Freeland tribune. (Freeland, Pa.) 1888-1921, 1896-06-08
TALES OF THE TREASURY.
RoMANCES THAT VARY THE DULL
ROUTINE OF MONEY COUNTING.
Redeeming Paper Certificates That
Have Been Through Strange Ex-
periences-Unique Frauds,


date no writer of romance
seems to have thought of working it,
though in return for little scratch
ing with the pen it might be made to
laugh with harvest of joyous anec-
dotes. Strange and amusing things
are constantly popping up to distract
the attention of the officials from the
dull routine Of money counting.
In Ohio lives farmer named Jason
B. Smith. His home is in the neigh
borhood of Ypsilanti, and among his
neighbors he is reputed to be some
what "near." A while ago he buried
a considerable sum in notes and Ger.
tificates, believing Mother Earth to be
more trustworthy than bank. Going
one day to examine his treasure he
discovered that the elements were rap
idly reducing it to dust. For it is a
fact that paper money when buried in
the ground quickly decays.
This state of affairs alarmed Mr..
Sm 18th, and he promptly withdrew the
cash from safe deposit. But, instead
OF forwarding it to the Treasury in the
jar that contained it and without dis
turbing the semi-decomposed bills he
emptied the whole business into pill
low case. Tying the latter around his
body next to the skin he started for
the National Capital. Being of q
frugal turn Of mind he made the trip
as far as possible us deck passenger
on river steamboat, sleeping on bales
and boxes.
He got to Washington safely, pre-
sented himself at the Treasury and
stated his case. The next thing was
to remove the cash from his person,
and this was a matter of some embar-
rassment. A messenger was assigned
to the duty of assisting in the task.
which was accomplished with no little
difficulty by reason of q lack of trust
fulness on the part of Mr.. Smith.
Finally, the money was handed over
to one of the ladies in the redemption
division to be counted and identified.
She found it very much crumbled, but
succeeded in identifying about $19,-
O00-all but $400 of the total sum
represented.
Payment was offered to Mr.. Smith
in the shape of draft, but he would
not take it that way. He chose notes
Of large denomination and went off
with them and strong sense of graft
tude to the ladies of the redemption
division. To them he sent newspa-
per filled with grapes, together with q
poem. Mr.. Smith departed joyfully for
his Western home. On his way thither
he was robbed of the entire $4,000.
Another buried money case was that
of O colored man near st. Louis, who
put $156 in tin can and inferred the
latter in field near his house. Soon
afterward he was taken ill, and spent
several months in hospital. On be-
ing cured and discharged, he sought
his bank and found that the farm in
which it was located had be sold. Not
only that, but it had been cleared, SO
that every land mark was obliterated.
The new owner, an honest German,
promised to look for the treasure, and
by good luck he did actually find it,
turning it up with his plow. The cash
was much rotted, but all of it was re-
deemed by the Treasury except one
500 National bank note, of which only
the outer rim remained. If this note
had been an ordinary greenback or
certificate the amount would have
been recovered, but in the case OF O
bank note it is necessary that the
name of the bank shall be known in
order to secure redemption, and in
this instance both the name and the
| a1o aF ho IL 1,.,,l 4
disappeared. In one way, therefore,
greenbacks and certificates may be
considered safer property than bank
notes.
Not long ago, in the interior of New
York State, wretched tramp died in
a barn. He Was evidently of German
birth, and inquiry disclosed the name
he went by. A few lines in the local
papers were copied by the Stats
Zeitung in New York, and from that
source the death notice was recopied
into newspapers in Germany. The
brother OF the dead mar saw it, and
wrote on the subject to the German
Consul at New York. He said that
his brother could not have been a
pauper, inasmuch a3 he had received
large sum of money short time
previous. Accordingly, the body was
exhumed, and beneath the under.
clothing was found belt containing
over $4,000. The cash was sent to
Washington, and its condition was
such as to make the clerks weary of
life while going though the necessary
processes of counting and identifying
the notes.
Gases of this sort are by no means
infrequent. On one occasion some
village children in q Northern State,
while playing in the woods, found a
dead man. They reported it, and the
Coroner made an investigation. Little
more than the skeleton remained, and
it was never ascertained who or what
the man had had been. Beneath him
was portion of his clothing, which
contained $50. The money reached
the Treasury in decided crumply and