The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1895-06-16


in 1894.
From the New York Times.
fChink. ehink. chink. chink Slide
The sound is made infinitely quicker
than it takes TO write OF speak the words
II is heard in the minor coin department
in the treasury building. where all day
long the chink, chink, chink Of nickels
and pennies is sounded.as. they are count
Cd. weighed and tied securely into hays
ready FOR the calls for small coin that
are constantly coming in.
There really are no pennies" said r.
G. Haf. chief Of the department. 10 an
Interested visitor yesterday. Pennies
are English coins. and we have cents. but
common usage has made the word ours.
and we seldom say anything else. We
have three men who do nothing but count
morning until o'clock in the afternoon.
stopping half an hour for luncheon.
There are five counters kept constantly
busy, the work varying a little according
TO the proportion of pennies and nickels
brought in during the day. 1t takes three
minutes to count a thousand coins. The
pennies are put up into bags containing
SO each. The same number Of nickels is
also put into a bag. The whole process
takes five minutes, including cutting the
string to the old bag, counting and putting
the coins into the new one. tying that
and fastening on tag giving the amount
and the counters initials which is neccs-
sary in case of error, which is in this
way traced back TO it's proper source.
Yes, errors sometimes occur. Men are
not infallible, but by weighing the bags,
as we always do, a mistake of a few cents
would probably be detected, and If the bag
was 30 cents short. it would certainly be
noticed. See how nearly the bags come to
weighing alike"
Two SO bags OF pennies were put one on
either side of the scales, which swung al
most exactly even. A penny was thrown
in on one side, altering the balance con-
siderably, and a half dollar sent the side
on which it was placed down Immediately
The counter sits on a high, revolving
chair before small desk on the upper
part Of it are his scales, and i'm front of
them the pile of pennies which have been
emptied from the bag i'm which they were
brought in for exchange. With his hands
he draws forward a number of these and
fattens them out, and. as they are count
ed, drops them, a quantity at a time, into
the bag, which is held open with a wide
mouthed funnel The left hand is held at
the front edge Of the desk. and the pennies
drop into 1t with great rapidly as they
are counted, while the rejected coins are
showed to one side. There are from 20 to
30 rejected coins to each Loo
you see." said Mr.. Haf, 1.-THE man
takes two coins at each count That is
quicker than taking one and easier than
three or four. lie counts one for every
two pennies dropped into his hand, so that
when he has counted 100 he has 200 pennies.
or y. The counting is not done with the
lips. 1t would not be possible to move
them quickly enough to keep up with the
rapid movement of the fingers.
when man begins counting he can
count ten bags a day. or ten times 600
coins BY the time he has had six months
experience he can count sixty bags a day. \
THE white pennies. mashed OF mutilated
CON, or even those that are soiled or
coroded are thrown aside and sent off to
be melted over. The idea is to keep as
clean money as possible in circulation.
When the count of each bag is concluded
the mutilated coins thrown out must be
replaced by good ones. This does not in
Guide plugged, counterfeit or foreign
coins. These are returned to the senders
tobe made good.
There is a greater demand for pennies
than for nickels. This is owing largely
10 this catch-penny business charging
large
goods firm up town which sells great
many small wares gets in regularly about
SSO0 in pennies a day for making change.
The firms bankers come here about once
In two months and take away 5000 in
pennies which they keep in their vault
ana hand out to this one firm as they are
needed.
Other dry goods houses come here
directly for their pennies, which they use
In quantities of from $500 to $500 a week
We have just sent 5000 in pennies to
a Harlem bank for circulation in the retail
stores in the vicinity, and last Friday our
uptown Brooklyn bank drew upon us for
5000 in pennies and 5000 in nickels.
The saloons, small stores and restau,
rants around here send in for IS worth
OF pennies at a time. Several business
men come in for Sc of nickels from time
TO time and keep them on hand for conve-
nience in car fare. A downtown news
stand is supplied with $40 in pennies every
day. We paid out in 1894 in these minor
coins $l,S44, 1875, of which amount 600
was pennies. Here in a single day we
paid out $l2,556 in coins of the two de.
nominations.
For the small coins that are brought
IN for exchange into currency we give a
receipt, and the following day pay out the
money after the coins received have been
counted.
There is $3.50 in pennies that has lust
TO be counted. One days record of our
work shows 5000 taken in in pennies and
1853 in nickels. We Seldom take in less
than $1,000. We receive u great many nick
els from the elevated roads. Yesterday
they brought in $4,000 in five-cent pieces
to be exchanged, and last Friday they
brought in $500 in the same way. They
come in every day. 1t shows the number
of niclxels in circulation on the road when
you think of the quantity also given out
in exchange
Mr.. Half was not idle as he talked. and
a continuous string of callers at the little
window at the front of the department re-
ceived pennies and nickels in varying
amounts.
You see, people are willing to give gold
for copper, he said, as he dropped a gold
twenty dollar piece into the box, and hand
ed out two bags of pennies.
I'VE are not paying out the white pennies
now, or the two and three cent pieces
They have not been sent out for the last
five years, and the big coppers have never
been since l have been in the department.
The first Of these were brought out in 1888
and the last in 1851 and the white pennies
were first issued in 1864