The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1895-11-10


less; he lights cigars with bank notes and
commits various imprudences. Next day
ne Is sorry, and, II he can find any rag
ments of the burned bills he sends them
20 the treasury for redemption Afnqa-
Wits reclting such q method OF loss ire
Quenuy reach the redemption division IN
some such fashion il may nave come
about that a Chicago citizen of wealth
and good repute tore up his "Wad ana
scattered il along the lake front on the
night OF June q last. He prefers TO let
me money go rather than own up TO so
The irst "stove case" for this season
reached the redemption division last
i sGhdry MT 0 Fessn sng 30 NE si 2Fk
avenue, about a fortnight ago wrapped
Saz5 IN notes in a silk handkerchief ana
ses. His assistant in the washee washee
business, not knowing that the money
was there, built a fire in the stove one
chilly morning. and the bills were partly
destroyed. Enough of them was left.
however. to make Identification easy,
and Quong win get his cash back. He is
lucky Chinaman, for, as the records
OF the treasury show, the domestic stove
Is the most completely efficient destroyer
OF money in existence. People, especlal-
~ in rural districts. will insist on en-
post, and sooner or later the family
savings are apt to go up in smoke.
hopeless ashes, involving total loss;
About 100 cases Of this kind are referred
to the redemption division every year.
The government is always willing and
even anxious tC replace spoiled money
if il can possibly be identified, The skill
Of the women employed in this work at
the treasury department is little snort
Of marvellous. one lady, Mrs. Brown, at
tends to all the burned notes. Patiently
she picks out scrap after scrap from
mass Of charred fragments such as any
ordinary person would regard as hope
less. One by one she pastes them on
paper, assembling the pieces OF each
note on a sheet by Itself and trying 10
restore the greenpack as q ndlufalls
would build up an extinct animal from
a few fossil remains. Even portion
that is hardly more than ash, may sun
show the engraved design. When she is
done it remains to be determined how
many of the bills shall be considered
as property identified. In the case OF
bank note, the name of the bank must
be ascertained
In this kind of labor powerful magnify
ing glasses are often called into requlsi-
ton. note that has been cheWed up
by baby is apt to be a difficult subject
to tackle. Babies destroy a good deal
of money in this way in the course OF
every year, and the same may be Sald
of puppy-dogs. They have an equal disre-
gard of value as represented by currency.
Goats eat money now and then, ana SO
do cows Mice are particularly destrdCt-
i've. They like TO make nests out OF pa,
per cash. and this practice is encouraged
by people who hide their savings in walls
and under floors Birds would seem 10
have a similar inclination, judging from
a rather odd happening of only rev
weeks ago. An employee OF the SUB treas
ury in Cincinnati, named Iurpln, was
shaving himself one sunny afternoon,
when a robin flew in at the window. II
flew out again a moment later and II dld
not occur to Turpin to suspect the Dlrq,
when he discovered that a $40 bill which
he had taken from his waistcoat pocket
and placed on the center table was gone.
a few days later, however, storm blew
a robins nest out of a tree near the front
porch. 1t was picked up, and the missing
bill was found Incorporated in its mate
rial Though good deal damaged, it
was redeemed subsequently.
One day last summer lightning entered
the house of a farmer in Maryland. In
a frolicsome mood it flashed through a
silver certificate. The strip burned was
nearly two inches wide, lengthwise
through the middle of the bill. The lat
ter was redeemed afterWard, the num-
Der and seal being entirely legible. To
bury paper money is a mistake, because
under such conditions it rots. Now and
then a person is burned to death, and
cash removed from the clothing OF the
corpse is sent in for redemption. The
contents of a wallet dug up with the body
of a murdered man afforded a rather
disagreeable subject for investigation
not long ago. A few months back an old
woman named Groth dled OF d contagl-
Gus disease at Rockford, ILL.,, and her
clothes were burned. Subsequently it
occurred to the heir to search the ashes,
and remains of money were found.
Twenty-Five dollars of the amount repre-
scented was Identified and redeemed. Dur
ing the last year or two several consign-
ments of money in minute bits have
reached the redemption division, being
sent in by banks whose safes had been
treated with dynamite by burglars. An
overdose of dynamite applied to a safe
is apt to have such an effect-WhiCh
ought to be a useful lesson to robbers.