The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1897-10-13
The Coming Of the Gold.

| New York, Oct. 1.-Two million and q
half dollars IN gold arrived from England
! in two steamers Saturday and sS.O5ooO is
on the way. The engagements already
! made will bring this total up to SIS, COO COG
| before the end of the month. and bankers
| mere estimate tina: the receipts for October
will reach SO. o00, coo. il not $50. coo 600 Some
| people say this money is being imported
| 10 pay for the Union Pacific railroad.
which is to be sold at auction tie first OF
November at Omaha, and VIII be pur-
| chased for not less than So. GO cash
by syndicate tina, has already bsen o.
gained, and includes several Of the most
! prominent banking houses IN New York;
Out the prevailing opinion among finan-
ciers IS that the fow OF gold this way is
perfectly natural and IS caused by the
flow OF wheat and other breadstuffs and
provisions IN the other direction. The ex-
| ports for August were larger than for
many previous months IN the history Of
the United States, and il Is predicted that
when the figures for September are an
nounced they will exceed those OF August
These exports have 10 be paid for, and
the money, sooner or later. must come
home to the men who sold thenl. And there
is steady stream of geld flowing into the
sub-treasury here from the other d:rec-
ton. The sum Of $4,000 sas received from
san Francisco recently from Australia,
and there IS so much coin on the Pacific
coast that people want to get rid of It.
San Francisco bank which not long
ago offered the secretary of the treasury
several millions Of gold coin for New York
exchange TO save the cost OF Transports
ton. has resorted to a novel plan for trans
ferring the gold across the continent at the
expense Z ic
by mail in small canvass bags about the
SIZE of a sausage, each bag containing fifty
$40 gold pieces, and there are seven or
eight bags on every mail. Over 100000
has already been received in this way. The
packages are sealed, registered and sent
under letter postage at the rate of ! cent
an ounce. A double-easle weighs about an
ounce, and fifty ounces is about as heavy
package as the postal authorities will
accept The postage on each package Is
% cents, more or less, the fee for regis
tration IS cents. and the money is in
sured az the rate of 81 per s1,0C0 against
loss by fire, robbery or accidents There
fore the cost of transportation amounts TO
about sl.60 for every s1.000. The express
rates, including insurance, are $3.50 per
$1,000, and the saving is therefore about
$3.50 per $1,00o. or 100 times that much on
the shipments thus far.
The government assumes no RESPONSE
binty for packages intrusted to the mails
The registrati ton is only a safeguard and
receipt, which is admitted as prima-facia
evidence in the courts. so the insurance
companies take all the risk. Small pack
ages of gold have been transmitted by
mail frequently for years back, and there
has never been loss, but this is the first
81,
wholesale.
1t is common practice to send paper
money in the mails, and since the first of
July, when the new contracts between
the government and the express companies
for carrying currency went into effect,
the shipments have been very large. The
reason for this is a clause in the con-
tracts depriving the banks of the govern
ment rates for expressage, which are less
than one-haH of those charged the public.
Until July it was customary for banks
who had currency to ship to intrust it TO
the assistant treasurer, who sent il in a
government safe to the sub-treasury or
depository nearest it's destination, at off,
cial contract rates. The express companies
complained that the government was ac-
commodating bankers at their expense,
and when the new contracts were made
last June Mr.. Gage coutented to the in
sertion Of a clause which prohibited this
practice, except where it was for the ad-
vantage Of the government. Now no Of
fetal can favor a bank in this manner
without permission or instructions from
the secretary of the treasury. and to avoid
heavy express charges the banks have
taken to shipping their money by mail. |
and they viii probably continue TO DO so
until train robbers make it too risky for |
them.
A thousand or a $4,000 bill does not |
weigh any more than 81 or s. bill, and |
the postage charge is nominal. The reg
istration fee is cents, and there are sew |
eral insurance companies that make a |
business of taking risks OF this kind. their |
premiums being generally governed by dis
lance. At any bank you can see a sched-
ule OF the cost of ;nsuring shipments OF |
money by mail from New York 10 al
most every town in the country, and hun
dreds Of thousands Of dollars are sent
and received that way every day.