Western Kansas world. [volume] (WaKeeney, Kan.) 1885-current, 1899-02-25
TWENTIETH YEAR.
A day IN THE State TREASURY.

Mr.. EDITOR: Thinking that short
sketch of a day in the State Treasury
would be interesting to the people of
the sthort grass country, and particu-
larly to your readers who have SO re-
Gently furnished an executive official
for this important department.,
write you concerning it.
The Department of the Treasury of
Kansas occupies three large pleasant
rooms on the second floor of the west
wing of the state house, and is. before
everything else, place of business.
The working force of the treasury
consists of Mr.. Grimes treasurer; II.
Il. Kelly, assistant treasurer; Roy
) Richie, chief clerk; j. 5. Dawson.
bond clerk; Miss Maude Findley,
stenographer; and c. w. Miller, guard.
The duties of Mr.. Grimes-well his
duties are as multitudious as the
sands of the seashore, and, like Ten
nyson's brook. they run on forever.
Besides the arduouS duties of superin-
tending the various depal tments of
his office, he is Il member of the Exec
utive Council, IA member of the Board
OF Equalization. member OF the
Board of iiailroad Assessors, and Il
member OF the Board of Canvassers.
S ores OF people OF high and low de-
gree have business with him in the
course OF one day, and he knows them
all, from the great railroad magnate
To tsie ..aiored boy who runs the ele-
vaGor.
Mr.. Kelly receives and pays out the
money. lne people generally have no
idea oi i.Ie ehormou> monetary re-
ceipts and disbursements in Il days
tranS.Ic Jion al the treasury. This is
true even Oi wcil-infOrmed people, for
at the pseSeaU session OF the lesisla-
ture, one senator introduced u bill
providing Tor luaning the deposits in
the treasury and providing that not
more than twenty thousand dollars
shall be kept in the vaults at one
time Twenty Thousand dollars!
suppose the senator thought that was
sufficient margin, but the facts are
that some Gays the disbursements will
run up to fifty, seventy-tive, and even
a hundred thousand dollars. The
vaults of the treasury are an interest
ing study. At times they will con-
tain quarter of million in curren-
cy and again they will run down to a
few thousands. The silver is kept in
strong sacks. containing five hundred
dollars each, and one sack is about all
a man would want to carry very far.
A sack of two thousand dollars would
make load for drayman.
The bond vault is built of three inch
plates-two of hard steel and one of
soft steel, riveted together with thir-
Jy-tive thousand bolts, surrounded by
fix feet of solid masonery, and guard
ed by two ponderous doors, the outer
one weighing two and a half tons.
When enclosed for the night it would
defy General Weyler and his subma-
rine mines for more than one explo-
sion before it would yield its precious
contents. Here are kept the bonds OF
the funds of the state. The figures
may be interesting so they are sub
mitted below:
Permanent school fund So, ,4IS.773 5s
Permanent university
fund -. ---...-..... 145. All g.
Permanent Normal school
fund ............. .16O.Is7 Oo
Permanent Agricultural
college fund. .......... 493, ,3s9 II
Permanent SJormont Lii
brary fund .. 5000 90
But these figures convey but little
idea. One set of figures look So much
like another set and the reckless way
our pOpulist friends had of taking
millions and billions has but added
to our confusion. 1t is fact, how
ever, that when some of the most
radical pops have been down here for
while and they begin to comprehend
the vastnnss of the business of great
state, they discover that it is more
than evenings job, at a corner
grocery, to revolutionize the part
played by finance in the sum-total of