The Anaconda standard. [volume] (Anaconda, Mont.) 1889-1970, 1895-12-05


pecting Mr.. Hayseed and fleece him.
A favorite method OF theirs Is to cut
a good note in two and send half of II.
as a sample OF their goods" to the in
tended victim. 1t may be that the
Kansas farmer nibbled at such bait,
but he refused finally to bite. retain
ing the divided cash that had been
forwarded to him. The green goods
men in New York disposed of the
halves which they had retained by sell
ing them to the dealer aforesaid, while
the farmer held on to his for some time
before he could decide what to do with
them. Probably, II he had not come
by them in this dubious way, he would
have presented them for redemption
in a legitimate fashion. AS IL was. IL
he had done so. no question would
have been asked, and he would have
come out just SIS ahead of the green
goods enterprise.
So here Is a mystery accounted Tor
easily enough. supposing the theory
to be correct. Much more difficult Is IL
to explain how in June of this year
the sum of 81. 900 came to be scattered
along the lake front of Chicago, torn
into small scraps in such manner as
TO leave no doubt that the destruction
of the cash was Intentional. Early In
the morning of the 28th day OF that
month two colored laborers named
Brown and Campbell were walking
along the shore south of Twenty
fourth street when they noticed some
scraps of green paper blowing about.
Looking further they discovered
good many more pieces, which were
distributed for a distance OF couple
of blocks. After some hours OF patient
search they had gathered enough to
represent in a respectable manner two
notes for $500 each. two more for $40
each, and one for $40.
They took the fragments to the sub
treasury, supposing that they could
claim the face value of the money.
Imagine their disgust when they were
informed that the fact Of having found
II gave them no title whatever to the
cash. 1t was evident that they were
honest men, and memoranda of their
story were taken down. Later fish,
erman picked up several other pieces
of the same notes on the lake front in
the same neighborhood. and these also
were handed in at the sub-treasury.
All of them were forwarded to the re-
demption division at Washington,
where they are now held and awaiting
a claimant. They have been pasted to-
gether on sheets of paper in such
shape as to show what parts are pres
not enough left of the ten and of the
twenties to make ii practicable to re
deem them; but the two notes for $500
each are all right The owner has
only to present the requisite evidence,
and 81 600 in new money will be paid TO
him.
Up to date, however, no claimant has
appeared. This seems very extraordi-
nary. Why should not the owner de-
mand what belongs to him, no matter
how the loss was incurred. There
seems to be only one plausible theory.
1t sometimes happens that a man of
ordinarily regular habits goes on what
is known in Chicago as a bender.
Alcohol makes him reckless; he lights
cigars with bank notes and commits
various imprudences. Next day he Is
sorry, and, IL he can find any frag-
ments of the burned bills he sends
them to the treasury for redemption.
Afidavits reciting such a method of
loss frequently reach the redemption.
division. In some fashion IL may have
come about that Chicago citizen of
wealth and good repute tore up his
"wad" and scattered II along the lake
front on the night of June "a last. He
prefers to let the money go rather than
own up to so insane a frolic.
The first "stove case" for this sea-
son reached the redemption division
last week. Mr.. Quong Sing, New
York laundryman residing at No. 1S2
Sixth avenue, about a fortnight ago
wrapped $426 in notes in silk hand
kerchief and put IL into a stovepipe on
his premises. His assistant in the
washee washee business, not knowing
that the money was there, built fire
in the stove one chilly morning. and
the bills were partly destroyed.
Enough of them was left however. to
will get his cash back. He Is a lucky
Chinaman, for, as the records OF the
treasury show, the domestic stove is
the most completely efficient destroyer
of money in existence. People. especi-
ally In the rural districts. will insist
on employing II for the purpose of safe
deposits, and sooner or later the fam
lily savings are apt to go up in smoke.
Nearly always the bills are reduced to
hopeless ashes, involving total loss.
About one hundred cases of this kind
are referred to the redemption dlvis-
ion every year.
The government is always willing and
even anxious to replace spoiled money
IL At can possibly be identified The
skill of the women employed In this
work at the treasury department is lit
tie short of marvellous. One lady, Mrs.
Brown. attends to all the burned notes.
Patiently she picks out scrap after
scrap from a mass of charred frag-
ments, such as any ordinary person
would regard as hopeless. One by one
she pastes them on paper. assembling
the pieces of each note on sheet by
itself and trying to restore the green
back as a naturalist would build up an
extinct animal from a few fossil re-
mains. Even a portion that is hardly
more than ash may still show the en-
graved design. When she Is done II
remains to be determined how many
of the bills shall be considered as prop
erly identified. In the case of a bank
note. the name of the bank must be
ascertained.
In this kind OF labor powerful mag
nifying glasses are often called into
reauisition. A note that has been
cheMed up by a baby Is apt to be a