Lincoln County leader. [volume] (Toledo, Lincoln County, Or.) 1893-1987, 1900-03-09
TREASURES IN BANKS.
SOMETlM LIE UNCL AIMED FOR
MANY YEARS.
Queer Finds in Boxes Left for Safe
Keeping-How Interest, Under En-
glish Law, Accumulates on Unclaimed
Observation-Disclosures for Owners.

| glish Law, Accumu1ates on Unclaimed
Deposits-Advertising for Owners.
AS is well known, banks act as Gus.
todians Of boxes deposited with them
for safe keeping. They make no charge
FOR doing so, their object being to un.
dertake no responsibility and incur no
FISK, as the acceptance of payment
would imply. Naturally it happens
that boxes slowed away by the banks
in this manner come to be lost sight of
by their owners. Those who left them
for safe keeping die without passing on
the secret of their existence to tneii.
heirs. Who is to know that such pos
sessions could be claimed? 1t has been
suggested that these boxes should be
occasionally overhauled and their con-
tents made public.
An advertisement was issued in 1881
by order Of the court of chancery, Ire
land, with view to discover the own
ers Of the following among other valu-
ables deposited in Dublin bank: "Cl
Box containing number of silver arti-
cles, coins, medals and seals, and hav-
Ing on it crest and the name e. S.
: Cooper (2) box containing a number Of
silver articles, of which several are
crested with coat of arms, supposed
to be those Of Viscount Netterville; 81
box containing th!rty-nine articles Of
plate, some of them bearing coronet;
(4) box containing diamonds and arti-
cles Of jewelry, lodged by DR.. Andrew
Blake and George Jennings on Dec. %,
1896" There were some curious in
quiries and tales about the chests found
in their vaults, VIII. .ch were eventually
handed over to the court of chancery.
In the vaults of the Bank of Ireland
are some chests of plate which were
deposited with the bank before it moved
into its present building-that is, be-
fore the year 1S00-the owners of which
are unknown. Some years ago the con-
fidential staff of the Bank of England
discovered in the vaults a chest which,
on being moved literally fell to pieces
from age. 1t contained a magnificent
and very valuable toilet service of solid
silver. No clue to the owners identity
could be found either on the box or on
any of the pieces of plate, which were
simply engraved with a cipher and Il
coronet.
However, among the numerous other
things found in the box were a gold
casket of the period of Charles ii. AMI
a packet of old love letters written
during the time of the restoration.
/ These afforded some clue to the orig
inal depositor, and, the directors having
caused search to be made in the bank S
+ books, the representative of the old
owner was discovered and the plate
and love letters handed over accord
ingly. The sale of the plate brought in
a sum which was most welcome to the
poverty stricken descendants Of a once
great family. So far as known, there
are no unclaimed boxes in the keeping
of the Scotch banks.
Unclaimed deposits occasionally crop
up when from time to time calls are
made on banks to pay them. Instances
of this become public in sufficient num-
Der to indicate that there is something
in the demand for publicity of these
dormant balances. A few years ago a
Glasgow man died. and among his pos
sessions was an old desk. This fell to
one of his heirs, and not so long since
woman connected with the family
was struck with the similarity of this
article to one she had herself, and she
expressed curiosity as to whether it
had, like her desk, secret drawer.
Examination was made, and, sure
enough, drawer was found, and in it
two deposit receipts for sums aggregat-
ing something over $500. These de-
posits were dated away back between
thirty and forty years, and one of them
was on the City of Glasgow Bank.
They were, of course, duly presented,
and both were paid with interest. In
an old box with books belonging to a
provincial library there was found Il
bank book which must have lain there
for about thirty years. The amount de-
posted was only about SIS, but so long
had the money remained that the inter-
est on that sum amounted to about
$4,000. making total of about $59-not
a despicable sum In these degenerate
: Chop,harS'' Jnurnnl