Crawford avalanche. (Grayling, Mich.) 1879-19??, 1896-08-20
HOW BANK CLERKS WORK.
THE LABoRs or THOSE ON THE IN.
SIDE OF THE GAGGED WINDOWS.
The Men Who Receive and Pay Out
Money Have No Easy Time Of It--.Experts
at Counting and Handling Bills.

DunkluS HOUSES uOWu toWu buyo 1hc
Boston Transcript, one is almost wick
edly tempted to liken the func-
tionaries behind the bars to so many
Gagged animals. But the sharp, quick,
intelligent faces Of these men forbid
the thought. Once inside these iron
bars and permitted the privilege to
pierce the inner depths an ordinary
individual finds much to awaken won
der. This is particularly true of both
the paying tellers departments, whose
workings indeed are peculiarly In uni
son. Here the fragments Of silken
tissue that pass daily through our
hands as dollar bills are undergoing
a strictly systematic discipline, each
bill being vigorously scrutinized and
carefully handled and dealt with ac-
cording to its just deserts, good or bad.
The position of the paying teller's as
sistant is one which requires the strict
est precaution and unfailing attention
of him who holds tia quick, alert
mind and active brain, capable of
doing at least half dozen things at
the same time. This clerks hours are
irregular and uncertain-some days
long, some short-much depending
upon the deposits made through the
day.
The banking hours are usually from
$50 in the morning to o'clock in the
afternoon, and the majority Of people
are under the impression that there Is
nothing more to do at the latter hour
but for the bookkeepers to close their
great volumes and the teller to lock up
the safe and all retire simultaneously.
But If those who hold this notion Of
bank clerks hours should happen into
the bank two or three hours later they
would still find these men as busy as
bees and deeper in work, If possible,
than at noon.
Among most of the important banks
Of the city the deposits made daily
average from 300 to 400, some of which
are amazingly large. 1t is a little
startling to see the deposits made by
city at holiday time, as well rs by the
railroad companies after the many
legal holidays. but more strikingly is it
so with the deposits of some of the
large dry goods stores after one OF
their celebrated ''mark-down sales" or
bargain days" Many of these latter
deposits If piled up separately would
form series of little pillars that
would put n man of six feet complete
ly in the shade. each valuing from
$4,000 to $4,000, and composed
chiefly of 81 and 50 bills.
The receiving teller on taking in the
smaller or sundry deposits passes them
over to his assistant whose quick eyes
sean their contents, examining and
proving each one separately as he does
so. These in turn fall into the hands
of the paying teller's assistant, from
whence they spring to either glori-
Gus resurrection to make once more
the circuit of the globe or forever sink
in oblivion. But before reaching it's
final destination in the bank-the safe
each individual deposit has gone
through the supervision of at least
three people. Thus are avoided. "a
far as possible, all errors or mistakes,
and traced if there be any such to
their original source.
Having received orders from the
paying teller as to how he wishes the
drawers and safe stocked for the day,
his assistant begins at once to unbind
the letters of the dense piles, and soon
the desks are strewn with this big dis
play of wealth. 1t presents patch
work appearance of singular charac-
ter. He takes the large deposits sep
arately and with wonderful skill and
energy and with still more wonderful
patience, wades through the mazes Of
the mass. seemingly never-ending
task, and to say the least, most
tedious one. He starts off to make up
$500 packages Of So and so bills,
throwing out in systematic order the
ragged and time-worn bills of all de-
nominations. Each bill is carefully
examined and smoOthed out, and when
each package Is complete it is slipped
into a neat little white paper band
with the amount it contains clearly
stamped upon it as well as the sigma
ture of him who Is responsible for 1t.
The bills of the larger denominations
that is to say. the $40, $50 and 500
bills are usually made up into pack
ages, and the $500 and $1,000 bills are
laid away independently of any stated
amount.
Having finished with the fives and
tens the counter takes the ones and
twos I'm hand. These are likewise dealt
with and strapped into bands Of
twenty -fives, fifties and hundred dol
lars. The good bills being thus sorted
out, the ragged are gone through and
counted up separately. These latter
bills, after respectful performance Of
the last rites, are ultimately committed
to the flames at the National capital
Good and bad are for the time placed
together and footed up according to the
stamped, In order to prove whether or
not the figures agree with those given
with the deposit. The good bills are
then stored away and the ragged ones
of each deposit are taken apart and
amassed together through the day.
When in due season, the business OF
sorting has ended, and not a good bill
Is anywhere to be seen, they are then
taken and put up In still more con-
venient order The legal tenders or
greenbacks, the silver dollar bills, coins
and national bank notes, all ranging
from the lowest denomination to the
highest, are carefully separated from
each other and taken In series and put
into straps respectively Of hundreds,
Hyo huudrads and thousauds T,buc all