Evening journal., 1900-05-16
MUTILATED MONEY.
SAVE THE FRAGMENTS AND UNCLE
SAM WILL REDEEM THEM.

perts-Sktilful Work In the Treas
ury Redemption bureau.
One of the most interesting depart
ments in the United States treasury
Is that devoted to the redemption Of
mutilated currency. To Il are sent all
varieties Of bills in every conceivable
stage of mutilauon. II is seldom that
the experts cannot declpher the burn
ed crisps or piece together the myriad
fragments The collection is a curl
Gus one, changing every day with
kaleidoscope rapidlty.
The burning Of note usually brings
out its design In n sort OF metallic re-
lief upon its surface. and by means Of
glass and other implements and also
n full and complete knowledge Of the
intricate designs, no two denomina-
tlons being alike, on every note issued
| their face value Is learned with in
credible dexterity.
Some arrive In fairly good condition.
some shrunken and water soaked, 9TH
ers scorched black and twisted out Of
shape; many are merely thin, tiny
/ black fakes, and In one case now un-
der consideration the evidence consists
OF a small handful Of black powder,
which the affiant swears was S65, acct
dentally blown into the fire.
Often the mischief has been done by
mice, hnndfuls OF the tinlest Of pieces
attestng the evil ways Of the rodent.
Babies are another source OF trouble,
maniacs, victims of drunken frenzy,
plowshares, sawmills-in fact, the
strangest and most unheard Of acci-
dents are occurring all the time But
In a great majority of cases the money
has been burned, for n common prac-
tice among people who are their own
bankers seems TO be the keeping Of
their funds In unused stoves. A cold
day comes, the fire is lighted by some
unsuspectlng person who didn't know
it was loaded" and the owner sudden
" finds that he had money to burn In
spite of himself
In one instance man having $1,000
In government bonds, besides notes
and gold. kept them In a tomato can
which he placed In the elbow of his
parlOr stove. While he was plowing
his fields company arrived. his wife
had a fire kindled, and shortly he made
the unpleasant discovery that his rich.
es had taken wings. Had he sent the
money just as It came from the stove
wrapped In cotton, It might have been
saved. but in endeayoring 10 separate
1t It became so churned and ground NJ
that the department was able to identi
I ~ oafr n o1nt,f nnn fnr. hin,
: An old woman who had accumulated
, about 5000 was one night at her deyo
: tions, when the candle in some mystic
! rious manner was overturned In thu
midst Of the money. Now, history doe
] not relate why It was there or whethe
she was returning thanks. or paying
, bit of homage TO Mammon, but at an.
? rate 1t was destroyed, and as she threy
; the ashes away and at the instigatlol
3 Of her friends picked them out agail
, there was only enough left to returl
: about S1OO to her
: But much more fortunate were al
old couple In the west. The man Ia,
: been a soldier, and by the long accu
: mutation Of years they had saved lit
: tie sum, when one day the wife In 60
Ing to look at 1t found that the mic
2 had left only pile Of carefully save,
; fragments. Almost distracted. she tool
1t TO the bank, reporting that the las
time she had counted It the sum has
? been S27J, mostly in tens and twenties
a 1t was sent here, the tiny bits sortel
? and arranged as only experts can ar
! range them, and the necessary three
r fifths Of every note was found. Blu
; the best of all was that instead of S2T
4 1t was discovered that the old people
, savings amounted to $780, whicl
amount was finally sent to them, mucl
a to their JOY.
OF course the greatest precauuon 1
A necessary, and the afEidavits mus
\ leave no doubt as TO the utter and en-
: tire destruction OF the missing parts o
the notes. In one case Of this kind
. farmer sent from Kansas some green
backs amounting 10 $50. only half o
each note being intact. The rest, h
a declared In a strong affidavit. had bee
: destroyed and also stated in what mar
ner. but on consulting the books II wa
found that one-half the sum had a
ready been paid to another person wh
: had sent the other halves of the note
! from another part OF the country. Cor
k sequently but S25 was returned to hin
d Thereupon the cashier who ha
q transacted the business for the farme
n wrote such an indignant letter, sayln
y the government had impugned the hor
y esty OF the claimant and that he woul
+ prove him in the right, that the ana
u was put into the hands Of the secrG
r. service. the proofs exhibited and tn
d imprudent farmer fined 1900 for fals
II swearlng.-New York Tribune.
r Christening Florida.
AS 70 why Ponce de Leon gave ii
name Florida TO the territory me-