Chicago eagle. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1889-19??, 1896-08-29
HOW BANK CLERKS WORK.
fHG LAsoRs OF THOSE on THE IN.
SIDE OF THE Gagged WINDOWS.

&
The Men Who Receive and Pay Out
Money Have No Easy Time Of lt...Expssts
a Counting and Handling Bills.
On stepping into any Of the large
banking houses down town says The
Boston Transcript, one IL almost wick
edly tempted to liken the func.
tionaries behind the bars to 20 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 teller's departments, whose
workings indeed are peculiarly In uni
son. Here the fragments of silken
tissue that pass daily through our
hands as dollar bills IRE undergoing
. strictly systematic discipline, each
bill being vigorously scrutinized and
carefully handled and dealt with nc
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 unfaillng attention
Of him who holds TIA quick, alert
mind and active brain, capable Of
doing ut least half n dozen things at
the sumo time. This clerks hours are
irregular and uncertnin-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 tho
afternoon, and the majority Of people
are under the impression that there Is
nothing more to do mt the latter hour
but for the bOOkkeepers to close their
great volumes ant the teller to lock up
the safe and oil retire simultaneously.
But IL 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, II possible,
than Mt noon.
Among most Of the important banks
q the city the deposits made daily
average from 900 to 400, some Of which
are amazingly large. 1t Ii q little
startling to see the deposits made by
some of the well.known firms Of this
city mt holiday time, as well ~ by the
railroad companies after the many
legal holidays. but more strikingly Is 1t
30 with the deposits Of some Of the
large dry goods stores after one Of
their celebrated "mark.d0wn sales' or
'bargain days." Many Of these latter
deposits II piled up separately would
form q series Of little pillars that
would put man Of six feet complete
~ In the shade, each valuing from
$4,000 to $4,000, and composed
chiefly Of 81 and 81 bills.
The receiving teller on taking In the
smaller or sundry deposits passes them
over to his assistant, whose quick eyes
scan their contents, examining and
proving each one separately as he does
20. These In turn fall into the hands
Of the paying teller's assistant, from
whence they spring to either q glori.
Gus resurrection to make once moro
In oblivion. but before reaching its
i1nal destination In the bank--the safe
each individual deposit has gone
through the supervision Of at least
three people. Thus IRE avoided, as
far as possible. all errors or mistakes,
and traced, II 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 ut once to unbind
the letters Of the dense piles, ana 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 sop.
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 of to make up
$500 packages of IS 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
G0Cu vuChusc ~ SOuptctc ~ - biiVpcNl
into neat little white paper band
with the amount 1t contains clearly
. stamped upon 1t as well as the sigma.
ture of him who IL responsible for It.
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 fves and
tens the counter takes the ones and
twos in hand. These are likewise dealt
with and strapped into bands Of
twenty-lves, 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 a respectful performance Of
the last rites, are ultimately committed
to the flames ut the National capital.
Good and bad are for the time placed
together and footed up according to the
stamped, In order to prove whether Of
not the figures agree with those given
with the deposit. The good bills are
then stored away and the ragged onei
of each deposit are taken apart and
amassed together through the day
When in due season, the business Of
sorting has ended, and not good bill
10 anywhere to be seen, they are Their
taken and put up In still more con