The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1899-07-14
UNCLE SANS SILVER.
Handling and Care of 1t Costs Him
a Large Sum.
The Transfer, Counting and Storing
of the Vast Amount Costs Heav-
lily Cost Of Coinage
Is Small.

Carting to the United States mint
vaults at Spring Garden and Sixteenth
streets the vast masses of silver bullion
and silver dollars that have been stored
in the old mint and the post Office build
ing has attracted attention to the fact
that the successive transferring, count
ing and storing of the white metal since
its purchase as bullion about ten years
ago, to say nothing of the depreciation
of about a third in the market price
since that time, has cost the govern
ment many thousands of dollars in ex-
cess of it's actual money value. In fact,
the government would have saved a
great deal of money if it had thrown
away the silver dollars as soon as they
were coined. The keeping and handling
of them has proved to be the most ex-
pensive luxury in which the govern
ment has ever indulged.
The Philadelphia mint holds $780,
100000. in silver, over $60,000,0o0 of
which has been coined into the cart
wheel dollars. Each successive superin-
tendent since that time has had the sill
yer counted or transferred from one
place to another, the operation usually
requiring year or more and costing
over $4,000 in the single item of count
ing. AS the superintendents are under
$500 900 bonds, their bondsmen natural
ly insist upon knowing just what they
are responsible for, and SO the counting
process is undergone with each sue
cseding administration, Uncle Sam
paying the bill.
When Daniel M. Fox was superintend-
ent of the mint about ten years ago the
silver dollars were transferred from the
mint to the post Office building. The
cost of carting the load from the mint
to the post Office was 25 cents per ST. 900,
exclusive of the pay of the laborers en-
ployed in handling it.
In imitation of the celebrated STRAIT
sgy of the French general, whose cam
paign consisted of marching up hill
and then down again, the succeeding
superintendent, Col. Bosbyshell, carted
the silver dollars from the post Office
back to the mint, duplicating the cost.
Then Eugene Townsend became su-
perintendent, and the process of trans
ferring The silver from his predecessor
to himself, the hand-counting of the
whole mass being involved, again cost
the government over $4,000.
When Herman Kretz succeeded DIR.
Townsend the transfer was made with
out extra cost to the government, the
usual force at the mint being employed
in the task of counting on this econom-
ical occasion, but system of packing
the silver dollars in boxes was intro
duced at a cost of five cents per box,
and this cost the government about
$1,000.
The transfer of the silver from Mr.,
Kretz to Harry x. Boyer, the present
superintendent, cost the government
as before, over $4,000. Silver dollars to
the amount of $21, 100000 were taken
again to the post Office building foI
storage. This labor was completed
only about three weeks ago, and nov
the whole bulk of silver IN being re-
carted TO the new mint at the regula
tion price demanded by the express
company of 25 cents per 81 900, with the
additional cost of five cents per boz
containing 81 900 and the laborers' pay
The details involved In all this NOV
ing and counting are intricate in
the extreme. superintendent Boyer'l
count, recently completed, was rem
'tdered as expeditiously as possible. We
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