The age-herald., 1899-01-12
PENNIES UNPOPULAR
 IN NEW ORLEANS

l But why not?" protested the passenger,
 drawing back. "They're money, aren't they?'
 "Well. we can't use 'em," replied the
 conductor. You'll have to give me
 nickel or get off"
 "I haven't nieke.'' said the passenger,
 'but there are cents, good money. You
 may do you please about taking them, but I'd just warn you to be little careful
 about putting me off"
 The conductor looked troubled, and final ly threw the coins on the floor with a gest-
 ure of disgust and walked to the other end
 of the car. Upon reflection, however, he
 thought better of the matter, and picked
 them up again.
 strongly the fact that New Orleans is not a "penny town" Although coppers have been in circulation for years, it has been
 under sufferanee, so to speak, and they
 have never generally accepted as part of
 the economic scheme. They are handled al-
 most entirely bs women and children and
 therein rests cur'ous circumstance noted by students of sociology.
 It is estimated by the sub-treasury of-
 ficials in this city that there are now be-
 tween a million and quarter and a mill
 lion and a half pennies in circulation in
 New Orleans; in other words, S15,0OO worth
 at the top figure. But there are a thous-
 and and one avenues through which they
 disappear; new needs for their employment
 are constantly springing up, and the re-
 suit is a steady demand
 "Where are the snows of yester year?"
 wrote Francois Villon long ago. Where
 are the cents of yesterday?' sets the imag-
 ination on well nigh as wild frolic. Thou
 sands are carried off by frugal travellers
 and spent in cities where they are in moro
 favor. Thousands more are hoarded in chil-
 drens banks. Great sacks full go to Wash
 ington in settlements for postage stamps,
 and without doubt many are thrown away
 by careless folk who don't want to be
 bothered with them" Anyhow, there is a
 constant cry for coppers from the big re-
 tail stores.
 I've furnish them to the merchants in
 lots of from s2O to s10O,' said a sub-treas-
 ury official. "They call for them at irregu-
 lar intervals and meantime get additional
 lots from the banks and other sources. So
 it is difficult to compile accurate statistics
 of the demand"
 Where do you get your pennies" asked
 a Times-Demoerat reporter of the cashier
 of one of the largest dry goods emporiums
 in the city.
 "We have people who bring them to us
 regularly. They are thee vendors of penny
 candy on the streets the proprietors of
 the slot machines and several office ped ders They bring in a few dollars worth at time and altogether aggregate con- siderable amount. Then, as basis of sup ply, we get a few hundred day from the bank"
 The reporter asked the head salesman whether the customers showed any reluc- tance in taking the pennies. "The women don't" he replied. "They want the exact change, no matter how wealthy they may be, and we always give it. But men don't like coppers, and fully half the time they toss them to the cash boy"
 "Do you receive many from purchasers?" "Very few"
 The cashier at another large house men, toned a curious source of supply. For some years,' he said, i've have been receiving a few dollars worth of pen nies every week or so from professional DSSSdI. I1e IS all eluSIIE lldn ana WOrKS the offices. The pennies he brings us are neatly wrapped up in rolls of fifty, and his count is never wrong. Two more of our reg uar penny-brokers are seXtonS of churches They are sent here once a month with the spells of the contribution box and bring amounts ranging from $6 to $10. lot of good Christians seem to think that heaven
 has penchant for fractional speeie.' What are the two churches?" "Ohi really. now you nouet pxo1iSa mo It might wound the feelings of their gem erouS parishionerS.'
 The banks get in a few hundred pennies every day and save them for the retailers. "They keep us pretty Well drained" said one of the tellers, "and around about holi-
 day time we make a point of getting an extra supply from the sub-treasury for the benefit of our customers.
 Nennies are not used by the banks of New Orleans in the payment of checks. If a check, for example, is drawn for $62 18 the holder receives $62.20 If the amount is $62H he gets $62.15. The split is made be- tween the second and third cent, and the system, which has been in vogue for many years, is very rarely the subject of any | complaint. It makes an exact balance | of coppers at the end of the days business | rather unlikely but the doctrine of average | operates to even things up to within a few cents. In the long run about as many checks break on one half of the nickel as on | the other
 The chief local objection to the war tax on telegrams is based on the nuisance of making change for cent. In most places postage stamps or postal cards are used for that purpose, and their adaptabAity as substitute for money recalls a singular reminiscence by former employe of Wells, Fargo & Co.
 Twenty-Five years ago. he said, "there
 was no paper money at all in circulation on the Pacific Coast and no specie smaller than a silver dime. You could get your boots blacked for that amount if you happened to have a ten-cent piece in your pocket book, but if you gave the boy a quarter it cost you 15 cents, because he couldn't give you the exact change. In time the de- mand for something smaller than the dime became so imperative that a strange sub- sttute was adopted. The soda fountain people got together and adopted a general ticket good for one glass of soda at any shop, and these tickets were instantly adopted as currency by the public. "I remember distinctly when I carried my little bunch of soda tickets the same as I carry small coin at present. They were