The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1896-08-20
PEOPLES WAYS OF HIDING MONEY.
How, Seeking Security, They often
Lose Their Little HonrdS.
Washington Letter to The Boston Tras-

ENAAlA
There Is at all times a good deal OF
boarding. especially in parts OF the coun-
try where saving banks are scarce. Among
the inhabitants OF such remote districts
"a favOrite method OF concealing cash
is TO put II in tin box and bury H.
either in the cellar or in the ground near
the house. Another plan commonly adopt
ed is TO put money In the garnet. under
the caves. Where the rafters meet the
beams there Is a convenient place left.
ike a SHELF. and nobody would be likely
TO look here for valuaDles. Women are
apt TO choose mattresses for hiding places.
''wad' and sew it up again. When old
women die. and their beds Of feathers or
straw are empued and cleaned. money is
often found in them.
These persons are not -misers. The
treasury experts say that women misers
are rare: there is not one female miser TO
half a dozen men who practice that vice.
They know. too, because they come INTO
frequent contact with the miser business.
When a miser dies. much Of his money IL
likely to be found IN a more OF less dilap-
idated condition.. having been hidden away
in strange places. and Il is sent TO the
treasury for redemption. AS a rule, the
miser buries his cash deep W the ground.
using as a receptacle tin box or large
baking powder can. Not few misers, On
the other hand. prefer TO conceal their
wealth in odd corners about the house,
scattering 10 about in different spots, 80
that in some instances It has been con-
sidered worth while 10 tear the dwelling
TO pieces I'm order to discover the secretad
coins and notes.
IL is commonly supposed that misers
love gold beyond all other forms Of money;
but treasury officials declare that they
prefer paper usually. They like notes OF
big denominations. The average miser's
hoard that reaches the treasury consists
mainly Of notes, with some gold, and per-
hapS a little silver. The paper money
has the advantage Of small bulk, so thar
II may be easily concealed The miser
vice is somewhat of a puzzle from the
point Of view OF the everyday individual,
but II seems to be merely a morbid deVei-
opment of the normal saving instinct. The
saving Of money Is accomplished by many
self-denials. To anybody II Is a satisfac-
ton to watch the increase OF stock or
capital thus gained The bigger the pile
the greater the qualification, and so in
some individuals the pleasure eventually
comes to surpass all other delights, ami
no sacrifice of comfort is too great TO he
made for its sake.
Every bank failure gives encourage
ment to the practice Of boarding. Most
people i'm rural parts distrust banks. 1
prefer my old stocking" says the farm
er's wife. Some day. perhaps, robbers
come along and toast the toes of the
farmer and his good woman before the
fire until they consent to give up the
stocking and its contents. but, happily,
such occurrences are not frequent. Only
the other day an old man named 5. II.
Reynolds, living not far from Cleveland.
o., raised a great row because OF the
supposed loss of s., 500 which he had pack
ed in a tin box and hidden in the wall
of the Cellar He ding hole in the wall
and filled II up again, telling nobody
but his son of the concealed hoard. Dur
ing his sons absence on a journey he took
a notion to inspect the cash, and 10! 1t
was gone The son was suspected Of
stealing IL, but presently returned and
showed that he had transferred 1t pri-
vately to another place in the cellar.
The hoard secreted by the old man con-
sisted Of $1,000 in gold and $500 In one
thousand-dollar and NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS.
notes. The notes had rotted to pieces,
owing to the dampness Of the cellar, and
so had to be sent to the treasury for re-
demption. 1t was big job to put the
bits together and identify the cash sat
isfactorily, but II was finally accomplish
ed, and the farmer was repaid In full.
Mr. Reynolds boasts that he has not been
in the hands of a barber for twenty-five
years. his wife cuts his hair. and he trims
his own whiskers. He has never smoked,
chewed, drank, or danced regarding
those amusements as too expensive. The
method he adopted for saving his money
is scarcely surprising when IL Is considered
that, according to his own statement, he
had previously lost large sums by the
failure of three banks on different occa-
sions-once 1920, again $3.50 and the
third time 5000
Paper money is not very suitable for
boarding, by reason of its extremely per-
ishable quality If exposed to dampness
It quickly rots, and in few years may be
so completely destroyed as 10 be unrecog-
nizabe even by the skilled women In the
redemption bureau at Washington who
accomplish miracles every day in the
Identification of damaged cash. Accord
ingly, the cellar is among the worst of
hiding places, and the ground Is equally
bad Some individuals prefer to conceal
their boards under the front doorstep,
while an old stump In a disused field
strikes others as a more secure spot for
concealmcnt. The records of the treasury
tell of one old woman who employed for
a bank a space beneath the lowest drawer
in a chest of drawers built into a closet
Surely nobody would have thought Of
looking there; but IL was otherwise with
tho mice. which found the wad of paper
notes lrst-rate material for nests.
Only few days ago some money reach
ed the treasury from Wisconsin. 1t was
$3.50 in ten-dollar and twenty-dollar bills
The sum had been turned up out of the
ground by pillow. But the remarkable
feature of the story Is that the place
where the cash was found is an almost I'M
inhabited district The owner of the land
obtained It from the government a short
time back, and 1t was in the process of
clearing 1t for cultivation that he came
across the tin box which contained the
treasure. The question is, who could
have buried money in so remote and I'M
settled region? For what reason could
II have been buried there and why was
II never dug up? There is no telling what
drama, or robbery, or murder NAV ale
behind the strange discovery. As for the
1850 though somewhat damaged, IL has
been redeemed.
Contemporary history has recorded the
case or Jason B. Smith of Ypsilanti who
buried $4,000 In notes of large denomIna-
lions In hole in the ground Finding them
nearly destroyed by dampness, he did them
up IN pillow case and started for Wash
lngton with the case tied around his bodv.
He received from the treasury brand-new
bills in exchange, and was robbed of the
entire sum on his way back home. The
FAMILY Bible, the unabridged dictionary.
the tea caddy, the clock, the toes of old
shoes, and the pockets of disused dresses
hanging in the closet-ali these are com
mon hiding places for the hoard. A stock
ing Is convenient substitute for a nurse
and may be readily concealed in an out
of-the-way corner.
In rural parts the parlor stove IS a favor
tie place Of concealment for the family
wad. 1t is only thus employed for temper
ary purposes, however. Every now and
then somebody unacduantied with the ett