The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1900-02-21
FOUND NEARLY < MILLION.
Novel Experience of n Scrubwomun
In the Trenaury Department..

mover Experience of n ScrubwOmun
In the Treasury Department.
In 1862 Sophie Holmes was employ
ed by General Spinner. the treasurer
OF the United States, as n temporary
charwoman. She was assigned to the
rooms Of the issue division to sweep
and dust. One afternoon In April OF
that year Aunt Sophie was hard ut
work sweeping and scrubbing the
floors when she came across large
bundle which she supposed was waste
paper and was In the act Of throwing
1t In the basket to be burned when she
decided TO investigate it. She was
amazed and almost frightened out Of
her wits to discover several dozen rolls
OF $1,000 bills. 100000 In all. BY
some unexplninable mistake this pack
nge of money was overlooked, and
even when the accounts were balanced
In the evening it was not missed and
General Spinner believing all to be
secure. had locked the safe and gone
out with IN easy conscience.
Aunt Sophie. on finding all Of this
wealth unguarded. decided to remain
In the room until some one with au-
thority to accept the money should mr.
rive. So. to allny a!! suspicion, she prc.
tended to be working very hard. but
always remained near the money. She
was afraid TO leave the bundle to seek
General Spinner. and. not knowing the
guard she thought it best not to trust
him with her secret. She thought of
going out and carrying the bundle Of
money with her: then 1t occurred to
her that the guard. not knowing her
might examine the package and. OH
finding its valuable contents. either
kill her aud escape with the wealth or
suspect her of theft. There seemed but
one thing for her to do. to stay and
guard the fortune with her life IL nee.
essary.
About g o'clock one of the guards en-
tered the room and, on finding Aunt
Sophie still there, asked:
Still ut work?"
Aunt Sophie began to sweep with all
of her might and main. eyes," she an-
swered. "but Ill soon be through"
And she made such dust that the
watchman wac oli3 too glad 20 escape.
She swept the dust and dirt into e pile
and then scattered 1t over the floor
again In IN effort to appear to be very
busy. No more watchmcn disturbed
her. and finally. out Of sheer cxhaus-
ton. she sat down to rest and soon
dropped asleep.
About midnight she nwoke. hearing
a noise In the hail. She was frighten-
ed. and. rising. she groped her way to
the spot where she had hidden the
money. wedgIng 1t In between two
desks. Then she seated herself on it.,
determined to stay there till General
Spinner. who slept in the building,
should arrive. In this cramped posi-
tion she slept until 4 o'clock In the
morning, when she heard 4 soft foot
fall in the hall. and. listening, she
thought she recognized the step Of
General Spinner. In trembling voice
she called his name.
General Spinner was known as the
watchdog Of the treasury" q name
given him from the fact that he had q
habit of wandering through the build
ing ut all hours of the night to sec that
everything was all right. In the silence
and darkness of the nigh: this low,
trembling voice Of Il woman frightened
the general. although he was not an
acknowledged believer in ghosts. On
discovering Aunt Sophie wcdged in be-
tween two desks his fright was turned
into surprise. The relief from the re-
sponsibility almost unncrved Aunt So
phie, and she began to cry. She could
not explain the situation, only mur-
muring. "Oh. General Spinner, don't
go. don't go!'
Finally, when she had become quiet
ed and could tell her story and inyesti-
CATION proved 1t to be correct, the truth
dawncd upon the general. and 1t is said
that he swore black and blue ut every
thing in, about and near the treasury.
Not until he had relieved himself in
this manner for nearly an hour did he
allow Aunt Sophie to go home. The
money was finally locked up in his pri-
vate safe to await the next days inyes-
tigation. Several days later Aunt So
phie was sent for and compllmented
for her faithfulness and US q token of
gratitude was given n life appoint
ment.-W Washington Post.