The Worcester spy. [volume] (Worcester, Mass.) 1898-1904, 1899-03-15
A DIFFICULT TASK.
Deft Fingers and Keen Eyes
Needed for the Work.
(From the Washington starl

/ Tor SIN months or more 30 cry before
issuing them. In the experience of the
/ department notes which are not thor
/ oughly seasoned are likely to smear.
! That happened to 5he last lot of new
notes issued by the government. and
it was the source Of a great many com
plants.
But the public demand for the with
drawal of the last issu~ was so great
| that no time was 10 ne lost, so the new
| notes were hustled out after only thirty
| days of delay and now the old notes
| are being called in as fast as possible
| and destroyed.
In the calling in of the old currency
and the putting out If the rev two of
| the bureau chiefs, are conspicuous.
They are James A. Sample OF the issue
division, and Albert Relyea of the re-
demption division. Ore OF them su-
! pervise the putting out OF the new
notes, while the other has charge of
| taking in the old. Under these men
some Of the best-known characters of
| the public service are employed. One
| of these is a famous woman clerk.
| Women We're first employed by the
government in the treasury service,
and this woman has the most RESPONSE
bic position of any in the service Of
Uncle Sam.
There are several experts employed
by the government to inspect the cur
rency offered for redemption, In fact,
every person employed in the bureau.
from Mr.. Relyea down, is in some de-
| gree an expert, because each one Of
them has to pass on the genuineness
of the money presented FOR redemp-
ton. and this is a difficult task. Re-
member that this money comes to the
treasury, as rule, only when it is 80
badly worn that 1t will not pass cur
rent
This dirty torn. greasy, ragged
money the experts of Mr.. Relyeas Of
fee have TO handle and decide whether
II was issued by the government, and
| should be redeemed at its face value,
or whether 1t is the work of counter
feiters and should be rejected. tt is
| not at all to the discredit of the experts
OF the bureau that some bogus money
has got past them and been detected
in one Of the offices to which the pieces
OF the money go for further eXamina-
ton. This does not occur often
The peculiar province Of Mrs Brown
rs not to detect bad money-though she
/ Is an expert at that--but to put to-
gether torn pieces of money sent in
for Identification and redemption.
These pieces Of money come from all
parts Of the country and arrive under
most extraordinary conditions This
is not surprising in view of the fact
that they come from experiences with
IRE and water and gastric juices and
many other powerful agents. not
lnfrequent accident to money is to be
left in a stove, whence it is taken in
badly charred condition, with only
ashes to represent the greater part of
it. Often it is used by rats to make
their nests; or, buried in the dampness
or a cellar. it rots away: or swallowed
by COW, it is rescued from her stom-
ach a Shiny mass OF paper.
Here are the rules of the treasury
Tor the redemption of mutilated money:
For piece Of currency greater than
tWo-fifths and less than three-fifths Of
the original note, one-half the face
value Of the note is given. For a
piece as great as three-hfths the whole
value Of the note is given For q
piece two-fffth in size of the original,
nothing is given.
But this last provision is limited by
the law, which gives discretion to the
treasury department to give full value
for note if the owner can prove to
the satisfaction of the authorities that
the note. or the missing part of it. was
destroyed. The last provision opens
the door to possible fraud. and many
are the efforts made by dishonest per-
sons TO take advantage of it.
The fragments of money which come
TO the treasury are turned over to one
OF the eXperts-in difficult cases to Mrs.
Brown-and sorted out under the mi
croscope for identification. They are
picked apart and each tiny piece is as
signed to its place like a part OF a
puzzle. This is usually done on glass
and the fragments are eventually put
between pieces of glass to hold them
together while they are measured TO
see whether there is tWo-fifths or three
ntths OF the note identifiable, or wheth-
er it is so little that the owner can
recover nothing. Sometimes it is a
very serious matter to the owner: but
the poor are not the only applicants
FOR assistance to recover damaged
money At the time W. Is. Nanderbilts
beautiful home at Newport was burned,
Mrs. Nanderbilt-now Mrs. Belmont
sent in about $1,000 in mutilated cur
rency, out of which Mrs. Brown was
able to identify for redemption all but
fraction Of the sum
IL IS not alone mutilated money that
comes to the treasury, but dirty and
worn money Of all kinds The national
bank notes go to the redemption agency
especially maintained for them This
agency handled more than $97, 900 900 In
uaIioiaI bank notes last year. In the
same period Mr.. Relyea's division han
died $340, 600 OO0 and more. OF this
"ioO,5 43 GOO was in silver certificates and
ABOUT $SSOOO,Q00 in currency certificates
sometimes counterfets get past the
experts in this bureau, and are caught
IN the other bureaus to which the
h ma are sent when the packages of
ulu hotes nave gone under the knife and
,,a 9lVlded up FOR counting and iden-
thls IS not the most frequent form Of
attempted fraud. The mutilated money
otters the easiest path to this sort Of
crime. W
Some Of the experiences Of the re-
demption division with vould-b
llleNes are interesting. Oneman inKan-
80 f, sent 10 me treasury the halves of
some small bills with the edges nicely
chafred, accompanied by an affidavit
from the sender that he had mt tbe
money IN his pocket hung his coat on
renee and that the coat had been
burned, to the destruction of part Of
the notes. u happened that the treas
urN had redeemed the other halves ur
these notes just two and a half wears
Detofe Tor money broker on the Rov.
cry IN New ! ork and, thinking the case
susp 'itiS,' mad Kept an eye out for the
possibility OF attempted fraud The
hansas man was a person of good bust
ness standing, and his bankers threat
ened the treasury officials with dismiss
sal II they questioned his affidavit. Thev
put the case in the hands of the denarf-
ment Of justice and eventually the man
pieaa guilty and was fined $1,000.
~ bank IN Alabama received from a
deposltor a fragment of a $40 Hill and
the treasury people paid So for II. Later.
came claim accompanied by the other
part OF the bill, little CHARGED with