent
it 10 tho treasury department to be
pl,,c Il to the credit of the miscellaneous
rccci, - of the treasury
III gold coin contained in the bags
received from the mint was taken out
by the treasurer and counted and
weighed, us the law proscribes. Out OF
tie &l,Gl9.5 one SEQ goldpiece, accord.
ing to tho treasury scales, was exactly
1875 light Treasurer Morgan wrote
tie Iuj,ic printer to that effect and re-
Qucsted that he at once forward 81. %
to mako good tho shortage of the SEQ
coldpit Co.
Tnc pablo printer did not propose tc
pay TIE #l.25 cut Of his own pocket,
80 lie wrote to Superintendent Town.
sc,.u &C the Philadelphia mint, inform
Jig h;:n that one $50 goldpiece was
short 1925 and to please forward that
amount. This was done. In his letter
containing the sl.25 shortage Superin-
tcrdcnt Townsend expressed regret that
the public printer had not returned the
q i2i,c! $40 eoldpiece.
Nir. Benedict or receiving the 81. 20
selt it to the treasury department and
got q receipt for it. This, he thought,
would close the transaction. But 1t
didn't The treasury officials, it seems,
were not satisfied. Several days after
ward the public printer received the
500 eoldpiecc stamped across its face
Light 81. %, " with the request that he
return to the department $lS.75, SO as
to make his account balance. the de-
partment having received $1.25. This
was a surprise to the public printer, but
as he was dealing with government Off
Gals he thought he could stand the
racket if they could. He sent the light
$50 goldpiece to the Philadelphia mint,
with the request that they forward
Treasurer Morgan certified draft for
$1S.75.
After lapse Of nearly week he re-
ceived a communication from Superin-
tendent Townsend stating that he had
weighed the disputed coin, and that he
found shortage of but 81 and request
ed the public printer to return to him
the 20 cents he had paid out in excess.
A demand was made on the treasury
for 20 cents. 1t was received, and in
turn Public Printer Benedict forwarded
it to the mint
This ended the transaction, but the
question arises, Who made good the
shortage i'll the $50 goldpiece? Did the
superintendent of the mint at Philadel-
phia make the shortage good out of his
own pocket, or was it charged to the
government? And, again, if the officials
Of the mint weigh the gold coin, as the
law requires, how is it possible for a
light coin to get out and must not some
thing be wrong with the scales used by
the treasury department? The treasury
officials stamped the coin $l.25 light.
The mint people say it is but 81 light.
Had this matter occurred with private
individuals instead of government Off
Gals the private individual would nc
doubt have had to pocket the loss. -.
Washington Post.