The Billings gazette. [volume] (Billings, Mont.) 1896-1919, 1899-05-05
NEW MONEY FOR OLD.
AN EXCHANGE FOR MUT,LATED AND
WORKOUT BILLS.

she Work OF Its Experts-It ules o
the Department and schemes Fol-
Cheating the Government.
There are several experts employed
by the government to inspect the cur
rency offered for redemption. In fact,
every person employed in the bureau il
In some degree an expert. because each
one of them has to pass on the genuine
ness Of the money presented for re-.
demption. and this is a difficult task.
Remember that this money ONE to
the treasury. as a rule. only when it is
80 badly worn that it will not pass cur
rent. This dirty. torn. greasy. ragged
none the experts have TO handle and
decide whether it was issued by the
government and should be redeemed at
it's face value or whether it is the work
of counterfeiters and should be rejected.
It is not at all to the discredit Of the
experts Of the bureau that some bogus
money has got past them and been de-
tected in one Of the offices to which the
pieces Of the money go for further ex-
animation. This does not occur often,
The peculiar province Of n expert
is not to detect bad money-thougb
che 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 ex-
traordinary conditions. This is not sur.
prising in view Of the fact that they
come from experiences with fire and
water and gastric juices and many 9th
er powerful agents. A not infrequent
accident to money is to be left in Il
stove. whence it is taken in a 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 Of a cellar, it
rots away. or, swallowed by a cow. it is
rescued from her stomach a Shiny mass
Of paper
Here are the rules of the treasury for
the redemption of mutilated money
For a 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-fifths the whole value Of
the note is given. For a piece tw0-fifths
in size Of the original nothing il given.
But this last provision is limited by the
law. which gives discretion to the treas
ury department to give full value for a
note II the owner can prove to the salts
faction of the authorities that the note.
or the missing part of it. was destroyed.
This last provision opens the door to
possible fraud. and many are the efforts
made by dishonest persons to take adj
vantage Of 1t,
The fragments Of money which come
to the treasury are turned over to II
Of the experts and sorted out under the
miscroscope for Identification. They are
picked apart. and each tiny piece is as
signed to its place like a part Of a puz-
zle This is usually done on glass, and
the fragments are eventually put be.
tween pieces Of glass to hold them to-
gether while they are measured to see
whether there Is two-ffths or three.
fifths Of the note identifiable or whether
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. X. Vanderbilt's beautiful home at
Newport was burned Mrs. Vanderbilt
sent in about 81. 900 in mutilated cur.
rency. out Of which the expert was able
to identify for redemption all but a
Of the sum.
1t it ia not alone mutilated money
that comes to the treasury. but dirty
and worn money Of all kinds. to the ex-
tent Of nearly $500, 900. 900 a year.
Sometimes counterfeits get past the
experts in this bureau and are caught
in the other bureaus to which the halves
are sent when the packages Of old notes
have gone under the knife and been di.
vided up for counting and Identification
before they are destroyed. But this is
not the most frequent form of attempt
ed fraud. The mutilated money offers
the easiest path to this sort Of crime.
Some Of the experiences Of the re-
demption division with would be
thieves are interesting. One man in
Kansas sent to the treasury I lives
Of some small bills with the e., nice
ly charred. accompanied by an affidavit
from the sender that he had put the
money in his pocket, hung his coat on
a fence and that the coat had been
burned. to the destruction Of part Of
the notes. 1t happened that the treasury
had redeemed the other halves Of these
hotes just two and a half years before
for a money broker on the Bowery. in
New York. and. thinking the case sus-
picious. had kept an eye out for the
possibility Of attempted fraud. The
Kansas man was a person of good bust
ness standing. and his bankers threat.
ened the treasury officials with dismissal
II they questioned his affidavit. They
tho 0oaa in tho hop1o ~ tho J,,o,t