The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1897-01-04
THE '1NFALLrnLE" BANK CLERK.
How His Errors Are Revealed in the
Treasury Redemption Packages.

treasury Redemption Packages.
Washington Letter in Philadelphia Times.
The "infallbale" bank clerk is not 80
careful as he would have the banking pub
nc believe as the experience of the re-
demption division shows The packages
OIL national bank notes sent to the treasury
last year were supposed to contain SS7
100000 but count at the treasury showed
that some of them ran over the amounts
they We're supposed to contain and some
We're short. The lovers" amounted In al
to $500, and the shorts" to $1,000 In
each of two years in the story of the re-
demption division the errors aggregated
more than $4,000. OF course, the treasury
count is final. and no doubt many people
believe that the clerks of the redemption
division have profited by making false
statements of the amounts received and
pockeung the difference. 1t is difficult
TO convince man that he has made a
mistake unless the evidence Is Under his
eyes.
Just now the redemption division is ST.
$4,000 behind in its work. and Secretary
Carlisle has asked congress to make a
special appropriation for the employment
of experts to bring the work up to date.
The office has been running behind for a
long time. and each year has added a
little to the deficiency. The increase In
working force has not kept pace with the
work, which grows with the increase in
the circulating medium. If the money re-
cetved came to the treasury, as 1t comes
to the banks and the sub-treasuries. there
would be little trouble in keeping every
thing running smoothly. But much of Il
comes in in various stages of dilapidatlon.
There is story attached to each piece
OF curiously mutllated currency handled
by the treasury department, and the re-
cord of all of them would fill an entertain
ing book. Many bring with them the tale
OF the death of a pet animal. A man In
Spring Valley o., last year dropped a $40
bill on the floor and his dog in a playful
spirit chewed it and swallowed 1t. The
man did not hesitate long. He killed the
dog and cut him open. The gastric juice
had bleached the note, and it was I'm a
very unpresentable condition, but 1T was
deposited with a bank, which sent it to
the sub-treasury at Cincinnati, and thence
1t was sent to the treasury department,
where the expert succeeded in identifying
it, and it was redeemed. This is one of
many dog notes" redeemed.
A workman in a silver factory last year
let $40 note fall on plate of silver as
1t was going under the roller. The note
was imbedded in the silver and the man
sent the whole thing to the treasury for
redemption. The government returned his
sheet of silver and $40.
Evidences of family quarrels are found
in separate halves of notes sent in for re-
demption by man and wife. In a. case of
this kind each receives one-half of the
face value of the note. Some time ago
the department received the halves of the
same note on the same day, from differ
ent parts Of the country, with elaborate
statements in each case of the way the
other half had been destroyed. The de-
partment had some trouble adjusting the
matter, but it finally paid the face value
of the note to one of the claimants who
seemed to have the stronger case, and
left the other man to make a fight in the
courts if he chose. There was evidence
that one, if not both intended to defraud
the treasury. But not all the false claims
are made with intent to defraud.
A man sent in claim for 5000, with
a bundle Of scraps of currency one day
and the treasury experts, on examination
found that they represented more than ST..
co., In another case a farmer claimed
several hundred dollars which had beer
partly destroyed, and he verified the
amount of the claim by his remembrance
of the sum for which he had sold mis-
crop. The scraps proved to represent just
twice the sum. In both cases the honesty
of the claimant was not questioned, and
he received, not the amount of his claim,
but the larger sum-
IN anOtnef case the government ueclneu
to pay anything. A man sent in scraps
which he said represented several hundred
dollars which had been gnawed by mice.
Examination demonstrated pretty plainly
that he had taken about $40 worth of small
bills and torn them into fine pieces. He
got nothing-except the remains of his
torn bills. He threatened to bring suit
against the government, but that was the
last heard of the matter. Another claim
came from youth employed in a Philadel-
phla bank and was accompanied by mass
of pieces of bills, which on examination
proved to be the corners and torn edges
of a great many notes of different denom-
nations. The claimant had busted him
self picking up the scraps of notes which
fell from the tellers' desks, and he expect
ed to realize at least their proportional
value Another claimant wrote that he
would send the remains of a large sum
by express, but his package was received
empty. Possibly he expected the govern
ment to make claim against the express
company for the amount. The treasury
people wrote asking II he had forgotten
to inclose the remains, and he became
frightened and did not answer the letter.
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