Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1895-11-02


1t was as far back as September, 1893, that
New York dealer in old coins and cur
rency sent to the treasury the equivalent
of So 1t was in rather queer shape
consisting of the rght-hand halves of one
$40 and two $40 bills. 1t was evident that
the original notes had been deliberately
cut in two with knife or pair of scis-
sors. OF course, the half notes were re-
deemed, the treasury returning So in crisp
| new bills to the New York dealer. Under
the law a spoiled note is redeemable at
full value If as much as three-fifths of it
! is presented. If the fragment is less than
| three-fifths and more than two-fifths of
the whole, one-half Of the face is paid for
it,. Less than two-fifths of a bill is worth
nothing, unless 1t can be proved that the
balance has been destroyed.
Ordinarily the spoiled money that has
been redeemed is promptly destroyed by
boiling and grinding It to a pulp. But in
any case that looks suspicious the frag-
ments are filed away and preserved to cover
the possibility that something may turn up
later to shed light on the puzzle. That is
what was done with the halves of $50 re-
ceived from the New York dealer. They
were put on a shelf for reference, and for
the time being the matter dropped out of
sight. Two years elapsed and they were
practically forgotten, until the other day
fresh consignment consisting of the left
hand halves of one $40 and two $40 bills
| reached the treasury. They came all the
way from Kansas, and the explanation ac-
companying them was clear and succinct
enough.
An Ingenious Story.
A well-to-do farmer in Kansas presented
at his town bank the three half-notes de-
scribed, which bore marks of burning along
| the edges toward the middle of each bill.
| He explained that he had been engaged in
| burning brush in a field. He had taken off
| his waistcoat and hung it on a fence. 1t
| fell down, and, in his absence from the
| spot the fire, spreading through the grass,
! partly burned the waistcoat and the money
| in the pocket. The cashier of the bank,
| being a notary public, wrote out an aff1da-
| Wit reciting these circumstances, which the
| farmer signed and swore to. The affidavit
| was then forwarded to Washington with
| claim for the full value of the damaged
| bills-$50.
On the face of it the story was entirely
| credible and we'll calculated to accomplish
| its purpose; but there was contingency on
| which the farmer could hardly have reckon
| ed. What cause had he to imagine that the
other halves of those same notes might be
on a shelf in the redemption division of the
treasury? Mr.. Relyea, the chief, went to the
| files and put his hand upon them in a mo-
ment. The halves sent in by the New York
dealer and those received from the Kansas
| farmer had belonged to the same bills origi-
nally.
The matter was at once put into the hands
of the United States district attorney for
Kansas That official began an investiga-
| ton, but hesitated to prosecute the supposed
guilty man because the latter was an old
settler, large property owner and bore an
unimpeached character. Nevertheless, the
| treasury insisted on pushing the case, and a
warrant was issued for the farmers arrest
| on the charge of trying to defraud the gov
eminent. Last week Mr.. Relyea received a
| telegram from the district attorney stating
| that the farmer had plead guilty.
A Possible Explanation.
The story seems to end at this point; but
| a very interesting part of it remains as yet
wholly enveloped in mystery. How did it
| happen that the unfortunate person in Kan
| sas became possessed of those halves of $50?
| II is safe to say that few well-to-do farmers
| in the United States has failed to receive
inviting circulars from green goods men, Of
| fering counterfeit money OF course, the
green goods people have no counterfeits to
| sell; all they want is to get hold of the IN
| suspecting Mr.. Hayseed and fleece him. A
| favorite method of theirs is to cut d good
| note in two and send half of it as a sample
of their goods to the intended victim. 1t
| may be that the Kansas farmer nibbled at
| such a bait. but he refused finally to bite,
retaining 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 selling them to the dealer
aforesaid while the farmer held on to his FOR
| some time before he could decide what to 90
with them. Probably. if he had not come by
| them in this dubious way, he would have
presented them for redemption in legiti-
| mate fashion. AS it was, If he had done so
no questions would have been asked and he
would have come out just So ahead of the
green goods enterprise. So here is mystery
accounted for easily enough, supposing the
theory to be correct.
Another Mystery.
Much more difficult is it to explain how
in June of this year the sum of 81 ,OGO came
4 n he a no lake nf
cago. torn into small scraps in such a man.
ner to leave no doubt that the destruc-
! tion of the cash was Intentional Early in
| the morning of the twenty-eighth day of
I that month two colored laborers were walk
! ing along the shore south of oath street,
! when they noticed some scraps of green
paper blowing about Looking further, they
discovered a good many more pieces. which
! were distributed for distance of a couple
| of blocks. After some hours of patient
search, they had gathered enough to rep
resent in a respectable manner two notes
| for $500 each, two more for so each and
| one for SO.
Money Admitting "A Claimant.
| They took the fragments to the subtreas-
ury, supposing that they could claim the
| face value of the morey. Imagine their
! disgust when they were informed that the
| fact of having found it gave them no title
whatever to the cash. 1t was evident that
| they were honest men, and memoranda of
! their story was 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
I in at the subtreasury. All of them were
forwarded to the redemption division at
Washington, where they are now held and
awaiting a claimant. They have been
! pasted together on sheets of paper in such
| a shape as to show what parts are present
and what are missing. There is not enough
/ left of the ten and of the twentes to make
( it practicable to redeem them, but the two
notes for 500 each are all right. The owner
has only to present the requisite evidence
| and 81 900 in new money Will be paid to
him. Up to date. however, no claimant has
appeared. This seems very extraordinary.
The Stove as a Savings Bank.
The first stove case for this season
reached the redemption division last week.
Mr.. Quong Sing, New York laundryman,
about fortnight ago wrapped s426 in notes
in silk handkerchief and put it into a
stovepipe on his premises. His assistant in
| the washee-washee business. not knowing
! that the money was there, built fire in the