The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1900-02-04
A STORY OF BURIED MONEY.
BEARD AT THE NATIONAL BANK
REDEMPTION AGENCY.

wv -ANtAAFNAs
An Interesting Account OF That
Branch of the Government Service.
what BECOMES of Worn Ont Notes.
One of The Uses TO Which They
Are Put--Thc Dizziness of Those
who Count MutiIntcd Paper Cur
rencY-A Visit 10 Uncle Sans
strong VanIts-Othcr Matters of
General Interest.
Washington Feb. S.-One of the most in
teresung corners of the Uncle Sans great
department of the treasury Is least known
TO the world at large. I have. myself
lived half my life. of and on" within "a
stones throw of It, and never thought OF
looking it up until yesterday. 1t is the
national bank redemption agency where
anybody's wornout, mutiated. burned or
mouse-eaten money may be exchanged for
brand new bills-if only the slightest mark
remains to show what was, the former
value of the notes destroyed. My atten-
ton was called to it by a curious Incl
dent that lately came 90 light. When the
Civn War broke out, a rich, but misery,
Marylaudcr. who lived on a lonely estate
not a hundred miles from Washington,
fearing raids by one army or the other,
conceived the brilliant but not original
idea of hiding his money and posing as
very poor man. IT Is said that he had al
ways posed in that light before his fam
lily. hardly granting them the comforts of
life. Here was a new and terrible peril
that must be met; for Uncle Samuel need
ed funds to carry on his war, and was
levying taxes right and left SO every
thing that would sell. the unpatriotlc
miser converted into cash, drew oil his
money out of the banks secretly, and put
all che notes, bonds bills, etc. into glass
bottles, and sat up nights when everybody
was a-bed 10 bury che bottles in the cellar.
As may naturally be inferred, his family
had never been in his confidence concern
ing financial matters and knew nothing
of the buried hoard. AS the war went on
they grew poorer and poorer and finally
hungry. In che midst of 1t the miser was
shot one day, In resisting some foraging
soldiers and the secret of the buried money
died with him. Obliged to desert the old
home, his aged mother, wife and children
drfted penniless into the world. One by
one the weakest died of prVaton, until
| only the wife and one daughter remained.
| The former is not yet GO, but looks much
| older, on account OF EIleL ana the btIhll
| of those fearful years. BY great good
| fortune and the influence of the Maryland
senator, the daughter-who was baby in
| arms when her father died-recenty Sc
cured place in the treasury department,
! and of course devoted herself and her sal
! airy to the noble work of making comfort
| able her mothers declining days.
Meanwhile the Maryland homestead, I'M
| occupied for years, was rnpidly going TO
| ruin During the warm spell of last
month the two lonely women decided TO
visit the old place, with a View of saw
! ing up" from the government income
| enough to make needed repairs, so that
the house might be rented or made fu-
| ture home for them. They found the
| whole place cold and damp as a tomb.
| Going down into the cellar for something
| to burn. the daughter .wilacked about with
an ak, as women will, hitting everything
! within range but the barrel she was try
Ing to pitt Some OF the scattering blows,
tearing up the dirt floor, struck something
! hard and rafting. Feminine curiosity
did the rest. and the misers secret was
at last disclosed The gold and silver
! coin, to the amount Of $4,000, was all
| right though rusty, but the notes and
! bonds nodded past recognition. However,
the astonished and delighted young woman
| had not been working three months In
! the United States treasury for nothing.
| She knew, all about che redemption bureau
and carefully carried those bottles OF rot
| ten paper to the proper place; where, IN
due time she received therefor the cur
| rent equivalent for modest fortune. The
moral is obvious. Economy and reason
able precaution Is one thing; the miser's
secret hoard is quite another. My In
| terest having been aroused by the above
| singular story. / went to visit the redemp-
ton bureau; and through the courtesy OF
the assistant secretary of the treasury,
was given an inner view of the proceed
ings You go down TO the basement floor
of the big building where Uncle Sam Keeps
his money, through various iron-barred
doors which are carefully locked behind
YOU to a very long room on the north
side of the building: where a musty smell
and heaps of something that looks like a
rag-pickers collection proclaim the place
where defaced currency Is sent TO be
counted before redemption. Though the
Industry" Is carried on within the walls
OF the treasury building. II Is distinct from
the real work of the department, and all
its expenses are paid by the banks them
selves, which are annually assessed ac-
cording 10 the amount redeemed for each
one during the previous year. From these
assessments are paid the salaries OF the
clerks employed, the stationery bill, ana in
fact the total cost of carrying on the de
vision-except rent To this agency all
the national banks In the country send
their WORKOUT money, and get in exchange
for It either new notes, or checks as the
senders chooses. Burned notes are also
sent here, and are redeemed. If there Is
only the tinlest scrap to prove the
original value. The packages Of OLD
notes are given 10 expert clerks, mostly
women who sit in the long, narrow, but
wen lighted basement room. Both doors
and windows Of this room are guarded
by strong iron lattices; those at the door
fastening on the inside by spring locks.
In addition TO these precautions against
loss a high railing within the rooms sep
arates the desks of the clerks from the
aisle, in which alone visitors are allowed
inside the department. The majority OF
sight-seers, however. do not get so far
as that, but are merely permitted to peep
through the prison-like doors leading from
the corridor. The worn-out old bills are
counted by expert clerks with amazing
rapidly; and not only Is II counted with
infallible correctness, but a counterfeit
bill Is instantly detected by the merest
touch Of the trained fingers. Any failure