Hopkinsville Kentuckian., 1895-10-11
STOVES EARN DOLLARS,
This Sounds Funny, But 1t rs True
just the Same.
>Uncie Sam Adds to His Wealth Year
After Year Through the Careless
ness OF Citizens Who Hide
Money In Stoves.
special washIngton Letter

cOoVeS OF all xmas make money Tor
che government. The parlor stove, the
sitting-room stove, the stove in the bed
room and the big base burner in the
large hall of the biggest mansion in
town; all of them make money for
Uncle Sam on the principle that "a
penny saved is penny earned" These
stoves save" money for the govern
ment by destroying the notes upon
which are printed the promise to pay"
which makes greenbacks and national
bank notes worth their face value,
Throughout the length and breadth
OF the land there is no method Of saw
dng money more popular than the GUS
tom of hiding it away in an unused
6itting-room stove during the summer
time. When the fire is lighted in the
autumn the cash goes up in the smoke,
and then the owner makes application
TO have the ashes redeemed The chief
of the redemption division says that
not less than one hundred such cases
are submitted to him every fall. Some
Eimes the remains are not too far con-
sSnmed for Identification, but as a rule
1this method of destroying money is
found to be singularly effective. There
was received recently at the treasury
$3.50 in the shape of small quantity of
zishes packed into a thimble, from
Texas. The woman who owned the
ss120 had drawn the sum from bank and
deposited it in stove for safe keep
lng, with the usual result. Uufortu-
znately, the ashes are indistinguishable
from any other ashes, and so she will
lose the entire amount; and it is prob
sadly all she had in the world.
The dear Old parlor stove, which
keeps the rising bread warm during
s.be winter nights, after Julia's com
pany" has said goodnight for the hun
. .dredth time, and after Julia has gone
: to bed with mammas S scolding ringing
in her ears for sitting up so late-the
red-hot old parlor stove is a considera-
BILE source of income to the United
Estates treasury, though the contributors
to the fund accumulated by its means
are invariably most unwilling ones
The parlor stove is unused for many
months, and only one member of the
family knows that 1t is the custodian of
a treasure in paper. The only one who
knows the fact is never present when
the first fire is started in October, ''just
TO take chill the off of the room" when
company is expected. And the paper
money Is all consumed.
Uncle Sam promises to pay In coin
the amount printed on his paper money,
sand he is able and willing to do so. He
dssues the money for the payment of
,sdebts. II is accepted by government
sofficials. They spend it and 1t goes
into circulation. When it reaches the
astove, the government is under Obliga-
tions to redeem it in coin. When 1T is
> burned, Uncle Sam is relieved of all
obligations and is therefore just so
anueh ahead.
When cars are burned in railroad ac-
.Scidents large sums of paper money are
consumed There was an accident one
day in Kentucky when two trains met in
"A tunnel, one of them loaded with pas
ssengers and the other a freight, carry
ing coal and iron. For thirty hours the
wreck burned and such was the heat
generated that the iron was melted
and flowed like water. In the express
scar of the passenger train was safe
with 81 600 cash in it, besides lot of
5e,..L.y 1t was ali paper money and
,vvus reduced to ashes. Whenever a
railroad disaster occurs fire usually en-
fsucs, and the express car Is consumed.
Nov an express car almost invariably
carries a safe with more or less money
1n it, among other valuables. The safe,
unless it is one for transporting gov
-zernment money, is apt to be of the por-
table kind and not tireproof. Thus it
ds an almost everyday occurrence for
cone of these safes to arrive at the treas